Typographic punctuation
EN DASH (U+2013)
The medium-length dash used for ranges and some relationships in edited typography.
- Codepoint
U+2013- Also written as
u2013\u2013–- Category
- Typographic punctuation
- Removed by default
- No
- Governing option
- Punctuation
--punct - Can be load-bearing
- No
Where it comes from
Word processors, publishing tools, and smart-punctuation Markdown extensions can convert ASCII hyphen sequences into U+2013 during editing or rendering.
Why it matters
It is a different codepoint from the ASCII hyphen, so source comparison, exact search, code, front matter, and diffs can behave differently even when the mark looks familiar.
Before and after
The before value contains U+2013 between the years; the after value contains an ASCII hyphen.
The character is shown as a labelled chip so you can see where it sits. In your text it draws nothing at all.
When it is legitimate
It is legitimate typography for numeric ranges and relationships. Keep it in published prose unless the target format requires ASCII-only text.
How to remove it
Turn on Punctuation (`--punct`) to replace U+2013 with an ASCII hyphen. Review source files because punctuation conversion can affect syntax-sensitive text.
Working in a file rather than a paste? The document report for .docx, .odt and .html finds it inside the file, together with hidden runs and tracked changes, without you having to open it. If the question is what the rest of the writing does rather than what this one character does, count the dashes and stock transitions and see where each habit sits, with no score and no claim about who wrote the text.
Is it an AI watermark?
Appears in some AI output, but is not a watermark
U+2013 appears in edited writing and generated text because both use ordinary publishing conventions. Its presence is not evidence of authorship.
It genuinely turns up in model output, as ordinary typography learned from the training data. It is not deliberate, not detectable by design, and not evidence about any single document.
Questions
Why did Markdown turn hyphens into U+2013?
A smart-punctuation extension or editor performed the conversion. Markdown itself does not require one universal dash substitution.
Should I replace U+2013 with a hyphen?
Only when the destination requires ASCII or stable source syntax. In published prose, U+2013 can be the intended range mark.
Check your own text
Paste anything into the cleaner to see every hidden character it contains, with position, codepoint and what happens to each one. Nothing is uploaded.
Check your own textEm dashes in Markdown: keep the source ASCIIClean it in Chrome as you pasteClean it on your Mac with one keystrokeAll characters