Getting Started

Welcome to TypeShift

TypeShift is a macOS text expander — type a short abbreviation anywhere on your Mac and it instantly expands into whatever text you want. This guide covers everything from your first snippet to advanced AI-powered macros.

Installation

TypeShift is distributed as a signed and notarized disk image — no App Store required.

1

Download TypeShift.dmg from typeshift.monogramcreative.co.
2

Open the DMG and drag TypeShift into your Applications folder.
3

Launch TypeShift from Applications or Spotlight. macOS may ask you to confirm opening an app downloaded from the internet — click Open.
4

Grant Accessibility access when prompted. This is required for system-wide expansion — see the next section for details.

TypeShift will add itself to Login Items automatically so it's always running when you log in.

Accessibility Permission

TypeShift monitors keyboard input system-wide so it can detect when you type an abbreviation and replace it with your snippet. macOS requires you to explicitly grant Accessibility access for this to work — it does not happen silently.

System Settings Accessibility showing TypeShift enabled

TypeShift listed and toggled on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.

Granting access

1

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
2

Click the + button and add TypeShift, or find it in the list and toggle it on.
3

Return to TypeShift — expansion will start working immediately. No restart required.

💡

Not working after granting access? Try toggling the permission off and back on in System Settings, then quit and relaunch TypeShift.

Your First Snippet

Creating a snippet takes about 30 seconds. Here's the quick version:

1

Click the TypeShift icon in your menu bar, then click Open TypeShift (or press the keyboard shortcut shown there).
2

Click the + button in the snippet list to create a new snippet.
3

Give it a Title (e.g. "My Email"), an Abbreviation (e.g. !em), and type your expanded content in the text area.
4

Click Save.
5

Open any app — Mail, Notes, a browser — and type your abbreviation. The moment you finish typing it, TypeShift replaces it with your snippet.

The TypeShift main window: categories on the left, snippet list in the middle, editor on the right.

Menu Bar & Window

TypeShift lives in your menu bar — the row of icons at the top-right of your screen. Click the TypeShift icon to open a quick-access popover where you can search and browse snippets without opening the full window.

To open the full snippet manager, choose Open TypeShift from the popover, or go to Settings → General for preferences.

TypeShift never shows a Dock icon and launches silently at login. If you want to quit it entirely, right-click the menu bar icon and choose Quit TypeShift.

Snippets

Managing Snippets

Snippets are the core of TypeShift — each one pairs an abbreviation with a block of text that gets typed for you. They can be plain text, formatted rich text, or anything in between.

Creating & Editing

To create a snippet, click the + button at the bottom of the snippet list. To edit an existing one, select it from the list.

Each snippet has three required fields:

Field	Purpose
Title	A human-readable name shown in the snippet list. Not used for expansion.
Abbreviation	The short text you type to trigger expansion. Case-sensitive.
Content	What gets typed when the abbreviation fires. Plain or rich text.

Click Save (or press ⌘S) to save changes. TypeShift will warn you if you try to navigate away with unsaved edits.

Plain Text vs Rich Text

TypeShift supports two content modes per snippet:

Plain text

The default. TypeShift types the characters directly as if you pressed the keys yourself. Works reliably in every app — Terminal, code editors, web forms, anything.

Rich text

Lets you apply bold, italic, underline, font size, text color, and hyperlinks. TypeShift pastes the formatted content via the clipboard, so it appears with formatting in apps that support it (Mail, Pages, Word, Slack, most text editors).

⚠️

Rich text in plain-text apps: In apps that don't accept formatted text (Terminal, code editors, some web inputs), rich text snippets will paste as plain text without formatting — the content still arrives, just without the styling.

To switch a snippet between modes, use the Plain / Rich toggle at the top of the editor. Switching from rich to plain will strip formatting but preserve the text content.

The rich text editor with formatting toolbar. Use ⌘B, ⌘I, ⌘U for bold, italic, and underline.

Abbreviation Tips

A good abbreviation fires reliably and never triggers by accident. A few conventions that work well:

Use a prefix character

Starting every abbreviation with a character that doesn't appear at the start of real words prevents accidental expansions. Common choices:

! — !em, !sig, !addr
; — ;em, ;sig
// — //date, //reply

Keep them short but distinct

Two or three characters after the prefix is usually enough. !em for email, !ph for phone, !addr for address. Avoid prefixes of each other — if you have !s and !sig, !s will always fire before you can finish typing !sig.

💡

Conflict detection: TypeShift highlights abbreviations that are duplicates or prefixes of each other with a warning indicator in the snippet list. Resolve conflicts before they cause unexpected expansions.

Enable & Disable

You can temporarily disable a snippet without deleting it. A disabled snippet stays in your library but its abbreviation won't trigger expansion.

To toggle a snippet, select it in the list and click the lightswitch icon in the editor toolbar (to the right of the Save button). A green icon means the snippet is active; a gray icon means it's paused.

Disabled snippets appear dimmed in the snippet list with a small pause indicator, so you can tell at a glance which ones are active.

💡

Conflict detection: If a disabled snippet shares an abbreviation with another snippet, TypeShift still flags the conflict — but the banner is muted and marked "(disabled)" so you know it won't cause an accidental expansion.

App Rules

App Rules let you control which apps a snippet expands in. By default every snippet is Global — it expands anywhere on your Mac. You can narrow or restrict that on a per-snippet basis.

Setting a rule

Select a snippet and click the filter icon (⊜) in the editor toolbar, to the right of the enable/disable toggle. The App Rules sheet has three modes:

Global — expands in all apps (default)
Include Only — expands only when one of the listed apps is in the foreground
Exclude — expands everywhere except when one of the listed apps is in the foreground

Adding apps

Choose Include Only or Exclude, then click Add App. A file browser opens — navigate to /Applications (or anywhere else on your Mac) and select the .app you want. Repeat to build a list. Each mode maintains its own independent list, so switching between Include Only and Exclude doesn't mix or clear your entries.

When an app isn't installed

If a rule references an app that isn't installed on the current Mac — for example, a rule synced from another machine via iCloud — the app appears in the list with a "Not installed on this Mac" label. The rule is fully preserved and will take effect if the app is ever installed. Nothing is removed automatically.

💡

Tip: The filter icon turns blue when a non-global rule is active on a snippet, so you can tell at a glance which snippets have app restrictions.

Bulk apply

Select multiple snippets and the bulk edit panel includes a Set App Rules… button. This opens the same sheet and stamps the chosen rule onto all selected snippets at once.

Multi-Select

Select multiple snippets to perform bulk operations — move them to a different category, enable or disable them all at once, or delete them in one step.

Selecting snippets

⌘-click — add or remove individual snippets from the selection
Shift-click — select a contiguous range
⌘A — select all snippets in the current view

Bulk actions

When two or more snippets are selected, the detail panel switches to a bulk edit view with three sections:

Move to category — reassign all selected snippets to any category, or remove their category assignment
Enable / Disable — enable all, disable all, or a mix depending on the current state
App Rules — apply the same app rule (Global, Include Only, or Exclude) to all selected snippets at once
Delete — move all selected snippets to Recently Deleted

You can also press the Delete key with snippets selected to delete them (with a confirmation prompt).

Sort option	What it does
Alphabetical	Sort categories by name (A–Z or Z–A)
Date Created	Sort by when the category was created (oldest or newest first)
Snippet Count	Sort by how many snippets are in each category (fewest or most first)

Recently Deleted

When you delete a snippet or category, it isn't removed immediately — it moves to Recently Deleted, where it stays for 30 days before being permanently erased. This gives you a safety net to recover anything deleted by mistake.

Accessing Recently Deleted

Click Recently Deleted at the bottom of the sidebar. You'll see two sections — Categories and Snippets — each with a countdown badge showing how many days remain before permanent deletion.

Gray badge — more than 7 days remaining
Orange badge — 7 days or fewer remaining
Red badge / "Today" — deletes today

Restoring items

Click any item to preview it, then click Restore. The snippet or category returns to its original location. If a snippet's category was also deleted, restoring the snippet automatically restores the category too.

Bulk restore or delete

Select multiple items using ⌘-click or Shift-click (or ⌘A to select all), then use the Restore All or Delete All Permanently buttons that appear in the detail panel. You can also press the Delete key to permanently erase all selected items.

Permanent deletion

To immediately and permanently erase an item, click it and choose Delete Permanently. This cannot be undone. Items are also automatically purged after their 30-day window expires — TypeShift cleans these up each time it launches.

ℹ

Deleted snippets don't expand

Snippets in Recently Deleted are inactive — their abbreviations won't trigger expansion. They're fully restored the moment you click Restore.

Backups include Recently Deleted

When you export a backup (Settings → Backup & Sync → Export Now), deleted items are included with their original deletion timestamp. Importing the backup on another Mac restores them to Recently Deleted with the same countdown, so nothing is lost.

Keyboard Shortcuts

These shortcuts work when the TypeShift window is active.

App shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`⌘N`	New snippet
`⌘F`	Focus the search field
`⌘S`	Save current snippet
`⌘A`	Select all snippets in the list
`⌘-click`	Add individual snippets to selection
`Shift-click`	Select a range of snippets
`Delete`	Delete selected snippet(s)
`⌘,`	Open Settings

Rich text editor

These shortcuts are available when editing a rich text snippet.

Shortcut	Action
`⌘B`	Bold
`⌘I`	Italic
`⌘U`	Underline
`⌘⇧X`	Strikethrough
`⌘K`	Insert or edit a link

Macros

Macros are special tokens you embed in snippet content. When the snippet expands, each token is replaced with a dynamic value — today's date, clipboard contents, a prompt for user input, and more.

Overview

All macro tokens use curly-brace syntax: {token} or {token:parameter}. They work in both plain and rich text snippets.

Token	What it inserts
`{date}`	Today's date — April 17, 2026
`{date:MM/dd/yyyy}`	Today's date in a custom format
`{time}`	Current time — 10:30 AM
`{time:HH:mm}`	Current time in a custom format
`{clipboard}`	Contents of the clipboard at expansion time
`{cursor}`	Where the cursor lands after expansion — works in most standard macOS apps
`{fill:Label}`	Pauses expansion and asks for typed input
`{snippet:abbrev}`	Inline-expands another snippet by abbreviation
`{shortcut:⌘K}`	Fires a keyboard shortcut in the target app after expansion

To insert a macro token into a snippet, position your cursor in the content area and click the Insert Macro button in the toolbar (the {…} icon). This opens a picker with all available tokens.

Date & Time

{date} inserts the current date in Month D, YYYY format. {time} inserts the current time in h:mm AM/PM format.

Custom formats

Add a colon followed by a Unicode date format string to control the output:

Token	Example output
`{date}`	April 17, 2026
`{date:MM/dd/yyyy}`	04/17/2026
`{date:yyyy-MM-dd}`	2026-04-17
`{date:EEEE, MMMM d}`	Friday, April 17
`{date:d MMM yyyy}`	17 Apr 2026
`{time}`	10:30 AM
`{time:HH:mm}`	10:30
`{time:h:mm:ss a}`	10:30:45 AM

The macro picker's date and time presets show a live preview of each format before you insert it.

Clipboard

{clipboard} is replaced with whatever text is on your clipboard at the moment the snippet fires.

A common use: copy something to the clipboard, then fire a snippet that wraps it in a template.

-- Snippet: "Reply with quote"  abbreviation: !rq --
Thanks for your message. You wrote:

  "{clipboard}"

Here's my response...

TypeShift captures the clipboard value at the moment the abbreviation is typed, before any expansion happens, so the value is always what you copied — not something TypeShift itself put there.

Cursor Position

{cursor} marks where the text cursor should land after expansion. Place it anywhere in the snippet content.

Hi {fill:Name},

{cursor}

Best,
James

In this example, after expansion the cursor lands between the greeting and the sign-off so you can type the body of your message immediately without clicking.

If a snippet has no {cursor} token, the cursor lands at the end of the expanded text.

⚠

App compatibility

{cursor} works in most standard macOS apps. In apps that use a custom text engine, the cursor may land at the end of the expanded text instead of the {cursor} position. The in-app macro picker notes this when you insert the token.

Fill-in Fields

{fill:Label} pauses the expansion and shows a small floating panel asking you to type a value. Once you type the value and press Return, expansion resumes with your input substituted in.

Hi {fill:First name},

Thanks for reaching out about {fill:Topic}.
I'll get back to you by {date}.

The fill-in panel appears near your cursor. Type the value and press Return to continue.

Multiple fill-in fields

You can have as many {fill:…} tokens as you like in one snippet. TypeShift collects all the values first — showing each field's label as a prompt — and only then performs the final expansion with all values substituted simultaneously.

Reusing the same field

If two tokens share the same label — {fill:Name} appearing twice — TypeShift asks for the value once and uses it in both places. The label is the identity, not just a hint.

Nested Snippets

{snippet:abbrev} expands another snippet inline. The referenced snippet's content is inserted at that position, with its own macros resolved.

-- Snippet: "Support reply"  abbreviation: !support --
Hi {fill:Name},

{cursor}

{snippet:!sig}

Here {snippet:!sig} embeds your email signature snippet, so you never have to maintain it in multiple places.

⚠️

One level deep only. Nested snippets are resolved once. A snippet embedded via {snippet:…} will not further expand its own {snippet:…} tokens.

Keyboard Shortcut

{shortcut:keys} fires a keyboard shortcut in the target app immediately after the snippet finishes expanding. Use it to trigger an action in the app you're typing into — like applying formatting or opening a menu — without leaving the keyboard.

The parameter is the shortcut written with standard modifier symbols: ⌘ Command, ⌥ Option, ⌃ Control, ⇧ Shift, followed by the key.

Token	What it does
`{shortcut:⌘K}`	Opens the "Insert Link" dialog in most rich-text apps
`{shortcut:⌘B}`	Toggles bold
`{shortcut:⌃⇧K}`	Fires ⌃⇧K in the target app (e.g. delete line in VS Code)

Examples

Insert a URL and immediately open the link dialog in Notion, Bear, or any Markdown editor:

-- Snippet: "Link template"  abbreviation: !link --
{shortcut:⌘K}

Expand a snippet and bold it in one step:

-- Snippet: "Bold disclaimer"  abbreviation: !disc --
{shortcut:⌘B}Not financial advice.{shortcut:⌘B}

ℹ️

App support varies. The shortcut is fired as a real key event into the target app. It works in any app that responds to standard keyboard shortcuts, including native macOS apps, web apps in browsers, and Electron apps. The shortcut fires a fraction of a second after the expansion completes.

Combining Macros

All macro types can be mixed freely in one snippet. Here's a more complex real-world example:

-- Snippet: "Meeting follow-up"  abbreviation: !mtgfu --
Hi {fill:Name},

Great meeting with you on {date:EEEE, MMMM d}.

As discussed: {cursor}

Next steps:
- {fill:Action item} by {fill:Due date}

{snippet:!sig}

When this fires, TypeShift collects Name, Action item, and Due date in sequence, then expands everything at once — with today's date formatted as "Friday, April 17" and the cursor landing at the "As discussed:" line ready for you to type.

AI Macros

AI Macros let you embed an AI prompt directly inside a snippet. When the snippet fires, TypeShift sends your prompt to an AI provider and types the response in place — no copy-pasting, no switching apps.

Overview

The AI macro token is {ai: your prompt here}. Write whatever prompt you'd give the AI, and the result is what gets expanded. Combine it with other macros to make prompts dynamic — pass in clipboard text, fill-in values, or today's date.

-- Type "!fix" anywhere to fix grammar in your clipboard --
{ai: Fix any grammar and spelling errors in the following text, return only the corrected text: {clipboard}}

⚠️

AI Macros require an internet connection (except when using Ollama running locally). The prompt is sent to the AI provider you've configured — see the Privacy section at the bottom of Settings → AI Macros for details on what's transmitted.

Supported Providers

TypeShift supports four AI providers. All require an account with the provider; most charge per use (fractions of a cent per expansion).

API Key Required

OpenAI

GPT-4o, GPT-4o mini, and all current OpenAI models.

API Key Required

Anthropic

Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3 Haiku, Opus, and newer Claude models. Enterprise/gateway support included.

API Key Required

xAI (Grok)

Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini from xAI.

Free · Local

Ollama

Run any open-source model locally. No API key, no internet, no cost per use.

💡

Not sure which to pick? Start with OpenAI's gpt-4o-mini — it's fast, cheap (around $0.0001 per expansion), and handles most writing tasks well. For more complex reasoning or writing quality, step up to gpt-4o or claude-3-5-sonnet.

API Key Setup

Open Settings → AI Macros to configure your provider and API key.

Settings → AI Macros. Select a provider, paste your API key, then click Test Connection.

OpenAI

1
Go to platform.openai.com/api-keys and create a new secret key.
2
Select OpenAI in the Provider picker and paste the key into the API Key field.
3
TypeShift fetches the available model list automatically. Choose a model from the picker, then click Test Connection.

Anthropic

1
Go to console.anthropic.com/settings/keys and create an API key.
2
Select Anthropic and paste the key. TypeShift will list available Claude models.
3
Click Test Connection to verify.

xAI (Grok)

1
Go to console.x.ai and generate an API key.
2
Select xAI (Grok), paste the key, choose your model, and test.

Ollama (local)

1
Download and install Ollama, then pull a model: ollama pull llama3
2
Make sure the Ollama app is running (it shows a status icon in your menu bar).
3
Select Ollama in TypeShift. No API key needed — TypeShift auto-detects running models.

⚠️

Important: API access for OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI requires a separate account and billing with each provider. It is not included with a ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro, or similar consumer subscription. Charges are per use — typically fractions of a cent per expansion.

Writing AI Prompts

The {ai: …} token accepts any text as the prompt. Write it exactly as you would write a prompt in ChatGPT or Claude — the clearer and more specific you are, the better the output.

Practical examples

Snippet content	What it does
`{ai: Write a polite out-of-office reply. Keep it under 3 sentences.}`	Generates a fresh out-of-office message each time
`{ai: Rewrite the following in a professional tone: {clipboard}}`	Rewrites whatever you've copied into a more formal register
`{ai: Translate this to Spanish: {clipboard}}`	Translates clipboard text to Spanish on demand
`{ai: Summarize the following in one sentence: {clipboard}}`	One-sentence summary of copied text
`{ai: Write a LinkedIn connection request to {fill:Name} who works at {fill:Company}.}`	Generates a personalized connection note after asking for name and company

Getting consistent output

A few techniques that help:

Be explicit about format: "Return only the corrected text, no explanation." prevents the AI from adding commentary.
Specify length: "Keep it under 2 sentences" or "Write exactly 3 bullet points."
Specify tone: "Professional", "casual", "concise", "friendly but brief."
Use a System Prompt for constraints that apply to all your AI macros — see below.

Embedding Macros in AI Prompts

Any macro token can be placed inside an {ai: …} prompt — TypeShift resolves all inner tokens before sending the prompt to the AI.

-- Rewrite clipboard text --
{ai: Rewrite the following in a professional tone: {clipboard}}

-- Use a fill-in to target the audience --
{ai: Rewrite this for a {fill:Audience} audience: {clipboard}}

-- Include today's date in the context --
{ai: Write a status update for {date:EEEE MMMM d}. Key update: {fill:Update}}

The order of resolution is: fill-in fields first (TypeShift collects all values from the user), then {clipboard}, {date}, and other tokens — then the fully-resolved prompt is sent to the AI.

💡

The most powerful pattern: {ai: … {clipboard}}. Copy any text — an email, a document excerpt, a URL — then fire a snippet that processes it with AI. Grammar fixing, translation, summarization, tone adjustment, and reformatting all work this way.

System Prompt

The system prompt is a set of standing instructions prepended to every AI request you make. Use it to give the AI consistent context about who you are and how you want it to behave across all your AI macros.

Find it in Settings → AI Macros → System Prompt. Some useful starting points:

-- Example system prompt --
You are a writing assistant for a software engineer at a B2B SaaS company.
Keep responses concise and professional. Return only the requested output
— no explanations, caveats, or preamble unless explicitly asked.

The system prompt applies to all providers and all AI macro snippets. Leave it blank if you don't need global context — individual snippet prompts can be self-contained.

Advanced Settings

Expand the Advanced section in Settings → AI Macros to access:

Setting	What it does	Default
Temperature	Controls randomness. Lower values (0.0–0.5) give more predictable, consistent output. Higher values (0.8–2.0) give more varied, creative output.	0.7
Max Tokens	Maximum length of the AI's response. Increase for longer outputs like full emails or summaries of long documents. Decrease to force brevity.	1024
Custom Model ID (Anthropic)	Override the model picker with any model ID — useful for newly released models not yet in the standard list.	—

Enterprise & Gateway

If your organization routes AI requests through a corporate gateway — such as an AWS Bedrock deployment, an Azure OpenAI endpoint, or a custom proxy — you can configure TypeShift to send requests there instead of directly to the provider's public API.

💡

Enterprise settings are available for the Anthropic provider only. They live under Settings → AI Macros → Advanced → Enterprise / Gateway and are hidden until you enter a Base URL, so regular users never see them.

Enterprise settings appear in Advanced once you enter a Base URL.

Base URL

Enter your gateway's base URL — everything up to but not including the path. For example:

https://your-gateway.corp.example.com/bedrock

Leave this blank to use the standard Anthropic API (https://api.anthropic.com).

Authentication

Choose how TypeShift sends the API key to your gateway:

Option	Header sent	When to use
x-api-key	`x-api-key: <key>`	Standard Anthropic API and most gateways. The default.
Bearer token	`Authorization: Bearer <key>`	OAuth-style gateways and many Azure deployments.
Custom header	`<your header>: <key>`	Gateways that require a specific non-standard header name. Enter the header name in the field that appears.

Endpoint Style

Controls what URL path TypeShift constructs for the request. Choose based on what your gateway expects:

Style	URL constructed	Body format
Standard	`{base}/v1/messages`	Standard Anthropic Messages API. Model name in the body.
Bedrock path	`{base}/model/{model}/messages`	Model name in the URL path, not the body. `anthropic_version: bedrock-2023-05-31` in the body.
Bedrock invoke	`{base}/model/{model}/invoke`	Native AWS Bedrock invoke format. Model in URL, `anthropic_version` in body.
Custom path	`{base}{your path}`	Enter any path. Use `{model}` as a placeholder where the model ID should be inserted.

AWS Bedrock example

A typical configuration for a Salesforce or similar AWS Bedrock gateway:

Base URL:     https://your-gateway.corp.example.com/bedrock
Auth:          x-api-key  (or Bearer, depending on your setup)
Endpoint:      Bedrock invoke
Model ID:      us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1

Custom path example

For gateways with a non-standard path structure, use Custom path with the {model} placeholder:

Base URL:     https://your-gateway.corp.example.com
Auth:          Bearer token
Endpoint:      Custom path
Path:          /api/v2/models/{model}/chat

TypeShift will construct the final URL as https://your-gateway.corp.example.com/api/v2/models/us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1/chat.

Statistics

TypeShift tracks how often each snippet fires and estimates how much time you've saved. The Statistics dashboard gives you a full picture — global totals, per-snippet detail, weekly trends, and a list of snippets you've never used.

Overview

When Statistics is enabled, a Statistics row appears in the sidebar below your categories. Click it to open the Statistics dashboard alongside your snippet list.

The Statistics view uses the same split-panel layout as the rest of the app:

Middle column — KPI bar showing library-wide totals (Expansions, Time Saved, Chars Saved, Used/Total), a category filter chip row, an All / Never Used toggle, and a ranked snippet list. Each used snippet shows its expansion count and a 12-week sparkline.
Detail panel — when nothing is selected, shows a 12-week area chart of global activity and a relative-usage bar chart for your top snippets. Click any snippet in the list to see its individual detail: four KPI tiles (Times Used, % of Total, Time Saved, Chars Saved), a 12-week bar chart, and rank among all used snippets.

The Statistics dashboard: KPI totals and ranked snippets on the left, a 12-week activity chart and relative usage bars on the right.

What's Tracked

Expansion count

Each time a snippet expands, its count increases by one. Counts persist across app updates and are synced via iCloud when sync is enabled, so they stay in sync across all your Macs.

Weekly history

TypeShift keeps a 52-week rolling history for every snippet. The last 12 weeks are shown as a sparkline in the snippet list and as a bar chart in the detail panel. Weeks with no activity are zero-filled automatically, so gaps in usage are represented accurately.

Trend badges

Each snippet's detail panel shows a trend badge calculated from recent activity:

Badge	Meaning
Trending up	Usage in the last 4 weeks is more than 20% higher than the prior 4 weeks.
Steady	Usage is within 20% of the prior period.
Trending down	Usage in the last 4 weeks is more than 20% lower than the prior 4 weeks.

No badge is shown if the snippet has too little history to calculate a trend.

Time saved estimate

TypeShift estimates how long it would have taken to type each expansion manually at your configured typing speed (default: 40 WPM). The time saved per expansion is based on the net characters gained — expansion length minus abbreviation length — so it reflects the actual effort avoided:

characters gained ÷ (WPM × 5) × 60 seconds

Time saved scales automatically to a readable format:

Amount	Display	Example
Under 1 minute	Seconds	45s
1 minute – 1 hour	Minutes (and seconds)	3m 20s
1 hour – 1 day	Hours (and minutes)	2h 15m
1 day or more	Days (and hours)	1d 4h

Characters saved

The net characters TypeShift saved you from typing — the difference between each expansion's length and its abbreviation, summed across all uses. Typing a 3-character abbreviation that expands to 200 characters counts as 197 characters saved.

Usage badge

Each snippet in the snippet list can show a small pill displaying its total expansion count. You can turn it on or off in Settings → Statistics → Show usage badge in snippet list.

💡

Expansion counts and weekly history are stored in Core Data and synced via iCloud when sync is enabled. They survive app updates — only a manual reset or disabling Statistics removes them.

🔒

Your data stays yours. Statistics are stored locally on your Mac (and in your personal iCloud account if sync is enabled). TypeShift never transmits usage data to any server or uses it for analytics.

Resetting statistics

To clear all recorded counts, open the Statistics view and click Reset… in the KPI bar at the top of the snippet list. A confirmation dialog will appear before anything is deleted.

⚠️

Note: Disabling Statistics in Settings stops recording new expansions but does not delete existing counts. Re-enabling it later picks up where you left off.

Settings

All Statistics settings live in Settings → Statistics.

Settings → Statistics. The master toggle controls all tracking. Appearance options appear below when Statistics is enabled.

Setting	Default	Description
Enable Statistics	On	Master toggle. When off, expansion counts stop incrementing and the Statistics view and badge are hidden.
Show Statistics in sidebar	On	Shows or hides the Statistics row in the main window sidebar.
Show usage badge in snippet list	On	Displays an expansion count pill on each snippet row in the snippet list.
Typing speed	40 WPM	Used to calculate the time saved estimate. Adjust to match your actual typing speed for a more accurate figure. Range: 20–120 WPM in steps of 5.

Sync & Backup

Keep your snippets safe and in sync across all your Macs with iCloud, or export regular backups to any folder.

iCloud Sync

iCloud sync keeps your entire snippet library — snippets, categories, and settings — automatically in sync across all your Macs using your iCloud account. It's opt-in and off by default.

Settings → Backup & Sync. The green checkmark and "Last synced" line confirm sync is active.

Enabling sync

1
Open Settings → Backup & Sync.
2
Toggle on Sync with iCloud. TypeShift will relaunch automatically to initialize the CloudKit store.
3
Repeat on each Mac you want to sync. Make sure all Macs are signed into the same Apple ID.

How long does sync take?

After enabling, existing snippets typically appear on other devices within a few seconds to a couple of minutes. If a Mac has been offline, it will catch up the next time it connects.

Refresh button

If changes from another Mac aren't appearing, hit the Refresh button in Backup & Sync. This reloads the local store and picks up any records CloudKit has already delivered in the background.

Troubleshooting

"Not yet synced this session" — sync hasn't completed a full cycle yet. Wait a minute, then hit Refresh.
Sync error appears — check that iCloud is signed in and working in System Settings → Apple ID, and that you have sufficient iCloud storage.
Snippets missing on one Mac — confirm that both Macs have the iCloud Sync toggle on (not just the backup folder set), and that both are signed in to the same Apple ID.

⚠️

Sync vs. Backup are different things. Setting a Backup Folder (even if it's in iCloud Drive) does not enable live sync — it only saves periodic JSON exports. The Sync with iCloud toggle is what enables real-time sync between Macs.

Backup & Restore

TypeShift can automatically export a JSON backup of all your snippets, categories, and settings to any folder you choose — including iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or a local folder.

Setting up a backup folder

1
Open Settings → Backup & Sync → Backup Folder and click Choose…
2
Select a folder. TypeShift saves a timestamped JSON file there each time it backs up.
3
Click Back Up Now to run an immediate backup.

Restoring from a backup

1
In Settings → Backup & Sync, click Restore from Backup…
2
Select a .json backup file. TypeShift will import the snippets and settings it contains.

⛔

Restoring merges, it doesn't replace. Imported snippets are added to your existing library. Duplicates (same title + abbreviation) are skipped. If you want a clean restore, delete your existing snippets first.

Licensing

TypeShift is a one-time purchase of $3.99. There's no subscription, no annual renewal, and all future updates are included.

Free Trial

TypeShift includes a full-featured 30-day free trial — no credit card required. The trial starts the first time you launch the app and counts down calendar days regardless of whether the app is running.

When 5 days remain, a banner appears at the top of the window as a reminder. When the trial expires, snippet expansion is paused until a valid license is activated.

Purchasing

Buy TypeShift at typeshift.monogramcreative.co or directly from the in-app paywall. Payment is handled by Lemon Squeezy — your license key is emailed immediately after purchase.

Two licensing options are available:

Personal — $3.99 — use on up to 3 Macs
Family — $4.99 — use on up to 5 Macs

Both options are one-time purchases with all future updates included. Select your preferred option during checkout.

For teams and organizations, see Enterprise Licensing.

Activating a License

1
Open Settings → General and find the License section, or click Activate License from the trial banner or paywall.
2
Paste your license key into the field and click Activate.
3
TypeShift validates the key with the Lemon Squeezy server. Once confirmed, the trial countdown disappears and expansion is fully unlocked.

Validation requires an internet connection on first activation. After that, TypeShift works fully offline — it only checks in once per launch when online.

Multiple Macs

Each license key activates on a set number of Macs depending on your plan — up to 3 Macs on the Personal plan, or up to 5 Macs on the Family plan. Simply enter the same key on each Mac.

Deactivating a Mac

If you've reached your activation limit and need to activate on a new machine, you can free up a slot by deactivating an old one: open Settings → General → License and click Deactivate this Mac. That slot is immediately available for another machine.

License not validating?

Check that your Mac has an active internet connection.
Make sure you're pasting the full key with no extra spaces.
If you've used all activations for your plan, deactivate one of the other Macs first.
Still stuck? Email with your order number.

Enterprise Licensing

For organizations that want to deploy TypeShift across a team or company, we offer enterprise licensing with Single Sign-On (SSO) support. Employees authenticate with their existing corporate identity provider — no license keys to distribute or manage.

How it works

TypeShift integrates with your organization's identity provider via SSO. Employees sign in once using their corporate credentials, and TypeShift is automatically activated on their Mac. IT admins can manage seat limits and revoke access centrally.

Supported identity providers

TypeShift SSO is powered by WorkOS and supports all major identity providers, including:

Okta
Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD)
Google Workspace
OneLogin
JumpCloud
PingFederate
ADFS
Any provider that supports SAML 2.0 or OIDC

Getting started

Troubleshooting

Snippets Not Expanding

If your snippets aren't expanding, work through the steps below in order. Most issues are resolved by the first two.

1. Re-grant Accessibility permission

TypeShift uses macOS Accessibility to intercept keystrokes system-wide. Even if the permission appears granted, it sometimes needs to be re-toggled — especially after a macOS update or app reinstall.

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
Find TypeShift in the list and turn the toggle off
Turn it back on
Quit and relaunch TypeShift — this step is required; the event tap only starts at launch

2. Check the expansion toggle

There are two places expansion can be turned off:

Global toggle — click the TypeShift menu bar icon and confirm the main on/off switch is enabled
Per-snippet toggle — open the snippet in TypeShift and check that the lightswitch icon in the toolbar is on. A snippet that is individually disabled won't expand even if the global toggle is on

3. Check your trial or license status

If the 30-day free trial has expired, TypeShift stops expanding snippets until a license is activated. Open TypeShift and check whether a trial-expired message or paywall is shown. Purchase a license or activate an existing one to resume expansion.

4. Check the abbreviation

TypeShift matches abbreviations by watching your typing buffer. A few things can silently clear the buffer:

Don't use spaces or punctuation mid-abbreviation — any non-letter/number character resets the buffer, so the abbreviation must be typed as one uninterrupted sequence
Abbreviations are case-sensitive by default — make sure you're typing the exact case you saved
Keep abbreviations short (3–6 characters) and unique — very short sequences like hi can fire unexpectedly in normal typing

5. Check App Rules

If a snippet has an App Rule set to Include only or Exclude, it will be silently skipped in apps that don't match the rule. Open the snippet and click the filter icon (⊜) in the toolbar to review the rule. Switch the rule to Global to expand everywhere.

6. Test in a known-good app first

Some apps block synthetic keyboard events and clipboard injection, which prevents expansion entirely:

Good test apps: TextEdit, Notes, Pages, Mail compose window
May not work: Terminal, password managers (1Password, Bitwarden), browser URL/address bars, and some Electron apps
TypeShift's own window: expansion is intentionally suppressed while TypeShift itself is focused — test in another app

If expansion works in TextEdit but not in another specific app, that app is likely blocking it.

7. Rich text snippets and clipboard managers

Rich text snippets expand via the clipboard (paste). If you use a clipboard manager like Paste, Maccy, or CleanClip, it may intercept the temporary clipboard content before TypeShift can paste it. Try temporarily disabling your clipboard manager to test, or switch the snippet to plain text if formatting isn't needed.

Still stuck?

If none of the above resolves the issue, reach out and include the following details:

macOS version (Apple menu → About This Mac)
TypeShift version (TypeShift → Settings → General → About)
The abbreviation and expansion you're testing with
The app you're testing in
Whether expansion works in TextEdit

Contact:

Welcome to TypeShift

Installation

Accessibility Permission

Granting access

Your First Snippet

Menu Bar & Window

Managing Snippets

Creating & Editing

Plain Text vs Rich Text

Plain text

Rich text

Abbreviation Tips

Use a prefix character

Keep them short but distinct

Enable & Disable

App Rules

Setting a rule

Adding apps

When an app isn't installed

Bulk apply

Multi-Select

Selecting snippets

Bulk actions

Sharing Snippets

Exporting a snippet

Importing a snippet

Categories

Filtering categories

Sorting categories

Recently Deleted

Accessing Recently Deleted

Restoring items

Bulk restore or delete

Permanent deletion

Backups include Recently Deleted

Keyboard Shortcuts

App shortcuts

Rich text editor

Macros

Overview

Date & Time

Custom formats

Clipboard

Cursor Position

Fill-in Fields

Multiple fill-in fields

Reusing the same field

Nested Snippets

Keyboard Shortcut

Examples

Combining Macros

AI Macros

Overview

Supported Providers

OpenAI

Anthropic

xAI (Grok)

Ollama

API Key Setup

OpenAI

Anthropic

xAI (Grok)

Ollama (local)

Writing AI Prompts

Practical examples

Getting consistent output

Embedding Macros in AI Prompts

System Prompt

Advanced Settings

Enterprise & Gateway

Base URL

Authentication

Endpoint Style

AWS Bedrock example

Custom path example

Statistics

Overview

What's Tracked

Expansion count

Weekly history