Em-dash shortcut not working on Mac

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 "—":

1. Word Preferences (⌘ + comma)
2. Autocorrect
3. Replace: --
4. With: —
5. Click "Replace"

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

1. Tools > Customize Keyboard
2. at the bottom of the categories menu, select "Common Symbols"
3. in the commands menu select "— Em Dash"
4. click on the "Press new keyboard shortcut" box
5. 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])
6. 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.

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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: