{"id":16010,"date":"2018-10-01T13:49:54","date_gmt":"2018-10-01T13:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dottotech.com\/?p=16010"},"modified":"2019-05-29T20:05:43","modified_gmt":"2019-05-29T20:05:43","slug":"using-text-expander-to-save-time-a-quick-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dottotech.com\/using-text-expander-to-save-time-a-quick-tutorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Text Expander to Save Time: A Quick Tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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I've been using TextExpander<\/a>* for about seven years– the tech equivalent of roughly a century.<\/p>

Like the name implies,\u00a0TextExpander lets you use keyboard short cuts to insert pre-specified text snippets.<\/p>

There's a reason why this simple, but incredibly useful, tool has stayed at the top of my productivity toolkit. And today, I want to show you some of the things it can do and how you can use it to save hours every week.<\/p>

A look at TextExpander<\/a><\/h2>

\"\"<\/a><\/h2>

Unlike a lot of the productivity software we talk about, Text Expander actually downloads to your computer.<\/p>

If you want to test it out for yourself, you can download a test-drive version.<\/p>

Inside Text Expander<\/h3>

\"\"<\/p>

When you open the desktop app, on the left-hand side you'll see all your TextExpander snippets.<\/p>

On the right hand side, you'll see the actual plain text. Here, you can adjust the formatting, add (or change) the abbreviation and add labels.<\/p>

But how do you create a snippet in the first place? Let's take a look.<\/p>

Creating a snippet<\/h3>

\"\"<\/p>

To add a new snippet to your library, click on the plus sign in the top left-hand corner. You can create a new group to add it to or just drag and drop your snippet into an existing group.<\/p>

Snippet groups work like Evernote notebooks– they make it easy to organize your snippets by themes like CTAs, Spelling errors, canned responses or whatever else you pick.<\/p>

Let's take a quick look at some of the different things you can do when you create a snippet.<\/p>

Add a label<\/strong><\/p>

The label is the name of the document– it tells you what the snippet is. Set a label that makes sense to you.<\/p>

Set your abbreviation<\/strong><\/p>

This is the keyboard shortcut you'll use to recall the snippet. I start all my snippets with a # because I began my naming system before hashtags were a thing.<\/p>

If I was starting today, I'd probably use a more innocuous symbol like % or ^. Starting with a symbol differentiates the snippet shortcut from its corresponding word version (if you use full words for your snippet shortcuts).<\/p>

You can make your abbreviation case sensitive or ignore the case. Set your preferences based on what works for you– the whole point of TextExpander is to make your life easier.<\/p>

Add “fill in” fields<\/strong><\/p>

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>

You can add different fill-in fields including:<\/p>