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How TextExpander Can Save You Time
It’s no secret that our firm loves technology. In an effort to provide more efficient service to my clients, I routinely try out new apps and technologies to evaluate whether they would help me do my job more effectively.
I recently tried out one app that quickly achieved “can’t live without it” status: TextExpander by Smile Software.
TextExpander, as the name suggests, is text expansion software. You can use TextExpander to create shortcuts called “snippets” that “expand” into larger blocks of text. Basically, if you find yourself typing the same words, sentences or paragraphs over and over again, TextExpander can almost certainly save you time.
For example, instead of typing my office address over and over again, I created the following TextExpander snippet:
;offadd
When you type that term in any text field or document, it automatically expands to the following:
Russell, Krafft & Gruber, LLP
Hempfield Center
930 Red Rose Court, Suite 300
Lancaster, PA 17601
Here’s how it looks in TextExpander:
Other basic examples include snippets for phone numbers, email addresses, and other commonly typed information. TextExpander can also be used to replicate much larger amounts of text, and can even accommodate fillable fields so that you can customize text using fields, drop down menus or the current date and time.
TextExpander started out as a Mac and iOS only application, but recently expanded to offer Windows support, so even Brandon Harter and his army of PC-devotees can use it! When you sign up for an account, your snippets sync across platforms, so if you use a PC at work and a Mac at home, there’s something for you. There are even features that allow you to share and manage snippets across small groups of people within your business or the entire team. For example, Brandon and I recently created a shared collection of snippets that include commonly used symbols in the legal profession like §, ¶, ®, ™, and ©, which will have to suffice until we replace our standard keyboards with the LegalBoard™.
Have questions about how I use TextExpander or want to have a conversation about how you might be able to use TextExpander in your business? Feel free to contact us!