Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Inserting a Non-Breaking Hyphen.
When Word calculates line length and wraps text to the next line, it tries to break the line at a space or a hyphen—a dash. Sometimes, however, you may not want Word to break a line at a dash. For instance, dashes are used in telephone numbers, and you might not want a line to break in the middle of a telephone number.
The answer to this dilemma is to use non-breaking hyphens instead of regular dashes when you don't want Word to break a line at the hyphen. To do this, hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys as you type the dash (this is the same as typing Ctrl and an underscore). Word will then not break the line at that point.
You can also insert a non-breaking hyphen by following these steps:
Figure 1. The Special Characters tab of the Symbol dialog box.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (29) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Inserting a Non-Breaking Hyphen.
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2020-10-20 09:03:09
Peter Urquhart
You really ought to indicate how this character, the non-breaking hyphen, is accessed on a Mac. Your instructions are solely directed at Windows. The differences took me 45 minutes to slog through. "Control+Shift"+ the hyphencharacter does not work on a Mac. "Control" has to be replaced by "Command". And while it is possible to find the character through the Insert, it is under the rubric "Advanced Symbol" at the bottom of the pull-down menu, and then under "Special Characters". There are lots of other false leads along the way, which is why it took me 45 minutes.
2016-11-22 09:41:56
jb
i thought it would be easier for me to type regular hyphens then using find and replace to change hyphens i want to be non-breaking with ^~.
but that doesn't seem to work.
ideas?
2016-02-16 11:10:04
Robert Bertin
Is there any way to insert a nonbreaking (short) dash? The dash inserted using Cntrl Shift - is longer than the normal keyboard hyphen that I use elsewhere in my document for the same purpose.
2015-11-01 18:52:00
Jay de Silva
The above procedure (or Word's Ctrl+Shift+_) inserts a non-breaking en-dash, much longer than a dash or hyphen.
I have been trying to get Microsoft to use Alt+0173, which inserts a proper non-breaking hyphen, but of course they do not listen.
2015-09-01 11:41:18
Bill Hull
When viewing a document, how do I tell if a hyphen is non-breaking? Show/Hide does not seem to do it.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: 
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