Automatically format hyphens as en dashes and em dashes

Microsoft Office Word 2003

  1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options, and then click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
  2. Select the Hyphens (--) with dash (— ) check box.

For example, "See pages 3 - 10" becomes "See pages 3 – 10."

ShowFormat dashes after you type

  1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options, and then click the AutoFormat tab.
  2. Select the Hyphens (--) with dash (— ) check box.

For example, "Many pines--ponderosa, for example--grow here" becomes "Many pines— ponderosa, for example— grow here."

Note  You can undo formatting or turn options on or off by clicking an option on the AutoCorrect Options button Button image. The button first appears as a small, blue box when you rest the mouse pointer near text that is automatically formatted, and it changes to a button icon when you point to it.