Em-Dash Reducer
Paste text and get it back with every em dash collapsed to a comma, the single cleanup pass that removes the most obvious AI tell.
This is a mechanical pass. It turns every em dash into a comma, so reread the result and adjust punctuation where a comma doesn't quite fit the sentence.
How it works
Paste in a draft and the tool finds every em dash and replaces it, along with the spaces around it, with a comma and a space. That's the whole operation. It doesn't touch hyphens (the short dash inside compound words like "well-known") or en-dashes used in ranges like "2020–2024", only the long em dash that AI models default to for almost every kind of pause.
Worked example: "Fast — reliable — done." becomes "Fast, reliable, done." after the pass, and the before/after counter above goes from 2 down to 0. Try it on the shorter case too: "a—b" (no spaces around the dash) still becomes "a, b", since the tool trims whatever whitespace is or isn't there before adding the comma.
FAQ
Why is the em dash such a strong AI tell?
Large language models learned from text where the em dash gets used correctly but sparingly, and then somewhere in training they picked up the habit of reaching for it constantly, for asides, for lists, for anything that needs a pause. Most people write with commas, periods, and parentheses far more than dashes, so a paragraph with three or four em dashes in it reads as generated even before anyone checks the wording.
Is it ever correct to keep an em dash?
Yes. A true parenthetical aside, a sudden interruption in dialogue, or a dramatic pause before a punchline are all legitimate uses. The problem isn't the mark itself, it's the density. One well-placed em dash in a page of writing reads as a stylistic choice. Six of them reads as a pattern.
Does this tool change my meaning?
Mostly not, since commas can carry the same pause in a sentence, but it's a mechanical swap and won't catch cases where the original sentence actually needed a stronger break than a comma provides. Always reread the cleaned version and fix any spot that feels off.
What about en-dashes in number ranges?
Those are untouched. The tool only matches the em dash character, so a range like "10–15 minutes" passes through exactly as written.
For more on spotting the pattern before you even reach for a tool, read why AI loves the em dash and how to spot it and a prompt to cut em dashes and the rule of three. Once the dashes are gone, run the result through the AI-ism checker to catch what's left, or start from our free humanizer prompt next time so you don't have to clean it up after the fact.