How to use typing shortcuts on the Mac
Sunday, 02 September 2012
Your Mac can type text for you, by using macros. That means you type a few letters of your choosing and the Mac automatically replaces them with something different. This is specially handy if you often type teh
instead of the
, for example. Guest author Zaheer Mohiuddin explains how to access and use symbol and text substitution in OS X.
Zaheer Mohiuddin is a sophomore at University of California, Irvine. When he’s not working on his multiple tech projects, you can catch him photoblogging the world. Follow him on Twitter @zm99.
In an attempt to streamline my advanced customer support system *ahem* email for my side project, I started looking for some text expansion tools. If you’re not looking for something too fancy that just works, the built-in Mac (I believe it was introduced in Lion) text expander is great.
Miraz adds: if you need macros that go beyond the simple then see Book Review: Take Control of TextExpander, Cut your work in half: TextExpander types text for you and Type routine text with TextExpander.
Set up the built-in text expander
Here’s how to set up the built-in macros:
- Go to
System Preferences
and click on theLanguage & Text
pane. - Click on the
Text
tab. - Make sure
Use symbol and text substitution
is checked.

The text substitution window.
Symbol substitution
In the Text
pane you should see a list of items the Mac will substitute for you. It may include symbols such as © and perhaps fractions. Any that are checked will be automatically substituted when you type them.
For example, open a text editor such as TextEdit and type (c)
. Then keep typing. When you look back in a moment or two you should see your Mac has automatically changed the (c)
to ©
.
Miraz notes: In my experiments while testing this Tip I found the Mac didn’t instantly change the typed characters. I had to actually type a little more before the change occurred.
Add new substitutions
You’re not limited to the built-in substitutions though.
- Choose the
Text
tab in the top row and click+
below the list to add a new text expansion. - Choose a unique phrase to trigger your text expansion. Tip: use symbols or less common letters to avoid accidental expansions. For example, use
:sig
to expand to your email signature. If you try to use justsig
then any time you type words such assign
orsignificant
you’ll get a surprise.

Use a symbol to avoid triggering the expansion when you would prefer not to.
Tips
- I found it easiest to type my text in a text editor and then paste it in the window. You avoid having to type in a tiny box and dealing with new lines.
- If you choose to type your expansion in the window: To add a new-line break use
Control (⌃) Return
and leave a full line in between the lines you want to break.
For example:
Thanks, Zaheer M.
becomes
Thanks, Zaheer M.
This Tip was originally published as Free Mac Text Expansion Tool (Built-In). It has been edited for inclusion here.