Smart Quotes Remover

Paste text copied from Word, Google Docs, a chat app, or a website and press Convert quotes. Every curly quote, apostrophe, prime, and angle quote becomes a plain " or '.

Try an example

About this smart quotes remover

Word processors, phones, and publishing tools turn straight quotes into curly “typographic” ones as you type. They look good in prose but break anything a computer has to read: JSON parsers reject curly delimiters, JavaScript and Python throw syntax errors, shell commands fail, CSV columns split in the wrong place, and search finds nothing because ’ is not the same character as '. This tool replaces all fourteen common variants, including the German low quotes, French guillemets, single angle quotes, and the prime marks used for feet and inches, with plain ASCII " and '. Everything else in your text, including line breaks and other Unicode characters, stays exactly as it was.

How to remove smart quotes

  1. Paste your text. Paste code, JSON, a command, or any text with curly quotes, or press an example.
  2. Press Convert quotes. All curly quotes and apostrophes become straight quotes, and the counts show how many were changed.
  3. Copy the result. Copy or download the clean text and paste it back into your editor, terminal, or spreadsheet.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my JSON fail with curly quotes?

JSON only accepts the straight double quote, U+0022, around keys and strings. A “ or ” looks similar but is a different character, so the parser reports an unexpected token.

Will this break quotes inside JSON values?

Curly quotes inside a value become straight ones too, which may need escaping as \" afterwards. The Valid JSON example shows this case; run the JSON through a validator after converting.

How do I stop Word from adding smart quotes?

In Word, open AutoCorrect Options, AutoFormat As You Type, and clear “Straight quotes with smart quotes”. Google Docs has a similar setting under Tools, Preferences.

Are apostrophes changed too?

Yes. The curly apostrophe ’ is the same character as the right single quote, so words like don’t become don't with a straight apostrophe.

Is my text uploaded?

No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you paste is sent to a server or saved anywhere.