Silver Clipboard

The Greatest Time-saving tool ever: Textexpander

Textexpander is the rare productivity tool that actually saves time and increases output.

For OS X only, textexpander allows you to expand short strings of text into longer strings. For example, when I type ‘wg.net’ textexpander automatically changes it to ‘http://www.WellingtonGrey.net/’. Rather than typing my email address in full, I just type ‘greyat’ and out pops ‘Grey1618@Googlemail.com’. The great thing about textexpander is it works in every application. You don’t have to manually start it or press command keys to explode the text, it doesn’t interrupt your train of thought, so you can keep typing.

It is particularly useful for eliminating typing clumsy formating in markup languages or in programming. For example, I write my journals using LaTeX. While LaTeX is a system well-designed for typesetting books, the syntax is ugly and awkward. With textexpander, instead of reaching for uncomfortable commands like \emph{ } I have simpler snippets in textexpander to create them.

Aside from saving time, textexpander has also helped reduce my RSI.

Textexpander costs $30 and is well worth it for the amount of time you’ll save. Download textexpander here.