TextExpander Support

Looking for support for the latest version of TextExpander? Visit our Learning Center.

FAQ

TextExpander no longer offers the purchase of our standalone app. Download the latest version of TextExpander.

TextExpander cannot be “sandboxed” according to the latest restrictions from Apple, and is therefore no longer available in the Mac App Store. Those who currently have Mac App Store licenses just need to download TextExpander 5, which will see the Mac App Store license and offer the upgrade.

Yes. TextExpander 5 requires OS X 10.10 or later. For OS X 10.9 – 10.7 download version 4. Locate both versions on our downloads page.

Find downloads for your OS X version in System Requirements.

TextExpander requires access to assistive devices, but that setting has moved locations from OS X 10.8 to OS X 10.9. Instead, please go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility. Both “TextExpander” and “TextExpander Helper” need to be checked in the Accessibility list.

  • Suggests snippets from phrases you habitually type
  • Reminds you of missed opportunities to use your abbreviations
  • Customize snippet file location
  • Sync via iCloud Drive or any sync folder
  • Simplified expansion of lengthy fill-ins and scripts
  • Search and expand snippets, abbreviations, and suggestions inline as you type
  • Preview expanded snippet
  • Refreshed statistics display
  • Supports JavaScript snippets that also operate on iOS
  • Updated for Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite (required)

For the complete list, read the TextExpander 5 detailed release notes.

It is likely that another application has enabled secure input, which prevents TextExpander and other text expansion applications from monitoring your keystrokes. There are a number of applications, including Firefox and Chrome, that cause this situation. For a list of applications and suggested workarounds, please read TextExpander and Secure Input.

A good abbreviation is:

  • short
  • easy to remember
  • unlikely to be typed by accident
  • unique

Duplicating an abbreviations first character (ddate, ssig, zzip) is one way of creating abbreviations that meet these critieria.

While TextExpander does indeed log keystrokes, these keystrokes are never saved or sent anywhere. Moreover, TextExpander empties its cache whenever you type the spacebar. Thus, TextExpander hardly ever remembers more than 20 characters of what you most recently typed. Using TextExpander does not compromise your privacy.

TextExpander 5.x

  1. Delete the TextExpander application from the Applications folder.
  2. Delete the TextExpander settings file, Settings.textexpandersettings, wherever you have stored it. If you are not syncing your snippets, TextExpander will default to saving your file here: Macintosh HD/Users/[Home]/Library/Application Support/TextExpander/Settings.textexpandersettings

TextExpander 2.x

  1. Go to TextExpander’s preference pane in System Preferences and uncheck “Enable TextExpander” in the Preferences tab.
  2. Choose “Show All” in System Preferences.
  3. Control-click on the TextExpander icon and select “Remove TextExpander Preference Pane” from the resulting contextual menu.

TextExpander 3.x and 4.x

  1. Delete the TextExpander application from the Applications folder.
  2. Delete the TextExpander settings file here: [Home]/Library/Application Support/TextExpander/Settings.textexpander
Version
Mac OS X 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, and 10.10 (High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite)TextExpander 5.1.7
Mac OS X 10.9, 10.8, and 10.7 (Mavericks, Mountain Lion, and Lion)TextExpander 4.3.7
OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)TextExpander 3.4.2
Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.4 (Leopard, Tiger)TextExpander 2.8.1
Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.4 on PowerPC G3 (Leopard, Tiger)TextExpander 2.5
Mac OS X 10.3.9 (Panther)TextExpander 1.3.1