Em dashes are a punctuation choice, not a hidden character, but a lot of people want them gone from AI text. This page switches on the dash, quote and ellipsis options for you.
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With the comma option, a spaced or unspaced em dash becomes a comma and a space. A pair of dashes around an aside turns into commas, which usually reads fine. If a sentence reads badly afterwards, switch to the hyphen option, which gives a spaced hyphen instead.
En dashes between numbers (3 to 5, 10 to 12) become a plain hyphen so ranges stay readable. Curly quotes become straight quotes and the single ellipsis character becomes three dots.
Every change is highlighted in the Found panel before you copy, so you can see exactly which dashes were touched. This only changes punctuation. If you want to avoid a certain writing style, you still need to edit the words.
How to use it
Paste the text.
Pick Comma or Hyphen for dashes.
Check the highlights, then copy.
Questions
Will it fix the grammar around the dash?
It replaces the mark, not the sentence. Read the result once; a few sentences may want a full stop instead.
Does an em dash prove text is from AI?
No. Writers have used em dashes for centuries. Plaincopy only removes them if you ask.
Can I keep curly quotes?
Yes. Untick Straighten quotes in the options.
Related
Free for a paste. Pro for the pile.
Free
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Paste up to 2,000 words at a time. Every cleaning option, highlighting and counts by type.
Pro monthly
$4.99 / month
Unlimited length. Upload .docx, .txt and .md and download the cleaned file. Batch files as a zip. Clean-on-paste bookmarklet. Saved presets.
Yes. Free cleans up to 2,000 words per paste with every option: hidden characters, dashes, quotes, ellipsis and markdown.
What does Pro add?
Unlimited length, .docx, .txt and .md upload with a cleaned download (Word formatting kept), batch files as one zip, a clean-on-paste bookmarklet and saved presets.
How do I cancel?
Use the Stripe billing page (link under Pricing, "Manage or cancel") and sign in with the email you paid with. Cancelling stops the next charge and Pro ends at the end of the period you paid for.
Is my text uploaded?
No. Pasted text and files are cleaned inside your browser. Our server only checks that a payment is active.