Typinator provides several special markers that give you more control over how your expansions behave.
With these markers, you can:
- Expand other abbreviations
- Suppress specific replacements
- Or even add short delays inside your expansions
These tools make Typinator more flexible and powerful for everyday use.
Expanding other abbreviations
The Expand Other Abbreviations marker lets you insert another abbreviation inside your current expansion.
{"abbreviation"}Replace the text inside the quotes with any abbreviation you want to expand at that point.
This expansion happens before other markers are processed, so it can include additional markers or abbreviations as long as it doesn’t create a loop where one abbreviation triggers itself.
You can use abbreviations or regular expressions from any active set. (Typinator ignores sets that are disabled.)
If the embedded abbreviation uses “Case affects expansion”, the case of the quoted text determines how the expansion appears.
{"Tmso"} expands as “This month’s special offer…” instead of “this month’s special offer…”
Mixing Plain Text, Formatted Text, and Pictures
When combining different types of expansions, Typinator follows these rules:
- A formatted expansion inside another formatted expansion keeps its formatting.
- A formatted expansion inside plain text loses formatting and pictures.
- A plain text expansion inside a formatted expansion takes on the format of the {"abbreviation"} marker.
- Pictures can only be used inside formatted expansions.
Suppress this replacement
The Suppress This Replacement marker tells Typinator not to change the typed abbreviation.
{X}This is helpful for creating exceptions to other replacement rules.
Example:
In the built-in Auto-Cap Exceptions set, abbreviations like “etc.” include {X}.
This prevents Typinator from capitalizing the next word automatically after “etc.”
Suppress next replacement
The Suppress Next Replacement marker pauses Typinator after an expansion, so the next abbreviation won’t expand.
{X>}When Typinator encounters this marker, it:
- Finishes the current replacement
- Enters pause mode (shown by two vertical bars in Typinator’s menu bar icon)
- Skips the next abbreviation you type
- Then automatically resumes normal operation
Example:
You can define an abbreviation ## with the expansion {X>}.
When you type ## followed by another abbreviation, Typinator pauses to prevent the next abbreviation from expanding and then resumes automatically once you finish typing.
Delay
The Delay marker adds a short pause inside an expansion.
{delay:0.5}The number represents the delay in seconds.
This can be helpful when you insert keystrokes and the target app needs a moment to process them.
For example, adding a delay of half a second ensures that Typinator waits before continuing the expansion.
Why use special markers
These special markers give you more precision and control. You can:
- Combine multiple abbreviations into one dynamic expansion
- Prevent unwanted automatic replacements
- Create smoother automation with built-in pauses
They’re simple to use but they open up powerful customization options that make Typinator much more than just a text expansion tool.