Smart Quotes Converter
Convert straight quotes to smart (curly) quotes, or smart quotes back to straight. Handles both double and single quotation marks. Free — runs entirely in your browser.
" ' → “” ‘’
Input Text
Converted Output
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Typography distinguishes between straight quotation marks (" and ') — the default characters on most keyboards, inherited from typewriter conventions — and curly (typographic) quotation marks (“ ” and ‘ ’), which are the standard in professionally typeset text. Most word processors (Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Pages) automatically convert straight quotes to curly as you type, but plain text editors, code editors, and web forms do not.
Curly quotes are encoded as distinct Unicode characters: U+201C (left double quotation mark), U+201D (right double quotation mark), U+2018 (left single quotation mark), and U+2019 (right single quotation mark). They are directional — the opening mark curves one way and the closing mark curves the other — and in professional publishing they are non-negotiable. Books, magazine articles, and high-quality web typography always use curly quotes.
The reverse conversion — curly to straight — is equally important for developers. Code that contains curly quotes inside string literals will fail to parse. Configuration files, JSON, YAML, and source code require standard ASCII straight quotes. When text is copied from a Word document or a rich-text CMS into code, smart quotes cause subtle syntax errors that can be difficult to diagnose. This tool converts in both directions.
Common Use Cases
Preparing copy for print or editorial publishing
Book manuscripts, magazine articles, and newspaper copy submitted to editors or typesetters must use curly quotes consistently. Straight quotes in submitted manuscripts are a sign of unprofessional preparation and require manual correction before layout. Converting the full document from straight to curly quotes in one pass ensures typographic consistency throughout, particularly for long texts with hundreds of quote pairs.
Fixing pasted text in code and config files
Developers frequently paste text from documents, emails, or chat apps into code files, JSON configs, YAML, or shell scripts. If the source text contained smart quotes, they appear inside string literals as Unicode characters, causing JSON.parse() failures, YAML parse errors, and shell syntax errors. The curly-to-straight conversion strips all smart quotes in one pass, restoring standard ASCII quotation marks.
Normalizing user input for databases and APIs
Search systems and databases that need to match user queries against stored content must normalize quotation marks for consistent matching. A user searching for 'don’t' should match records containing 'don't'. E-commerce search, support ticket systems, and content management platforms normalize smart quotes in both incoming queries and stored content to prevent missed matches caused by quote style differences.
Smart vs Straight Quotes
Double
Straight: "
Smart: “”
Single
Straight: '
Smart: ‘’