How to start with Typinator

Typinator main window on macOS showing abbreviation sets, snippet list, and formatted text expansion preview — example of managing and organizing text expansions with abbreviations like ‘wbr’ and emoji snippets.

Get to know the interface

Typinator’s main window has with four clearly structured sections:

Sets (red): On the left side you can organize your abbreviations into groups such as Email, Code, or Personal.

Abbreviation list (green): The right area displays all abbreviations and the expansions (also called Snippets) within the selected set.

Details (yellow): In the bottom part you define the content of the selected abbreviation. The expansion can be plain or formatted text, html, or images. Text abbreviations can also include dynamic elements like the current date, time, or cursor position.

Main navigation (blue): At the top you’ll find the main navigation area, which gives you easy access to the most important tools and settings:

License Management: Enter or manage your license key.
Extensions: Add ready-made abbreviation sets to make your work even faster.
Statistics: See how often your abbreviations are used and when they were last triggered.
Preferences: Customize Typinator to your needs.
Help: Open the user manual or get quick tips.
Actions: Check for updates, import/export abbreviations, or quickly search your sets.

Typinator main window on macOS with highlighted interface sections for abbreviation sets, snippet list, and formatted text editor — visual guide to managing and editing text expansions with abbreviations like ‘wbr’ and sample signature content.

Discover the built-in default set

Before you create your own abbreviations, Typinator gives you a default set of sample abbreviations.

For instance, try typing wbr in any app on your Mac. Typinator will instantly expand it into the full phrase:

"with best regards"

You can edit or delete these sample abbreviations at any time if you prefer to build your own custom set.

Tip: Typinator offers a large collection of pre-built abbreviation sets to help you save time and explore its more advanced features. These ready-made sets cover a variety of topics, including:

Auto-correction libraries: Fix common typos as you type.
Date and time utilities: Insert today’s date in various formats or perform date calculations.
Math and unit conversions: Do calculations and insert results automatically.
Interactive examples: Learn how to use input fields, dropdown menus, and variables to create dynamic content in your abbreviations.
Emoji and symbol sets: Add special characters, arrows, or emojis to your text.

You can access these sets directly from the Extensions section in Typinator’s main navigation or download more from our website.

Create your first abbreviation

Setting up abbreviations is simple:

Click the plus sign in the abbreviation list to create a new abbreviation.
Optional: You can first click the plus sign in the list of sets to create your own new set.
In the “Abbreviation” field, type a short trigger, such as tymail.
In the “Expansion” field, enter the full text you want Typinator to insert. For example:

“Thank you for your email. I’ll get back to you shortly.”

From now on, whenever you type tymail in any application Typinator replaces it with your full response.

Typinator main window on macOS showing a text expansion snippet with abbreviation ‘tymail’ that expands to the message ‘Thank you for your email. I’ll get back to you shortly.’ — example of creating and managing automated email response snippets.

QuickSearch

When you’ve built up a large library of abbreviations, QuickSearch helps you stay efficient. With a user-defined keyboard shortcut in the settings, you can open a search bar and instantly look up any abbreviation by keyword.

Typinator Quick Search window on macOS showing search for abbreviation ‘tymail’ with matching text expansion ‘Thank you for your email.’ — example of how to quickly find and preview snippets in Typinator.

Built-in functionalities

Dynamic Placeholders: Automatically insert the current date, time, or even clipboard contents into your expansions.
Calculations: Perform simple math directly in your abbreviations, like totals or formatted values.
Cursor Control & Keystrokes: Move the cursor to specific positions, navigate through form fields, or trigger keystrokes after an expansion.
Variables: Store a value (like a name, number, or date) once and reuse it multiple times in the same abbreviation.
Custom Inputs: Prompt yourself for text entries when the abbreviation expands, so you can fill in details on the spot.
Choices & Dropdowns: Create alternatives or dropdown menus so you can pick between preset options (e.g., different greetings, product names, or templates).
Script Support: Use AppleScript or JavaScript to build advanced, automated workflows.

Typinator expansion editor on macOS showing the functions menu with options like Built-in Functions, Input Field, Calculation, and Date/Time tools — example of using advanced functions in Typinator snippets.

User guide & learning center

Once you feel comfortable with the basics, you can dive deeper.

Open the User Guide directly from Typinator via Help > User Guide. It explains advanced features step by step and includes practical tips for creating powerful abbreviations with variables, scripts, and dynamic elements.
Browse through our other articles and tutorials.

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