support

Help

TextExpander comes with extensive online help, TextExpander's help is available from within its preference pane in System Preferences. Just click on the question mark button in the lower right corner. You can also view the latest Help online or download a PDF version—we frequently update the Help based on your feedback.

FAQs

Read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below. Your question might already be answered.

Can't Find Your Answer?

If you can't find the answer you need in the Help or the FAQs, send an email to TextExpander Support. SmileOnMyMac's responsive support team will answer your email as quickly as possible!

We try to answer all our support mail within 24 hours — and most of the time much sooner than that! If you've emailed us and have not had a response within 24 hours, your email may not have reached us for some reason. Please resend it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I install TextExpander?

View the installation instructions.

How do I buy TextExpander?

Buy TextExpander now from our web store. To buy from within the product itself, or via fax or phone, click here for instructions.

What if I don't have Mac OS X 10.4 or later?

For Mac OS X 10.3.9, please download TextExpander 1.3.1.

How do I choose an abbreviation for my snippet?

A good abbreviation is:
- short
- easy to remember
- unlikely to be typed by accident
- unique
Duplicating an abbreviations first character (ddate, ssig, zzip) is one way of creating abbreviations that meet these critieria.

Can I import my snippets and abbreviations from another typing automation utility?

Yes, TextExpander can import from Textpander, TypeIt4Me (v2 & 3), and Typinator (v1). In the Snippets tab of the TextExpander system preferences pane, click and hold the plus icon [ plusbutton.gif image here ] under the list of snippets. Choose "Add Group from File..." Select your current snippets file. It will be imported as a new group in TextExpander.

Is TextExpander a keylogger? Is TextExpander a safety risk? Are you spying on me?

While TextExpander does indeed log keystrokes, these keystrokes are never saved or sent anywhere. Moreover, TextExpander empties its cache whenever you type the spacebar. Thus, TextExpander hardly ever remembers more than 20 characters of what you most recently typed. Using TextExpander does not compromise your privacy.

Why does TextExpander force me to enable access for assistive devices?

For privacy reasons (see above), Mac OS X does not allow third-party applications (such as TextExpander) to log keystrokes, unless access for assistive devices is turned on.

How do I enable access for assistive devices?

Go to the System Preferences and activate the Universal Access preference pane ‚Äî the one with the little person in front of a blue background. Once you're there, check the checkbox at the very bottom of that pane.

I want TextExpander to expand automatically when I type a specific delimiter character after my abbreviation. Which characters are delimiters?

Delimiters are [Space], [Tab], [Return], [Esc] as well as over 30 other characters such as period, comma, slash, backslash, brackets, and tilde. Click "Set Delimiters" in TextExpander Preferences to see all available delimiters.

What happens to the delimiter after the abbreviation is expanded?

In TextExpander Preferences, the menu "Expand abbreviations:" has two choices:
- at delimiter (keep delimiter)
- at delimiter (abandon delimiter)
To override this setting for a specific snippet, add a "Keep delimiter" specifier ("%+", without the surrounding quotation marks) or an "Abandon delimiter" specifier ("%-") to the very end of your snippet.

How do I prevent expansion an abbreviation?

Type left arrow then right arrow in the middle of the abbreviation. The arrow keys clear the key log and thus prevent snippet expansion. Another option is to set a hotkey to disable TextExpander using the Hotkeys... button under the Preferences tab.

How do I enable/disable .Mac synchronization?

.Mac synchronization is managed via the Sync tab in the .Mac preferences pane. You'll find TextExpander as one of the items you can sync. Check the box to its left then either sync immediately or at a later time. Synchronization only affects snippet groups specified to be synchronized in TextExpander's preferences. You can turn synchronization on or off for each TextExpander snippet group.

How do I synchronize all of my snippets on .Mac?

You'll need to check that all groups in TextExpander have synchronization turned on, and then turn on TextExpander syncing in the Sync tab in the .Mac preferences pane.

Where are my TextExpander settings stored?

[Home]/Library/Application Support/TextExpander/Settings.textexpander

How do I restore my TextExpander settings with Time Machine?

Search for the Settings.textexpander file in Time Machine, and then you can restore it.

How do I reset TextExpander?

Just trash the TextExpander settings file.

If you use math symbols a lot, and rely on the Edit->Special Character... palette, you can save time by setting up TextExpander for the commonly used symbols. So, for example:
llar to →
llla to λ
llGa to Γ
llth to ⊢
(ll stands for latex. Thanks to Alan Schmitt for this suggestion).

Why do percentage signs (%) in my snippet text not appear when it is expanded?

The percentage sign (%) is a special character to TextExpander. It is used to indicate that date, time, or other information should be substituted at that point in your snippet.

How can I use a percentage sign (%) in my snippet?

Simply double-up on percentage signs which appear in your snippet. For example, if you want your snippet text to be "50% discount", enter it as "50%% discount".

What are the special symbols recognized by TextExpander?

%Y Date: Year: 4 digits (2006)
%y Date: Year: 2 digits (06)
%B Date: Month: long name (January)
%b Date: Month: short name (Jan)
%m Date: Month: 2 digits (01)
%1m Date: Month: 1-2 digits (1)
%A Date: Day: long name (Monday)
%a Date: Day: short name (Mon)
%d Date: Day: 2 digits (01)
%e Date: Day: 1 digit (1)

%H Time: Hour: 24 hour clock, 2 digits (14)
%I Time: Hour: (capital letter i) 12 hour clock, 2 digits (09)
%1H Time: Hour: 24 hour clock, 1-2 digits (9)
%1I Time: Hour: (capital letter i) 12 hour clock, 1-2 digits (5)
%M Time: Minute: 2 digits (09)
%1M Time: Minute: 1-2 digits (9)
%S Time: Second: 2 digits (05)
%1S Time: Second: 1-2 digits (5)

%snippet:% : insert abbreviation here

%clipboard : insert clipboard contents here

%| : (shift-\) position cursor here once snippet is pasted
%> : cursor right
%< : cursor left
%^ : (shift-6) cursor up
%v : (letter v) cursor down
%+ : keep delimiter
%- : abandon delimiter

My Dock won't hide when I use the Cmd + Opt + D shortcut. What happened?

The problem described here is a known bug in Mac OS X with Universal Access Keyloggers. When keyloggers are enabled, there is a problem with hiding and showing the Dock using cmd+option+D. This affects all keylogging programs, including TextExpander.

One of our users submitted a clever workaround. In the Keyboard & Mouse System Preferences, under the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, under "Dock, Expos√©, and Dashboard", next to "Automatically hide and show the Dock", if you double-click the shortcut and change it to something other than cmd+option+D, you'll find that the dock will hide and show properly.

Rest assured, we have reported this bug to Apple, and we expect they'll fix it in a future release of Mac OS X.

I started using Quicken and now TextExpander snippets don't expand. Why not?

There is a conflict between the Quicken Scheduler and all keylogger programs, including TextExpander. When the Quicken Scheduler is running, expansions can't be triggered via the keyboard, but can still be accessed via the TextExpander menu.

Does TextExpander work with Java, X11, and/or Parallels?

Not at this time. Mac OS X's assistive devices key logging does not support these environments. TextExpander relies on assistive devices key logging to capture keystrokes and so does not work in these environments. We continue to explore ways we might support these environments in a future version of TextExpander.

How do I uninstall TextExpander?

1) Go to TextExpander's preference pane in System Preferences and uncheck "Enable TextExpander" in the Preferences tab.
2) Choose "Show All" in System Preferences.
3) Control-click on the TextExpander icon and select "Remove TextExpander Preference Pane" from the resulting contextual menu.

I've lost my serial number. How can I get it again?

Use the handy online serial number lookup.