Split from this thread . Details about the issue Microsoft® Word for Mac Version 16.83 (24031120) License: Microsoft 365 Subscription This happened to me last night while writing in a document and I haven't been able to use it since. I had used an em dash not two sentences earlier with [shift + option + minus sign] and then it suddenly didn't work. That implies that it may not be a result of a software update unless Word has the ability to update while actively writing in the app (which I doubt). Other potentially helpful information--when the shortcut broke for the first time, a "We've Made Zooming Easier" prompt appeared in the bottom right (referring to zooming in/out of the word doc). I've absolutely never had an issue with this, and my trackpad means I would never in my life need a shortcut to mess with the window size. Great example of "if it ain't broke..." And last, if you go to Insert > Advanced Symbol and click on "Special Characters" tab, it says that [Option + Shift + minus] is mapped to the "Nonbreaking Hyphen" while the Em Dash is mapped to [⌘ + Option + Numpad minus]. Interestingly, if you go into the keyboard shortcut menu, it says that there is no current shortcut for the Nonbreaking Hyphen (which is obviously false). Current Solutions My temporary solution just uses autocorrect to replace "--" with "—": Word Preferences (⌘ + comma) Autocorrect Replace: -- With: — Click "Replace" Other temporary solutions I've seen create a custom keyboard shortcut for the em dash: Tools > Customize Keyboard at the bottom of the categories menu, select "Common Symbols" in the commands menu select "— Em Dash" click on the "Press new keyboard shortcut" box type a new shortcut (Your shortcut must include "⌘" or "control". IF YOU USE "option" YOU MUST ALSO INCLUDE "command" or "control" IN YOUR SHORTCUT. This means you cannot use [option + shift + minus]) click "Assign" Reporting This is the single most disruptive change I've ever encountered on word so I encourage everyone who runs into this to send a complaint to Microsoft's dev team through the Help > Feedback menu in the app . ——————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————— UPDATE 4/2/23: I received an email response from Microsoft (see bottom of post) about the issue being fixed. The email is weird, since it 1) describes the wrong keyboard shortcut ("⌘ + Option + Numpad -") and 2) you still cannot enter the correct shortcut into "customize keyboard" . THAT BEING SAID --after attempting to use the shortcut and restarting word several times, it eventually did begin working again . I've provided a detailed list of steps I took before it was fixed. I would keep in mind that most of these steps were likely unnecessary, so only try them if you've already tried restarting Word a handful of times and perhaps waited 15-20 minutes. Opened + fully closed [⌘ + Q] word. Reopened, attempted to use shortcut. Went to Help > "Check for Updates" Manually pressed "check for updates" (no updates were present) Restarted Word, attempted to use shortcut. Went to Tools > "Customize Keyboard" Categories: "Common Symbols"; Commands: "Em Dash" no keyboard shortcut was present Could not enter in the correct shortcut [Shift + Option + minus sign] (x2) Restarted Word & attempted shortcut Returned to the "Customize Keyboard" menu and clicked "Reset All..." at the bottom of the menu (WARNING: I do not have any custom keyboard shortcuts that I would need to keep. Make sure you save any custom shortcuts if needed.) (x2) Restarted Word & attempted shortcut Waited 5 more minutes Restarted Word & attempted shortcut Opened word from Finder > Applications (instead of my taskbar) Shortcut worked. Microsoft Response:

This info is detailed in the update to the post, but I am including it here as well so that replies are notified (and to mark as answered). UPDATE 4/2/23: I received an email response from Microsoft (see original post) about the issue being fixed. The email is weird, since it 1) describes the wrong keyboard shortcut ("⌘ + Option + Numpad -") and 2) you still cannot enter the correct shortcut into "customize keyboard" . THAT BEING SAID --after attempting to use the shortcut and restarting word several times, it eventually did begin working again . ——————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————— I've provided a detailed list of steps I took before it was fixed. I would keep in mind that most of these steps were likely unnecessary, so only try them if you've already tried restarting Word a handful of times and perhaps waited 15-20 minutes . Opened + fully closed [⌘ + Q] word. Reopened, attempted to use shortcut. Went to Help > "Check for Updates" Manually pressed "check for updates" (no updates were present) Restarted Word, attempted to use shortcut. Went to Tools > "Customize Keyboard" Categories: "Common Symbols"; Commands: "Em Dash" no keyboard shortcut was present Could not enter in the correct shortcut [Shift + Option + minus sign] (x2) Restarted Word & attempted shortcut Returned to the "Customize Keyboard" menu and clicked "Reset All..." at the bottom of the menu (WARNING: I do not have any custom keyboard shortcuts that I would need to keep. Make sure you save any custom shortcuts if needed.) (x2) Restarted Word & attempted shortcut Waited 5 more minutes Restarted Word & attempted shortcut Opened word from Finder > Applications (instead of my taskbar) Shortcut worked.

Restarted a couple of times, then fired up from finder applications - em dash shortcut working again! For me, I didn't need to use reset all. Thanks for the info CJ.

This happened to me today in exactly the same way: suddenly stopped working and the "We've made zooming easier" prompt appeared when I hit Command-Shift-Hyphen—but none of the work-arounds are working for me, and the "customize keyboard" tool will accept no changes—it seems defunct. I get an en-dash with Option-Hyphen, but just a hyphen with Option-Command-Hyphen. Extremely disruptive, as CJ Reid said.

Same issue here. Well done, Microsoft.

Charles is on point about reporting this to Microsoft. To send Microsoft your complaint, go to the Help menu item and in the drop down, choose Feedback. Then explain the ways that em-dash is no longer working in a document. I did it and hope others will too! Charles, I do want to clarify that while the Autoformat selection allows you to select the option of replacing "hyphens (--) with dash (—), this gives a dash (or possibly an en-dash...hard to know) but not an em-dash. So, something's not right in the programming. Until Microsoft restores this functionality, go the Autocorrect section (the first one), and in the Replace area, type in -- and replace with — (which DOES work with Option-Shift-Dash). Note that you won't be able to create a long series of dashes like this ---------- because the double dashes will automatically change to em-dashes something like this — — — — —. And, if you type --- it'll become —-. So, it's buggy but at least it gives you the em-dash without having to create a different keyboard shortcut. I did create an Option-Command-Shift-Dash combo to generate an em-dash in Autocorrect, but that's totally different from what all the other Mac programs (and websites) use. Others have noted that you can't just have an Option key combo anymore and that it must contain a Command as well. No idea why... GOOD LUCK! And, report this to Microsoft. #bringbacktheemdashinwordformac

Em-dash shortcut not working on Mac

Anonymous

Split from this thread.

Details about the issue

Microsoft® Word for Mac

Version 16.83 (24031120)

License: Microsoft 365 Subscription

This happened to me last night while writing in a document and I haven't been able to use it since. I had used an em dash not two sentences earlier with [shift + option + minus sign] and then it suddenly didn't work. That implies that it may not be a result of a software update unless Word has the ability to update while actively writing in the app (which I doubt).

Other potentially helpful information--when the shortcut broke for the first time, a "We've Made Zooming Easier" prompt appeared in the bottom right (referring to zooming in/out of the word doc). I've absolutely never had an issue with this, and my trackpad means I would never in my life need a shortcut to mess with the window size. Great example of "if it ain't broke..."

And last, if you go to Insert > Advanced Symbol and click on "Special Characters" tab, it says that [Option + Shift + minus] is mapped to the "Nonbreaking Hyphen" while the Em Dash is mapped to [⌘ + Option + Numpad minus]. Interestingly, if you go into the keyboard shortcut menu, it says that there is no current shortcut for the Nonbreaking Hyphen (which is obviously false).

Current Solutions

My temporary solution just uses autocorrect to replace "--" with "—":

Word Preferences (⌘ + comma)
Autocorrect
Replace: --
With: —
Click "Replace"

Other temporary solutions I've seen create a custom keyboard shortcut for the em dash:

Tools > Customize Keyboard
at the bottom of the categories menu, select "Common Symbols"
in the commands menu select "— Em Dash"
click on the "Press new keyboard shortcut" box
type a new shortcut (Your shortcut must include "⌘" or "control". IF YOU USE "option" YOU MUST ALSO INCLUDE "command" or "control" IN YOUR SHORTCUT. This means you cannot use [option + shift + minus])
click "Assign"

Reporting

This is the single most disruptive change I've ever encountered on word so I encourage everyone who runs into this to send a complaint to Microsoft's dev team through the Help > Feedback menu in the app.

———————————————————————————

UPDATE 4/2/23:

I received an email response from Microsoft (see bottom of post) about the issue being fixed. The email is weird, since it 1) describes the wrong keyboard shortcut ("⌘ + Option + Numpad -") and 2) you still cannot enter the correct shortcut into "customize keyboard".

THAT BEING SAID--after attempting to use the shortcut and restarting word several times, it eventually did begin working again.

I've provided a detailed list of steps I took before it was fixed. I would keep in mind that most of these steps were likely unnecessary, so only try them if you've already tried restarting Word a handful of times and perhaps waited 15-20 minutes.

Opened + fully closed [⌘ + Q] word.
Reopened, attempted to use shortcut.
Went to Help > "Check for Updates"
Manually pressed "check for updates" (no updates were present)
Restarted Word, attempted to use shortcut.
Went to Tools > "Customize Keyboard"
Categories: "Common Symbols"; Commands: "Em Dash" no keyboard shortcut was present
Could not enter in the correct shortcut [Shift + Option + minus sign]
(x2) Restarted Word & attempted shortcut
Returned to the "Customize Keyboard" menu and clicked "Reset All..." at the bottom of the menu (WARNING: I do not have any custom keyboard shortcuts that I would need to keep. Make sure you save any custom shortcuts if needed.)
(x2) Restarted Word & attempted shortcut
Waited 5 more minutes
Restarted Word & attempted shortcut
Opened word from Finder > Applications (instead of my taskbar)
Shortcut worked.

Microsoft Response:

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

2024-04-03T01:14:03+00:00
This info is detailed in the update to the post, but I am including it here as well so that replies are notified (and to mark as answered).

UPDATE 4/2/23:

I received an email response from Microsoft (see original post) about the issue being fixed. The email is weird, since it 1) describes the wrong keyboard shortcut ("⌘ + Option + Numpad -") and 2) you still cannot enter the correct shortcut into "customize keyboard".

THAT BEING SAID--after attempting to use the shortcut and restarting word several times, it eventually did begin working again.

———————————————————————————

———————————————————————————

I've provided a detailed list of steps I took before it was fixed. I would keep in mind that most of these steps were likely unnecessary, so only try them if you've already tried restarting Word a handful of times and perhaps waited 15-20 minutes.
- Opened + fully closed [⌘ + Q] word.
- Reopened, attempted to use shortcut.
- Went to Help > "Check for Updates"
- Manually pressed "check for updates" (no updates were present)
- Restarted Word, attempted to use shortcut.
- Went to Tools > "Customize Keyboard"
- Categories: "Common Symbols"; Commands: "Em Dash" no keyboard shortcut was present
- Could not enter in the correct shortcut [Shift + Option + minus sign]
- (x2) Restarted Word & attempted shortcut
- Returned to the "Customize Keyboard" menu and clicked "Reset All..." at the bottom of the menu (WARNING: I do not have any custom keyboard shortcuts that I would need to keep. Make sure you save any custom shortcuts if needed.)
- (x2) Restarted Word & attempted shortcut
- Waited 5 more minutes
- Restarted Word & attempted shortcut
- Opened word from Finder > Applications (instead of my taskbar)
- Shortcut worked.
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Anonymous

2024-04-03T10:24:54+00:00

Restarted a couple of times, then fired up from finder applications - em dash shortcut working again! For me, I didn't need to use reset all. Thanks for the info CJ.
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Anonymous

2024-03-31T11:47:18+00:00

This happened to me today in exactly the same way: suddenly stopped working and the "We've made zooming easier" prompt appeared when I hit Command-Shift-Hyphen—but none of the work-arounds are working for me, and the "customize keyboard" tool will accept no changes—it seems defunct. I get an en-dash with Option-Hyphen, but just a hyphen with Option-Command-Hyphen. Extremely disruptive, as CJ Reid said.
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8 people found this answer helpful.

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Anonymous

2024-03-31T09:22:14+00:00

Same issue here. Well done, Microsoft.
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Anonymous

2024-03-31T17:36:09+00:00

Charles is on point about reporting this to Microsoft.

To send Microsoft your complaint, go to the Help menu item and in the drop down, choose Feedback. Then explain the ways that em-dash is no longer working in a document. I did it and hope others will too!

Charles, I do want to clarify that while the Autoformat selection allows you to select the option of replacing "hyphens (--) with dash (—), this gives a dash (or possibly an en-dash...hard to know) but not an em-dash. So, something's not right in the programming.

Until Microsoft restores this functionality, go the Autocorrect section (the first one), and in the Replace area, type in -- and replace with — (which DOES work with Option-Shift-Dash).

Note that you won't be able to create a long series of dashes like this ---------- because the double dashes will automatically change to em-dashes something like this — — — — —. And, if you type --- it'll become —-. So, it's buggy but at least it gives you the em-dash without having to create a different keyboard shortcut.

I did create an Option-Command-Shift-Dash combo to generate an em-dash in Autocorrect, but that's totally different from what all the other Mac programs (and websites) use. Others have noted that you can't just have an Option key combo anymore and that it must contain a Command as well. No idea why...

GOOD LUCK! And, report this to Microsoft.

#bringbacktheemdashinwordformac
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Em-dash shortcut not working on Mac

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