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Can't type an em-dash (Word for Mac)

Anonymous
2024-03-11T22:29:15+00:00

I'm running Office on a 2021 iMac, OS 14.4. Ever since updating from 16.82 to 16.83, I can't type an em-dash. I get what looks like a hyphen, but if I copy/paste to another app, it shows as blank.

Moved from Microsoft 365 and Office / Other / For home / Other

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For education | MacOS

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 434.8K Reputation points
    2024-03-23T00:25:45+00:00

    RE: Unfortunately, the keyboard shortcut in Help seems to missing a modifier key. It's something+Shift+Home.

    The missing symbol in Word Help is ⌘.

    To select from current position to beginning:

    • On a full keyboard: Shift+Command+Home
    • On compact keyboards: fn+Shift+Command+←

    To deselect & remain at the insertion point press →

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-03-17T23:15:22+00:00

    This Word change is complete nonsense and must have happened in the last month because I used the keystrokes up until late February.

    I know it worked because I demonstrate proper typographical practices in my technical communications courses. I show students the differences between - (minus) – (hyphen) – (en-dash) and — (em-dash). Gee, look, they all work properly within Microsoft's web forum. Though I'm rare, I still care about ticks, quotes, and everything else people misuse.

    Word should support proper — em-dashes like every other Microsoft, Adobe, and Apple application. They are necessary for documents.

    Annoying as heck.

    6 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2024-03-14T16:07:38+00:00

    Microsoft presents this degradation as an improvement: https://insider.microsoft365.com/en-us/blog/new-zoom-shortcuts-in-word

    It may actually be an improvement for dumb people who don't even know what an em-dash is, God help them.

    6 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2024-03-13T23:19:54+00:00

    The em dash (—) keyboard shortcut [option + shift + -] on my Mac laptop works in MS Excel and MS PowerPoint and all other applications I use outside of the Microsoft environment. It even worked here in this post. The fact that it's not working in MS Word seems to point to some kind of bug with the software. I have the latest version of Microsoft 365 for home (not a beta version; please see image below), and I didn't have this problem previously. Surely, there must be some fix that allows Mac users to to employ the shortcut referred to above. I'm hoping someone from Microsoft pays attention to this and gives us back the functionality we've always had.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-03-13T21:32:14+00:00

    It's okay, lots of people can't resist answering questions despite not having subject-matter knowledge.

    Shift-opt-hyphen has been Apple's combination for an em-dash for years.

    https://www.tomsguide.com/how-to/how-to-type-an-em-dash-on-windows-and-macos

    It stills works in places other than Word, such as, well, here:

    —

    4 people found this answer helpful.
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