Smart Quotes Converter

WHAT IT DOES

Smart Quotes Converter is a browser extension that scans any webpage for straight quotes and apostrophes and converts them to typographically correct curly/smart quotes. It transforms straight double quotes (") into opening and closing curly quotes (“ ”) and straight apostrophes (') into curly apostrophes (’). The tool also converts double hyphens (--) to em dashes (—) and triple dots (...) to ellipsis characters (…). Unlike simple find-and-replace tools, Smart Quotes Converter provides a live preview showing exactly what will change before you commit, and includes a full revert function to undo all changes instantly. The tool is ideal for writers, editors, publishers, and anyone who cares about typographic quality in their web content.

WHERE IT RUNS

Smart Quotes Converter works on any webpage that contains text. It runs locally in your browser as a lightweight userscript, scanning text nodes across the entire page while avoiding script tags, style blocks, and form inputs. It works on blog posts, articles, documentation pages, email drafts, social media content, academic papers, and any other text-based content. The tool handles static pages, dynamically loaded content via AJAX, and single-page applications where content updates without page reloads. All processing occurs entirely in your browser—no text is ever sent to any server.

HOW TO USE

After installation, open the floating panel by clicking the extension icon. The panel automatically scans the page and shows a preview of all conversions that would be applied, with highlighted changes in green. Use the toggle switches to control which conversions to apply: straight quotes to smart quotes, apostrophes to curly apostrophes, double hyphens to em dashes, and triple dots to ellipsis. Each toggle updates the preview in real time. Click the Preview button to refresh the preview display, the Apply button to commit the conversions to the page, and the Revert button to restore all text to its original state. The count display shows how many characters will be or have been converted. All conversion preferences are saved per domain.

REAL MECHANISM — WHY THIS WORKS

Most quote conversion tools use simple global find-and-replace that cannot distinguish opening from closing quotes, resulting in typographically incorrect text. Smart Quotes Converter uses a context-aware conversion engine that analyzes each quote character's position within the text. The engine first scans the text and identifies all quote characters, then determines whether each quote is an opening quote (preceded by whitespace, opening parenthesis, or start of string) or a closing quote (preceded by text and followed by whitespace or punctuation). For apostrophes, the engine uses a heuristic that distinguishes possessive apostrophes and contractions from straight foot marks, applying the curly apostrophe character (’) in most contexts. For double hyphens, the engine converts exactly two consecutive hyphens to a single em dash (—) while leaving single hyphens and triple hyphens unchanged. For ellipsis, the engine converts three consecutive dots to the single Unicode ellipsis character (…). The engine preserves all surrounding text and formatting by operating at the text-node level, replacing only the characters that match the conversion rules. The preview mode uses a character-by-character comparison to highlight exactly which characters will change, giving users complete confidence before applying.

THE PANEL

The floating panel is fully draggable and remembers its position per site, snapping to the edges of the viewport when dragged near them. You can collapse the panel to a small icon to minimize screen distraction and expand it back with a single click. The panel is resizable from the bottom-right corner, giving you more space to view conversion options and statistics. Press the Escape key to close the panel instantly. The panel remains open across page navigation within the same domain, maintaining your current toggle states. All preferences—panel position and conversion toggle states—are saved per domain for a seamless experience.

PLEASE NOTE

Smart Quotes Converter requires the free BotGentz extension to be installed and enabled, as it relies on the cross-extension messaging API provided by BotGentz for DOM access permissions. Because websites frequently update their structure, scanning and conversion may require periodic script updates to maintain compatibility. If the tool does not convert text as expected, please check for updates or report the issue. All text processing occurs entirely in your browser. No page content, text samples, or conversion results are ever sent to any server. The extension does not read, store, or transmit any personal information. It only reads and modifies the DOM of the pages you choose to interact with, and all changes are fully reversible using the Revert function.