Snippets: type a shortcut, get the text

A snippet is text you use again and again, like your address, a sign-off or a standard answer, saved under a short shortcut such as ;addr. Type the shortcut and Bettertext types the text. Snippets are on every plan, up to 1,000 of them.

Make a snippet

1. In your Bettertext dashboard, open Snippets and click New snippet.
2. Under Shortcut, type what you'll type to use it, for example ;addr. Starting it with a symbol such as ; keeps it from expanding by accident, since you never type ;addr in a normal sentence.
3. Under Text, type what the shortcut becomes. Line breaks are kept.
4. Add tags if you like, so the list is easy to filter, and click Save.

The Preview shows what you'll get. To change a snippet later, click it in the list. To delete one, point at it and click the bin icon at the end of the row; Undo brings it back.

Let Bettertext draft it

Not sure how to word it? In the editor, click Draft it with AI, describe the snippet, for example "tell a customer their refund is on the way, with the amount and the date", and click Draft. Bettertext writes the text and puts a fill-in such as {amount} wherever a detail changes each time. If you list the values a detail can take ("app can be Importify, Editorify or Popify"), it sets them up as variants too. Edit the result before you save. With text already in the box, the link becomes Rewrite with AI. See Fill-ins and variants.

Use it in Chrome

In any text field in Chrome, type the shortcut and then a space, Enter or a punctuation mark. The shortcut becomes its text, and Bettertext briefly highlights what it inserted.

In Settings › Snippets you can turn on Expand without a space: the snippet then appears as soon as you type the shortcut's last letter. A shortcut that is the start of a longer one, like ;ab when you also have ;abc, still waits for the space, so you can type the longer one. Expand in Chrome, in the same place, turns expanding off altogether.

Choose your prefix

Settings › Snippets › Shortcut prefix is the symbol Bettertext starts the shortcuts it suggests with, ; unless you change it. Pick one you never type by accident, such as ;, // or ,,. When you save a new prefix, Bettertext offers to rename your existing shortcuts to match, and the change can be undone in History.

Already have text replacements on a Mac?

Connect your Mac and Bettertext imports them, then keeps both lists in sync, including on your iPhone and iPad. See Snippets on your Mac, iPhone and iPad.