# Dashes ellipses and quotes

**URL:** <https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/dashes-ellipses-and-quotes/129947>\
**Category:** Scrivener for macOS\
**Tags:** support, text-editing, interface\
**Created:** [September 13, 2022, 12:06pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/dashes-ellipses-and-quotes/129947 "2022-09-13T12:06:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![midas0441](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@midas0441](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/midas0441)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 12:06pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/dashes-ellipses-and-quotes/129947/1 "2022-09-13T12:06:52Z")

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I’m trying to remove auto-correction of dashes, ellipses and quotes in the Editor (as I type) for an existing project in Scrivener. Under Prefences \> Corrections \> Punctuation, I de-selected “Use smart quotes…” and “Use smart dashes and ellipses…”. Unfortunately, both apply to **new projects**. When I create a new project, the dashes and ellipses are indeed left alone, as intended — no automatic corrections. That’s great… but, for an existing project, changing these settings appears to have no effect in the Editor. How do I stop auto-correction to smart-whatever in the Editor for an existing project?

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**Author:** ![sobs](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@sobs](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/sobs)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 12:15pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/dashes-ellipses-and-quotes/129947/2 "2022-09-13T12:15:27Z")

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In each project, check the settings for:

1. **Edit → Substitutions → Smart Quotes**

2. **Edit → Substitutions → Smart Dashes and Ellipses**

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![midas0441](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@midas0441](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/midas0441)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 12:20pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/dashes-ellipses-and-quotes/129947/3 "2022-09-13T12:20:09Z")

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Thanks, that worked. Very counterintuitive.

I would have expected project-specific settings to be under Project \> Project Settings. It feels like this setting could be presented in a more streamlined, intuitive way.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sobs](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@sobs](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/sobs)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 12:54pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/dashes-ellipses-and-quotes/129947/4 "2022-09-13T12:54:19Z")

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For things like this the **Help → Search** tool can be useful ( **CMD SHIFT ?** or **CMD SHIFT FORWARD-SLASH** ).

In this case, searching for ‘smart’ or ‘substitutions’ or ‘dashes’ takes the user to the setting they need.

The menu options are vast, and everyone has ideas about how they should be structured. 🤯

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**Author:** ![kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/kewms/32/15720_2.png) [@kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/kewms)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 4:24pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/dashes-ellipses-and-quotes/129947/5 "2022-09-13T16:24:07Z")

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These settings affect the current Editor. To change the defaults Scrivener-wide, go to Scrivener → Preferences → Corrections.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sobs](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@sobs](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/sobs)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/dashes-ellipses-and-quotes/129947/6 "2022-09-13T19:31:07Z")

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Indeed. That’s what the OP did initially. All understood.