I wish it were possible to change the default grace-note style from slashed to non-slashed. (Very low priority, but would save time for anyone doing 18-C classical music.)
I found: Engraving Options > Notes > Grace Notes > Slash on Stem > Default length to zero spaces.
Hope that will work for you.
I second that wish.
I’d like to be able to set the non slashed grave note as default.
JackvL, your suggestion is a workaround, but then we don’t have slashed grace notes available, which are also sometimes needed.
Dear K_b,
JackVL solution is NOT a workaround. And if the default setting is to have unslashed grace note, you will be pleased to learn that using alt+{the key you use to enable grace notes} will toggle between slashed and unslashed grace notes!
And if you already have entered those grace notes and wish to change them, you will find the property in the properties panel at the bottom of the screen (you’ll probably have to look for it on the right of the panel, those properties are among the lasts)
Hope it helps!
Great Marc, I’ve learned something.
(the secrets of Dorico revealed…)
Dear Marc,
this would be too nice to be true 
But I am afraid it does not work (I just tried). Once you set the default Slash on Stem lenght to zero = 0 it will not make a difference how the property is set or in which way one inserts grace notes. They from then on will have no slash…
I did not understand the advice as you did. You can choose wether the grace note is slashed or not by default, in Engraving options. Now that I’m looking for it, I cannot find it, so maybe I just dreamed about it…
Page 385 of the manual : « In Dorico, grace notes appear with slashed stems by default. » Sorry about that…
Anyway, use the alt key to modify which slashed/unslashed grace note you need 
You should choose from the get-go what type of grace note it is during selection, as Marc explained, but you can also filter grace notes, so you can just input music as fast as you want and then batch-change their property from an acciaccatura to an appoggiatura.
Thank you both of you, by having a closer look to this issue it is clear now how to handle these situations.
Still it would be nice to have a little switch/choice in the Engraving options (sometimes in the future).
Yes, we agree it should be possible to specify what kind of grace note you get by default. This is on our backlog for implementation in future.
1 Like
while we are on the grace note wishlist
I also would like that the default lenght of a grace note could be fixed differently. 8th or 16th seem so more common than the 1/4 proposed
also the slur could be added auto as a sticky toggle
There is no default length for a grace note - it’s just whatever rhythmic value you have selected when you type /
I know, but when you enter caret mode and select grace note its always 1/4 note, and (for me) a grace note is always written the same 1/8 note with a slur.
I usually enter slurs, grace notes etc after having entered the “Important” notes
Different people want different things. I use grace notes of any length from a half note to a 32nd, so a “default length” wouldn’t be much use. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a whole note grace note somewhere, but I can’t remember exactly where.
On the other hand grace notes with rhythm dots would be useful, for me.
Slurs from single grace notes to the main note are a fairly modern invention - music copyists before the days of mass-market music printing didn’t bother much with “obvious” notations like that. If you want a grace note that is not played legato to the following note, that is what needs notating, not the default situation.
If you enter caret note by double clicking a note (e.g. the note you want to attach the grace note to), the duration is the same as the note you selected, not “always a 1/4 note”.