Looking to combine two words (or give a range of numbers) in a way that no line break shall separate them? Find out here how to insert a non-breaking hyphen on an iPhone with the keyboard and text replacement.
First, It Is the Air You See
It’s not the dust you see, it is the air.
When a particle of dust enters the earth’s atmosphere, it pushes fiercely on the (growing number of) air particles in its front. The pushed particles get hot, of course (like those in a bicycle pump that’s pumped), and the ionized air emits the light we see as a shooting star.
It is not friction, for the most part, and it is not breaking that makes a dust particle glow.
With that in mind, let’s transition from a non-braking line to a non-breaking line:
How to Insert a Non‑Breaking Hyphen (‑) on an iPhone
Time needed: 1 minute
To insert a non-breaking hyphen (‑) with the keyboard on an iPhone:
- Set up a text replacement for a non-breaking hyphen.
Here’s how: See below for the steps to take.
- Position the text cursor where you want to insert the hyphen.
Here’s where: You can use non-breaking hyphens in composite words, for instance, to avoid line breaks or with the same end in number ranges.
- Type the text you set up for the expansion.
- Use the auto-completion bar to insert the non-breaking hyphen.
Space: You can also press Space, for instance, to insert the hyphen and a whitespace character.
- Typically, press Backspace to remove the whitespace character inserted after the non-breaking hyphen and continue immediately after the hyphen.
Space again: If you need whitespace around the non-breaking hyphen, it should usually be non-breaking whitespace as well.
Set up a Text Expansion for Non-Breaking Hyphens
To add a text expansion for inserting a non-breaking hyphen:
- Copy the non-breaking hyphen below.
- Open the Settings app on the iPhone.
- Go to the General category.
- Choose Keyboard.
- Now go to Text Replacement.
- Tap ＋.
- Tap long in the Phrase field.
- Select Paste from the context menu that appears.
- Now tap in the Shortcut field.
- Type the character combination you want to use for inserting the hyphen.
Example: You can use something like/-, for instance. - Tap Save.
Copy the Non-Breaking Hyphen for Pasting on an iPhone
Use the table below to copy a no-break hyphen you can paste anywhere on an iPhone.
No-break hyphen ‑ |
How to Insert a Non-Breaking Hyphen (‑) on iPhone: FAQ
Can I insert the no-break hyphen with the iPhone keyboard directly?
No.
The iPhone keyboard includes a hyphen as well as en-dash and em-dash, but no no-break hyphen.
(How to insert a non-breaking hyphen on iPhone tested with iOS 17–18; first published April 2024, last updated November 2024)