Your project style sheet and specific entries in the Microsoft Manual of Style are the primary sources for hyphenation of product and computer-related terms. However, rules of hyphenation are not always easily applied. In general, if there is no possibility of confusion, do not use hyphenation. Make a note of decisions about ambiguous terms on your project style sheet.
For information about hyphenation of common words, see the American Heritage Dictionary and The Chicago Manual of Style. For information about acceptable hyphenation in line endings, see Line breaks (Chapter 7). For information about hyphenating with prefixes, see Prefixes (Chapter 8). See also Capitalization (Chapter 7), Dashes, key combination (Appendix A), Numbers (Chapter 7).
Observe the following rules when hyphenating modifiers:
Hyphenate two or more words that precede and modify a noun as a unit if confusion might otherwise result.
Microsoft style
built-in drive
lower-left corner
high-level language
high-level-language compiler
read-only memory
floating-point decimal
line-by-line scrolling
memory-resident program
scrolling line by line (adverb)
Hyphenate two words that precede and modify a noun as a unit if one of the words is a past or present participle.
Microsoft style
copy-protected disk
free-moving graphics
Hyphenate two words that precede and modify a noun as a unit if the two modifiers are a number or single letter and a noun or participle.
Microsoft style
80-column text card
8-point font
16-bit bus
I-beam insertion point
Do not use suspended compound adjectives unless space is limited. In a suspended compound adjective, part of the adjective is separated from the rest of the adjective, such as “first-” in “first- and second-generation computers.” If you must use suspended compound adjectives, include a hyphen with both adjectives. Avoid forming suspended compound adjectives from one-word adjectives.
Microsoft style
Microsoft Project accepts any combination of uppercase and lowercase letters in a password.
Click the upper-right or lower-right corner.
Not Microsoft style
Microsoft Project accepts any combination of upper- and lowercase letters in a password.
Click the upper- or lower-right corner.
Do not hyphenate a predicate adjective unless the Microsoft Manual of Style specifically recommends it. (A predicate adjective is an adjective that complements the subject of a sentence and follows a linking verb.)
Microsoft style
The DVD is copy protected.
The drive is built in.
Many viruses are memory-resident.
This type of Help is context-sensitive.
Hyphenate compound numerals and fractions.
Microsoft style
his forty-first birthday
one-third of the page
three sixty-fourths
Do not put a hyphen between an adverb ending in ly and the verb or adjective that it modifies.
Microsoft style
Most Internet browsers have a highly graphical interface.
Not Microsoft style
Most Internet browsers have a highly-graphical interface.
Use an en dash (–) instead of a hyphen in a compound adjective in which at least one of the elements is an open compound (such as Windows NT–based) or when two or more of the elements are made up of hyphenated compounds (a rare occurrence).
An exception to this guidance is MS-DOS. For example, MS-DOS-based program and MS-DOS-compatible are spelled with two hyphens, not a hyphen and an en dash.
Microsoft style
Windows 7–compatible products
Some programs have dialog box–type options for frequently used operations.
MS-DOS-compatible products
Not Microsoft style
Some programs have dialog box-type options for frequently used operations.
Some programs have dialog-box–type options for frequently used operations.
MS-DOS–compatible products
Do not use a hyphen in key combinations. Use a plus sign instead, as in “Alt+O.”
In contexts that require title capitalization, capitalize any part of a hyphenated compound that would be capitalized absent the hyphen. Always capitalize the final part of a hyphenated compound if it is the last word in a context that requires title capitalization.
Microsoft style (title capitalization)
Installing Add-ins in Word
Installing an Add-In
Run-Time Error Codes
Find a Ready-to-Use Solution
Not Microsoft style (title capitalization)
Installing Add-Ins in Word
Installing an Add-in
Find a Ready-to-use Solution