This free Windows text tool will substitute the plan you kind

When it works, a text shortcut tool can feel appreciate magic. Cling a couple of shortcuts for your most customarily typed phrases or sentences, and it’s seemingly you’ll per chance well even be in a blueprint to enter them straight with factual a couple of keystrokes. With a bit of of practice, text shortcuts—most continuously acknowledged as text growth—can sever down on plentiful portions of repetitive typing.

For a while, I old a program known as PhaseExpress for text shortcuts. It didn’t repeatedly work reliably, and I purchased drained of its periodic nags to pay for useless extra aspects. Earlier this year, I started procuring for text expander picks, which led me to a colorful app—with an very superb more good title—known as Beeftext.

Beeftext is an open-source Windows program that’s free to use, easy to set aside up, and has no longer one of many annoyances I experienced with PhaseExpress. When you’ve installed the app, you set aside up “combos” that consist of the text you desire to need to write and a temporary keyword you utilize to invent that text appear. Beeftext works interior any Windows app, and in difference to the predictive text tools constructed into apps appreciate Gmail, you’re going to be in a blueprint to invent it write the relaxation you desire to appreciate.

Some examples of how I’m utilizing Beeftext now:

• Contact records. As an instance, I kind “@@” to write my email handle, and “@adr” to enter my dwelling handle.
• Typing “—” in Windows, whose emdash keyboard shortcut in every other case requires a amount pad. I use “—_” to enter this.
• Email templates. My non-public well-liked: Rejecting PR pitches by typing “!Gopa,” which turns into “Gonna jog on this one. Thanks – Jared”
• Googling particular websites. As an instance, I’ve set aside up “pcw:” to kind “living:pcworld.com ‘Jared Newman,’” which helps me leer up my old articles here.
• Retrieving forgettable records, appreciate the hexadecimal code for the color plan of my newsletter. (Repeat: Don’t use this for passwords or various sensitive particulars.)
• Easy emoji entry: Whereas you’re going to be in a blueprint to continually hit Rep + . to elevate up Windows’ emoji picker, typing them in Beeftext is faster. I use !thumb to construct a thumbs-up ?? on the wing.

In total, Beeftext is supreme for any convey the set aside you’re typing the identical text time and all over again. Setting up shortcuts will set up you time and abet assign away with typos.

Guidelines on how to use Beeftext

When you’ve installed Beeftext, head to Combos > Contemporary and give your first shortcut a nickname. Below Keyword, enter the phrase you’ll use to trigger the shortcut. Below Snippet, enter the text you desire to appreciate it to generate.

Jared Newman / IDG

You’ll also gaze a couple of extra solutions: Changing the Matching possibility from Strict to Unfastened will trigger the shortcut although you kind the keyword interior one other be aware. When you desire to appreciate the shortcut to be case-insensitive, you’re going to be in a blueprint to substitute it here as smartly.

After growing some shortcuts, it’s seemingly you’ll per chance moreover handle into yarn sorting them into groups so that they’re more uncomplicated to hunt down. As an instance, I in actuality appreciate one group for private particulars, and one other one for work-connected typing duties.

Heading to to File > Preferences also allows you to tweak how Beeftext works. You would possibly perchance well moreover disable shortcut sounds (even supposing I earn them satisfying), require hitting spacebar to substantiate a shortcut, set aside up a picker window the set aside you’re going to be in a blueprint to handle shortcuts manually out of your list, and more. When you head to Superior > Generate Cheat Sheet, it’ll construct a .CSV spreadsheet of all of your shortcuts, which you’re going to be in a blueprint to open or print for fleet reference.

Jared Newman / IDG

Lastly, handle into yarn making a backup of your shortcuts below Superior > Backup, particularly if you propose to use Beeftext on more than one PCs. I set up this backup file to a folder in OneDrive, so I’m able to restore all my shortcuts on a novel set up of Beeftext with factual a couple of clicks.

Bringing text shortcuts with you

Despite the proven fact that Beeftext is available finest on Windows, you’re going to be in a blueprint to restful use text shortcuts for your mobile phone or tablet with replacement tools. Right here’s how:

iPhone and iPad

Apple has its receive text shortcut tool constructed factual into iOS, hidden away below Settings > General > Keyboards > Text Replacement. Hit the + button to construct a unique shortcut, then bear out the Phrase and Shortcut fields. 

Unfortunately, this plan doesn’t reinforce multi-line text shortcuts, however there would possibly be a workaround if you’ve got gotten a Mac: Head to System Preferences > Keyboard > Text > Shortcuts in MacOS, then hit Probability-Return to construct unique lines as you set aside up your shortcuts. (You would possibly perchance well also factual copy and paste a block of text from one other text editing app.) Supplied both devices are utilizing the identical iCloud yarn, Apple will automatically sync your multi-line shortcuts over to iOS.

Android

Google’s unswerving keyboard on Android devices has a constructed-in text shortcut characteristic if the set aside to leer. First, invent certain that you just’ve downloaded and switched to Google’s Gboard app—many Android devices ship with their receive keyboards in its set aside—then hit the equipment icon above the keyboard. Head to Dictionary > Private dictionary > English (US), then hit the + button. Form the phrase you’d receive to enter in the “kind a be aware” topic, then kind the the keyword shortcut you’d receive to use below.

Jared Newman / IDG

As with Apple’s map, you’re going to be in a blueprint to’t without extend enter multi-line shortcuts in this menu, however you’re going to be in a blueprint to use any text editing app to write down more than one lines of text, then copy and paste it into the “kind a be aware” topic.

Unnecessary to snarl, these aren’t the finest solutions for text shortcuts. When you’re racy to pay, you’re going to be in a blueprint to examine out various tools appreciate Text Expander, aText, or ActiveWords, which present developed aspects appreciate rich text formatting, autocorrection, and cloud syncing.

But while you’ve in no device gotten into text shortcuts earlier than, it’s good to restful a minimal of are attempting free tools appreciate Beeftext first. They would possibly perchance per chance moreover prove being all you wish.

A version of this article in the originate seemed in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech recommendation newsletter. Take a look at in, and he would possibly perchance well moreover factual use Beeftext to abet send you a welcome message.