However skilled and speedy a typist, chances are you cannot beat your computer's twitching circuits typing oft-used words and phrases for you — and chances are you don't want to. Setting up text shortcuts that automatically expand is fast and easy in Mac OS X Mail.
Enable Text Snippet Shortcuts in Mac OS X Mail
To turn on text expansion in Mac OS X Mail:
- Click with the right mouse button (or Ctrl-click) in the text area of a message you are composing.
- Highlight Substitutions from the menu.
- Make sure Text Replacement is checked.
- If it is not, click Text Replacement
Set Up Mac OS X Mail Text Snippets
To configure text snippet shortcuts:
- Click with the right mouse button in the text area of a message composition window.
- Select Substitutions | Show Substitutions from the menu.
- Click Text Preferences… in the Substitutions window.
- To add a new text snippet:
- Click + under the Symbol and Text Substitution list.
- Type the shortcut you want expanded (say, "txb") in the Replace column.
- Hit Tab.
- Enter the full substitution ("thanks a bunch,", for example) in the With column.
- To remove a text snippet:
- Highlight the unwanted text substitution.
- Click - under the Symbol and Text Substitution list.
Insert Text Snippets Fast with Shortcuts in Mac OS X Mail
To have a text shortcut expanded in Mac OS X Mail:
- Type the shortcut.
- Press the Space or Return keys or enter a punctuation mark (. and ?, for example, but also )) or mathematical symbol (such as + and =).
