Switching · All apps
Switch from Espanso
Shorthand reads Espanso’s own YAML match files, so there’s nothing to export. Triggers become abbreviations, and forms, dates, the clipboard, and the cursor become Shorthand codes.
Step by step
1
Find your match folder
In Terminal, run espanso path. Your snippets are in the match folder inside the Config folder it shows.
2
Import it
In Shorthand, choose File ▸ Import Snippets… (⇧⌘I), click Choose File…, and pick the match folder (or one .yml file). Each file becomes a group.
3
Stop Espanso
Run espanso stop, or quit it from the menu bar, so snippets don’t expand twice.
4
Check the leftovers
Shorthand tells you how many Espanso variables had no equivalent, such as shell or script variables. Search your new groups for their names and rebuild them, for example as script snippets.
What gets converted
In the other app
In Shorthand
What it does
$|$
%|
Where the cursor ends up
{{clipboard}} (clipboard var)
%clipboard
The clipboard text
{{d}} (date var, format)
%B %e
Date codes in the same strftime style
date var with offset: 86400
%@+1D
Tomorrow (offsets in days, hours, minutes, or seconds)
form: [[name]]
%filltext:name=name%
A fill-in field
shell / script / choice vars
Kept as text
No direct equivalent
Good to know
Triggers with several aliases (triggers:) become one snippet per trigger.
A % sign in your text stays a percent sign.
Espanso’s regex triggers and app-specific config files aren’t imported. Set up per-app rules in Shorthand instead.
Not yet confirmed: Tested with sample files written from Espanso’s documentation, not yet with a real Espanso config. If something doesn’t come across, email support@shorthandexpander.com.
Shorthand is a text expander for Mac. Your Espanso files stay exactly as they are.