textcleanups

Convert smart quotes

Turn curly quotes, long dashes and other typographer’s characters into plain keyboard characters.

Options
Long dash — becomes

Your text stays in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or saved.

How to convert smart quotes

  1. Paste your text into the first box.
  2. Choose which characters to convert.
  3. Copy the plain-text version from the result box.

Why straight quotes matter

Word processors and phones automatically turn straight quotes into curly ones as you type. That looks good in a printed document, but it causes problems elsewhere:

  • Code and commands break. Programming languages, terminals and spreadsheet formulas only accept straight quotes. A command copied from a document often fails for this reason alone.
  • Data won't match. it’s and it's are different text to a computer, so searches and lookups miss.
  • Odd characters appear. Some older systems show curly quotes as ’ or other garbled characters.

Invisible characters

Text copied from web pages and chat apps sometimes carries zero-width characters. They take up no space, but they can break passwords, URLs, code and spreadsheet lookups. This tool removes them along with soft hyphens and byte-order marks.

Common uses

  • Fixing code, commands or formulas copied from a document or web page
  • Preparing text for CSV files and databases
  • Cleaning text for plain-text email or SMS
  • Matching values that look the same but won't compare as equal

Questions

How do I turn off smart quotes in Word?

Go to File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You Type and uncheck Straight quotes with smart quotes. That only affects new typing, so use this tool for existing text.

What's the difference between a hyphen, an en dash and an em dash?

A hyphen (-) joins words. An en dash (–) marks ranges like 2024–2025. An em dash (—) sets off a phrase. Keyboards only have the hyphen, which is why plain-text systems expect it.

What are invisible characters?

Characters such as the zero-width space that take up no room on screen. They're used for line-breaking hints and formatting, but they often sneak into copied text.