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Switching · All apps

Switch from TextExpander

Shorthand reads TextExpander’s own files. Your abbreviations, fill-ins, and group settings come across unchanged, and your snippet codes keep working.

Four steps, about a minute.

  1. 1

    Download and open Shorthand

    Drag it to Applications and open it. Accept the license, then allow Accessibility access when it asks. A green check mark shows when it’s on.

  2. 2

    Import your library

    Choose File ▸ Import Snippets… (⇧⌘I). Shorthand looks in Dropbox, iCloud Drive, and Application Support, and shows a button when it finds Settings.textexpander.

  3. 3

    Turn TextExpander off

    Quit it, or turn off its expansion, so abbreviations don’t expand twice. Shorthand warns you while it’s running.

  4. 4

    Match your expansion setting

    Pick the same “when should abbreviations expand” choice you used in TextExpander. That’s it: keep typing.

What you can import

Importing copies your snippets. It never changes the original file.

File

What it is

Settings.textexpander

Your whole library: every group and snippet.

A group .textexpander file

One exported group.

A .textexpanderbackup folder

An automatic backup; each group inside is imported.

A .txt, .csv, or .tsv file

One snippet per row: abbreviation, content, and optionally a label. A header row is fine.

What comes across

  • Abbreviations, labels, content, and use counts.

  • Plain-text, formatted-text, and script snippets.

  • Each snippet’s case setting.

  • Each group’s “expand after” rule, app rules, and whether it’s searched.

  • Your lifetime “characters saved,” shown in Statistics.

  • TextExpander’s “Suggested Snippets” group is left behind by default, because it can hold private typing.

Settings, Expansion tab: when abbreviations expand, delimiters and case

TextExpander 5 and Shorthand, side by side

TextExpander 5 feature

In Shorthand

Abbreviations, delimiters, expand immediately

Same

Case sensitive, ignore case, adapt to case

Same

Plain and formatted snippets

Same

AppleScript, shell, and JavaScript snippets

Better: run in the background with a time limit

Fill-ins: fields, pop-ups, optional sections, %filltop%

Same

Dates, date math, clipboard, nested snippets, keys, cursor

Same

Group app rules (all, except, only)

Better: per snippet too

Search hotkey and inline search

Same

Suggested snippets

Better: opt-in, stores only hashes

Statistics

Better: imports your lifetime characters saved

Dropbox or iCloud sync

Partly: the whole library syncs; no separate folder per group

Backups and restore

Same

Export a group to TextExpander format

Same

Groups subscribed from a URL

Not available

Calculations and conditional text

New

Tags, Trash, multi-select, ⌘Z

New

Encryption and app lock

New

App and website blocklist

New

AI (12 providers)

New

Runs natively on Apple Silicon

New: TextExpander 5 needs Rosetta

Compared with TextExpander 5.1.5’s own help and real libraries. TextExpander’s later subscription versions aren’t compared.

Not affiliated with TextExpander

TextExpander is a trademark of its owner. Shorthand is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by TextExpander or its owner. The name is used only to describe compatibility. Shorthand reads TextExpander’s files so you can move your own snippets; it contains no TextExpander code.

Ready when you are.

Your TextExpander library stays exactly as it is, so you can try Shorthand with nothing to lose.