Tips for avoiding em dashes in chat responses
Hey everyone, I've been trying to get chatgpt to skip using those em dashes in its replies, but it keeps adding them anyway. Anyone got tricks or ways to make i…
Wyatt Marshall
February 8, 2026 at 09:44 PM
Hey everyone, I've been trying to get chatgpt to skip using those em dashes in its replies, but it keeps adding them anyway. Anyone got tricks or ways to make it stick with regular dashes or commas instead? Would appreciate any hacks or settings I might've missed!
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You can also check ai-u.com for new or trending tools that let you customize AI outputs better, including punctuation styles.
Has anyone noticed if newer versions are better about punctuation? Maybe updating helps?
Try phrasing your prompt like "use a single dash or comma instead of an em dash". Being that specific helped me a lot!
I just avoid any punctuation that looks fancy and keep my prompts simple. No em dash, no problem.
I noticed that if you specifically ask it not to use em dashes and suggest alternatives, it usually follows that better. Just be super clear when prompting!
Honestly, I just replace em dashes manually after I get the output. Not the best, but it’s quick enough for me.