Remove Em Dashes from Text

An em dash is the long dash (—) you rarely type by hand but that AI writing tools insert several times per paragraph. People also produce one by typing two or more hyphens (-- or ---). Because the pattern is so consistent, a stretch of text peppered with em dashes has become one of the most recognisable tells of AI-generated copy - and one of the first things editors, teachers, and readers notice.

This tool removes that tell without mashing your words together. Instead of simply deleting each dash, it replaces it with a substitute you pick: a comma for a natural aside, a spaced hyphen for the closest visual match, a colon to introduce a clause, or a period that splits the line into two properly capitalised sentences. It absorbs the spaces hugging the dash so the result is always cleanly spaced, recognises double-hyphen em dashes, and can optionally convert en dashes in number ranges (like 2010-2020) to ordinary hyphens.

Everything runs locally with JavaScript in your browser. Your text is never sent anywhere, which matters when you are polishing a confidential draft, a cover letter, client work, or anything you would not paste into a random website. Paste on the left, copy the cleaned version on the right, and you get an instant count of exactly how many dashes were replaced.