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Switch from Raycast

Export your snippets from Raycast and import the file. Keywords become abbreviations, and Raycast’s placeholders for the clipboard, cursor, dates, and arguments become Shorthand codes.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Export from Raycast

    Open Raycast and run the Export Snippets command. Save the file somewhere you can find it.

  2. 2

    Import it

    In Shorthand, choose File ▸ Import Snippets… (⇧⌘I), click Choose File…, and pick the exported file. The snippets become one group.

  3. 3

    Stop Raycast expanding them

    So snippets don’t expand twice, delete the imported snippets in Raycast, or stop Raycast expanding them in its Snippets settings. You can keep using Raycast for everything else.

  4. 4

    Check the leftovers

    Shorthand tells you how many placeholders had no equivalent (for example {uuid}). Search your new group for them.

What gets converted

In the other app

In Shorthand

What it does

{cursor}

%|

Where the cursor ends up

{clipboard}

%clipboard

The clipboard text

{date}

%B %e, %Y

Today’s date

{date format="yyyy-MM-dd"}

%date:yyyy-MM-dd%

A custom date format

{time} / {datetime} / {day}

%1I:%M %p …

The time, both, or the weekday

{argument name="Name"}

%filltext:name=Name%

A fill-in field

{argument name="Size" options="S, M, L"}

%fillpopup:name=Size:S:M:L%

A pop-up menu

{uuid}, {snippet}, modifiers

Kept as text

No direct equivalent

Good to know

  • Snippets without a keyword come across without an abbreviation; insert them from Shorthand’s search panel or give them one.

  • A % sign in your text stays a percent sign.

Not yet confirmed: Raycast’s manual documents its import format (a JSON list of name, text, and keyword). Shorthand assumes the Export Snippets file uses the same format; it hasn’t been checked with a real export yet. If something doesn’t come across, email support@shorthandexpander.com.

Shorthand is a text expander for Mac. Your Raycast files stay exactly as they are.