DOMINA TU MAC

Type Less. Enjoy Life More.

Why text replacement is a total game changer.

Tired of typing the same text—your phone number, email, stock replies—over and over? The text replacement feature in macOS can help. Just set up a shortcut (like “!address”) and whenever you type that, your Mac will replace it with a longer snippet.

To get started, go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Text and click the plus sign to create a new shortcut. In the Replace column, enter your shortcut (for example, “omw”); then, in the With column, enter the longer text (for example, “On my way!”).

To see this shortcut in action, type “omw” in any text field or document, followed by a space.

The shortcuts you create are available on all your devices signed in to the same Apple ID—including your iPhone and iPad.

Use these tips to get more out of this handy feature.

Be unique

Make your shortcuts memorable but not something you’d normally type. You wouldn’t want to use “address” as a shortcut. On the other hand, an obscure string of characters would be hard to remember. 

An easy approach? Preface your shortcuts with an unusual character: “!address.”

Add emoji and symbols

Pressing Control-Command-space opens the macOS emoji browser, but there’s an easier way to call up your favorites. Make a shortcut: “!shrug” for 🤷, for example. Or even for 🤷🤷🤷!

You aren’t limited to basic text—shortcuts can contain Unicode symbols and emoji.

Or create a shortcut that expands to a string of Unicode characters (“!3star” for ★★★☆☆) or obscure characters, like “(c)” for ©.

Make it multiline

Shortcuts can span multiple lines. Press Option-Return to create a line break while typing your expanded text. This is great for entering addresses or stock replies that span more than one paragraph. 

You can also use this technique to get multiline shortcuts on your iPhone and iPad—something you can’t create on those devices.

Go further with apps

Want to tackle more advanced text-replacement techniques? These apps can take you there. 

TypeIt4Me: Built for power users, TypeIt4Me lets you create shortcuts for text, images, and scripts, set your cursor position after replacement (great for snippets where you want to add text after expansion), define shortcut sets, and more.

QuickKey: In addition to standard text shortcuts, QuickKey lets you build boilerplates with editable sections. Whenever you type the shortcut, the app prompts you to fill those placeholders, then pastes the finished text.