Free fix

How to set up text shortcuts on Mac that work in every app

Your address, a sign-off, the reply you send every day — type a few characters and get the whole thing.

Short answer

macOS has Text Replacements, but many apps ignore them. MacFixes expands your shortcuts in every app, with placeholders for the date, the time and the clipboard.

Free in MacFixes.

What macOS gives you

System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements (under Text Input) turns a short phrase into a longer one, and syncs through iCloud. Only apps that use Apple’s own text system honour them, so in many browsers, chat apps and code editors nothing happens.

How MacFixes fixes it

  1. 1
    Turn on the fix
    Open MacFixes Settings → Keyboard and turn on “Text shortcuts” (or type its name into Search for a fix).
  2. 2
    Allow Accessibility
    macOS asks for Accessibility permission so MacFixes can see what you type and put the text in.
  3. 3
    Add a shortcut
    Pick a keyword like ;addr and the text it becomes. Starting keywords with ; keeps ordinary words from expanding. Or import your existing Text Replacements.
DownloadmacOS 14 Sonoma or later · free

Permissions, and turning it off

“Text shortcuts” needs macOS’s Accessibility permission. macOS asks you, and you allow it once.

  • Accessibility lets an app see and work the windows, menus and buttons of other apps, and click or type for you. You can see it, and take it back, in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.

To stop using it, open MacFixes Settings → Keyboard and use the switch on the “Text shortcuts” row.

Questions

Can a shortcut include today’s date?

Yes. Placeholders fill in the date, the time, the weekday and what you last copied, and {cursor} sets where the cursor ends up.

Can I turn it off in some apps?

Yes. Add any app to the fix’s list of apps to leave alone.

More fixes macOS doesn’t give you

Type emoji by name›Paste without formatting›Turn Caps Lock into a Hyper key›

One of 47 fixes and 10 apps in MacFixes. Every fix · Every app · Something else your Mac won’t do? Request it.

Set up text shortcuts that work in every app with MacFixes

MacFixes has 47 fixes for things macOS gets wrong or leaves out. Add only the ones you want. This one is free. macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

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