Help center
How Shorthand works
Every window and setting, explained with screenshots. The same guide is inside the app under Help ▸ Shorthand Help (⌘?).
Start here
Welcome
Type a short abbreviation, get your full snippet.
Getting started
Five minutes from opening Shorthand to your first expansion.
Importing snippets
Bring your snippets from TextExpander, aText, TypeIt4Me, Rocket Typist, Text Blaze, Espanso, Raycast, Alfred, macOS Text Replacements, or any app that exports a spreadsheet.
Exporting your snippets
Your snippets are yours.
Everyday use
Abbreviations & expansion
How Shorthand notices an abbreviation and replaces it with your snippet, and the settings that control it.
Snippets & groups
A snippet is a piece of text with an abbreviation.
Tags, Trash & multi-select
Work on many snippets at once, label them with tags across groups, and get back anything you delete from the Trash.
Template packs
Ready-made groups of snippets you can add in one click: email, support, dates, symbols, meetings, AI writing, developers, and more.
Search, menus & hotkeys
Can’t remember an abbreviation?
Per-app snippets
Choose which apps a snippet or group works in.
Snippet content
Fill-ins
Fill-ins turn a fixed snippet into a template.
Dates & times
Snippets can type today’s date, the time, or a date in the future or past, in any format.
Calculations & conditions
Snippets can do arithmetic with the values you type into fill-ins, and include or leave out text depending on those values.
Macro reference
Every % code Shorthand understands, grouped by what it does.
Script snippets
A script snippet runs a small program when it expands and types whatever the program outputs.
AI
Privacy & security
Privacy, blocklist & permissions
A text expander has to see what you type.
Security & encryption
Your snippets can hold addresses, account numbers, and other personal details.
Sync, backups & restore
Keep the same snippets on several Macs with Dropbox, iCloud Drive, or any other sync service, and get back to an earlier version if something goes wrong.