Creating and using text shortcuts

There a lot of things I find myself retyping over and over. Things like my address so I can have items delivered to me, or a quick “Thanks but I’m not interested”. Those might seem like trivial things but when you have to type them many times each week, having some shortcuts can save you a few seconds. And when you add those seconds up they can amount to minutes and hours over the course of a month or year.

How to create text shortcuts in macOS.

1. Launch System Settings. You’ll find it in the Application folder or you can quickly access it using Spotlight. 
2. Scroll down the list of items on the left side and click on Keyboard.
3. Click the ‘Text replacements…’ button.
4. To add a new text replacement, click the ‘+’ button at the bottom left of the list of items.
5. Type in the shortcut you want to use into the ‘Replace’ box. In the video below, I’ve simply typed ‘ty’. 
6. Type in the text you want to replace ‘ty’ with into the ‘With’ box.
7. Click the ‘Add’ button.
8. Once you’ve finished creating text replacement shortcuts, click the ‘Done’ button and close System Settings. 

Whenever I type ‘ty’ now, it is instantly replaced with ‘Thankyou’. 

If you have multiple devices all connected to the same iCloud account, your shortcuts will be synchronised across those devices. So, my ‘ty’ shortcut is also available on my other Mac, iPad and iPhone. 

If you prefer, you can also create text replacement shortcuts in iOS and iPadOS. If I wanted to create the same ‘Thankyou’ replacement on my iPhone I’d follow these steps. 

How to create text shortcuts in iOS and iPadOS.

1. Launch Settings. 
2. Go to General | Keyboard and tap on ‘Text Replacement’. 
3. Tap in the ‘+’ button in the top-right of the screen. 
4. In the ‘Phrase’ box type the word ‘Thankyou’. 
5. In the ‘Shortcut’ box type ‘ty’.
6. Tap on ‘Save’.

Those shortcuts, on their own, might not save you heaps of time but those seconds will accumulate over time.