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Smart Quotes Converter

Word processors replace straight quotes with curly ones and two hyphens with a dash. That looks good in print but breaks code, CSV files, command lines and some websites. Convert typographic quotes, apostrophes, dashes and ellipses to plain ASCII in one step, or go the other way and give plain text proper typography.

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Convert Smart Quotes

Convert
Plain: — becomes --, – becomes -, … becomes .... Smart: the reverse.

How to Use the Smart Quotes Converter

  1. Paste your text.
  2. Choose the direction: to plain ASCII or to smart typography.
  3. Choose whether dashes and ellipses are converted too.
  4. Copy or download the result.

About This Tool

Developers pasting snippets from documents or chat into code, data teams cleaning CSV exports, and writers who want proper curly quotes in text typed with a plain keyboard.

Input: Plain text  ·  Output: Plain text.

Features and Limitations

Features

  • Plain mode converts ‘ ’ ‚ ‛ “ ” „ ‟ « » ‹ › and optionally primes.
  • Smart mode decides between opening and closing quotes from context and turns apostrophes in words into ’.
  • Dash handling: em dash ↔ --, en dash ↔ -, ellipsis ↔ ... .
  • Counts every replacement.

Limitations

  • In smart mode an apostrophe at the start of a word, as in 'tis or '90s, becomes an opening quote ‘ instead of ’. Check these by hand.
  • Smart mode turns a hyphen into an en dash only when it stands alone between spaces; hyphens inside words are never changed.
  • Guillemets become straight double quotes in plain mode, which suits ASCII files but not French typography.
  • Results are computed in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to a server.

Example

Plain mode: “It’s – sort of — done…” becomes "It's - sort of -- done...".

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do curly quotes break my code?

Programming languages only accept the straight ASCII quote characters. A curly quote copied from a document is a different character, so the code fails to parse.

How does the tool know whether a quote opens or closes?

A quote at the start of the text, or after a space, bracket or dash, opens; any other quote closes. An apostrophe between letters becomes ’.

What is the difference between an en dash and an em dash?

The en dash (–) joins ranges such as 1990–2000; the em dash (—) marks a break in a sentence. In plain mode they become - and -- respectively.

Does it change anything else?

No. Only quotes, apostrophes and, if ticked, dashes, ellipses and primes are replaced.

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