Email, Messaging, & Video Calls Email Create Text Snippets With Shortcuts in Mac OS X Mail by Heinz Tschabitscher Writer A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. our editorial process Heinz Tschabitscher Updated on February 12, 2020 Tweet Share Email The Ultimate Guide to Keyboard Shortcuts The Ultimate Guide to Keyboard Shortcuts Introduction Windows Timesavers The Best Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcuts Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Better Productivity How to Use the Shortcut Alt + Underline Shortcut to Create New Folders Essential Shortcuts for iTunes Mac, iOS & iPad Quick Tricks The Best Mac Shortcuts Keyboard Shortcuts for Finder Mac Startup Keyboard Shortcuts 18 Shortcuts for Apple's iOS Shortcuts App iPad Keyboard Tips and Smart Keyboard Shortcuts Android & iPhone Shortcuts The Best Android Shortcuts You Should Be Using Create and Use iPhone X Shortcuts Email Shortcuts The 30 Best Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts for 2020 How to Use Yahoo Mail Keyboard Shortcuts The Complete Apple Mail Shortcut List Shortcuts in iOS Mail Delete Shortcut Keys for Popular Email Programs How to Use Outlook.com Keyboard Shortcuts Create Text Snippets With Shortcuts in Mac OS X Mail Online & Browser Shortcuts Top 36 Shortcuts for Edge and IE 11 Keyboard Shortcuts: Google Chrome for Windows Create Web Page Shortcuts in Chrome for Windows Control Safari Windows With Keyboard Shortcuts Shortcuts for Safari Toolbars Shortcuts for Safari on OS X & Sierra Excel Shortcuts The 23 Best Excel Shortcuts Shortcut Excel's Fill Down Command Shortcut the Current Date/Time Formatting Numbers Adding Worksheets Shortcut to Saving Your Work Creating a Chart MAX Function Shortcut More Office Shortcuts Top 10 Microsoft Word Shortcuts The 5 Best Hidden Word Shortcuts Add Shortcut Keys to AutoText Entries Uppercase Shortcut Key How to Reset Keyboard Shortcuts in Word Shortcut to Speed Up PowerPoint Presentations Other Useful Shortcuts The Best Google Docs Shortcuts 18 Shortcuts for Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon Changing Linux Mint Cinnamon Shortcuts Fedora GNOME Keyboard Shortcuts Maya Keyboard Shortcuts Create or Reassign Keyboard Shortcuts in MS Office Useful Keyboard Shortcuts for Photoshop CC Time-Saving Fill Tool Shortcuts in Photoshop The 5 Most Useful GIMP Keyboard Shortcuts How to Use the GIMP Keyboard Shortcut Editor Shortcuts to Type a Tilde Mark ML Harris / Getty Images Text snippets let you insert text really fast with shortcuts in macOS Mail. You Can Be Fast (And Even Faster) at Typing How often do you type "ultracrepidate", "equipoise", "thanks" or maybe your name and address in email messages? No matter how skilled and speedy a typist you be, chances are you cannot beat your computer's switching 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 Apple's Mac OS X Mail. Enable Text Snippet Shortcuts in Mac OS X Mail To turn on text expansion in Mac OS X Mail: Click the right mouse button (or Ctrl+click, or tap with two fingers) 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 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 the plus sign (+)under the 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 the minus sign (-) under the substitutions 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 =). Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit