If you want the official Unicode minus character, you can use the Emoji picker in Windows (press Alt+Period) or on the Mac (Press Ctrl+Command+Space) then select it from the menu with your mouse cursor. For En Dash type one hyphen in between the two numbers, direction terms, conflict words, or the compound adjectives. To type a minus informally, press the minus key on your keyboard. For a Hyphen press the minus button ( ) Now for the En and Em dashes, there are a few ways to type both in Windows. Officially, hyphen and minus are two distinct characters. We say 'technically' because most people use the same minus key to type either a hyphen or minus interchangeably on computers due to historical precedent from the typewriter era. Minus (−): A minus is a mathematical symbol that is technically longer than a hyphen and shorter than an em dash.The em dash inspires controversy at times because of how often it appears in modern writing. It can also replace other types of punctuation as well. Em Dash (-): An em dash is longer than a hyphen and an en dash, and it's often used to separate interjections or parenthetical phrases-such as this one-without interrupting the flow of the sentence.On Mac, type it by pressing Option+Minus. You can type it on Windows by holding Alt on your keyboard and pressing 0150. It's used to denote a numerical range (such as 1981-1983) or to replace the word 'to' in comparisons.

En Dash (-): An en dash is longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em dash.To type a hyphen, simply press the minus key on your keyboard. Hyphen (-): A hyphen joins words together and is used to form compound words (usually compound adjectives) such as 'once-in-a-lifetime' or 'cyborg-related.' It is the shortest of the horizontal-line family of punctuation marks.Let's take a look at how each one differs-and we'll also show you how to type them. As we mentioned above, each type of dash, hyphen, or minus sign has its own special length, and each also gets its own Unicode character.

En dash vs em dash vs hyphen