How to Use Text Expander Keyboard

What Can You Do With It?

Text Expander Keyboard saves you from typing the same things over and over. Here are the most popular ways people use it:

📧

Email Responses

Reply to common emails instantly. "Thanks for reaching out!", "I'll get back to you by EOD", or full email templates.

💬

Customer Support

Handle support tickets faster with pre-written responses for FAQs, troubleshooting steps, and follow-ups.

📝

Form Filling

Save your address, phone number, email, and other details you type into forms repeatedly.

📱

Social Media

Quick replies, hashtag sets, bio templates, and engagement responses for your social accounts.

📅

Scheduling

Meeting requests with dynamic dates. "Are you free on %%DATE +1D%%?" automatically inserts tomorrow's date.

✍️

Signatures & Bios

Your email signature, professional bio, or contact info — always one tap away.

Setting Up the Keyboard

Before using Text Expander Keyboard in other apps, you need to enable it in your device settings. This only takes a minute.

1 Open Settings

2 Tap General

3 Keyboard → Keyboards

4 Add Text Expander

5 Done!

Swipe to see all steps →

Open Settings

Go to your iPhone or iPad Settings app.

Navigate to Keyboards

Tap General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard

Select Text Expander

Scroll down to Third-Party Keyboards and tap Text Expander.

Enable Full Access (Recommended)

Tap on Text Expander Keyboard in your keyboards list and turn on Allow Full Access.

Why Full Access?

Full Access enables clipboard integration, image copying, and the auto-paste feature. Your data stays private on your device and is never sent anywhere.

Create Your First Reply

Replies are text snippets you can insert instantly with a single tap. Let's create your first one.

Open the App

Launch Text Expander on your device.

Tap the + Button

Tap the + button in the top-right corner and select Text.

Add Title & Content

Enter a short Title (you'll see this in the keyboard) and your Reply text.

Pick a Color (Optional)

Choose a color to organize your replies into groups.

Save It

Tap Create reply and you're done!

Starter Ideas

📧

Email Signature

Your name, title, and contact info

📍

Address

Home or work address for forms

🙏

Thank You

"Thanks for your message! I'll reply soon."

📅

Meeting Request

"When works best for you this week?"

Using the Keyboard

Once set up, you can use Text Expander Keyboard in any app where you can type.

Switch to the Keyboard

Tap Any Text Field

Open Messages, Mail, Notes, or any app with a text field.

Hold the Globe Icon

Tap and hold the globe icon at the bottom of your keyboard.

Select Text Expander Keyboard

Choose Text Expander Keyboard from the list.

Hold globe to switch

Keyboard ready!

Quick Actions

Insert a reply: Tap any reply button to insert it instantly.

Filter by color: Tap a color dot at the top to show only replies of that color.

Undo: Tap the Undo button to remove the last inserted text.

Return to regular keyboard: Tap Done or the globe icon.

Pro Tip

Hold down a reply button to auto-paste text continuously. Great for filling out forms!

Magic Variables

Magic Variables are placeholders that automatically become real values when you insert a reply. They make your replies dynamic and smart.

Variable	What It Does
%%DATE%%	Inserts today's date
%%TIME%%	Inserts current time
%%DATETIME%%	Inserts date and time together
%%CLIPBOARD%%	Pastes whatever you copied
%%CURSOR%%	Places your cursor here after insertion
%%RANDOM:a\|b\|c%%	Randomly picks one option

Date & Time Offsets

Need tomorrow's date? Next week? Add an offset:

Examples

%%DATE +1D%% → Tomorrow
%%DATE -1W%% → Last week
%%TIME +2H%% → 2 hours from now
%%DATE +30D%% → 30 days from now

Custom Date Formats

Want a specific format? Add it after a colon:

Format Examples

%%DATE:MM/dd/yyyy%% → 01/15/2025
%%DATE:EEEE, MMMM d%% → Wednesday, January 15
%%DATE:MMM d +1W%% → Jan 22 (next week)

Practical Examples

Out of Office Reply

I'm currently out of office and will return on %%DATE +1W%%. I'll respond to your message then.

Meeting Notes Template

Meeting notes %%DATETIME%%:
%%CURSOR%%

Cursor lands right where you need to start typing

Random Greeting

%%RANDOM:Hi|Hello|Hey%% there! Thanks for reaching out.

Important

Always put a space before the offset: %%DATE +1D%% not %%DATE+1D%%

Organizing Your Replies

Color Categories

Use colors to group your replies. Here's one way to organize them:

Work & Professional

Personal Messages

Templates

Quick Responses

Reordering

Drag and drop replies in the main app to change their order. Put your most-used replies at the top for quick access.

Editing & Deleting

Edit: Long-press a reply and select Edit, or swipe left and tap the edit icon.

Delete: Long-press and select Delete, or swipe left and tap the delete icon.

Bulk delete: Tap Edit in the top corner, select multiple replies, then delete.

Image Replies

You can also save images as replies. When you tap an image reply, it copies to your clipboard for pasting into apps like Messages, Mail, or social media.

Import & Export

Back Up Your Replies

Go to Settings

Open the app and tap the Settings tab.

Export Collection

Tap Export collection to save a JSON backup file.

Import from CSV

Have a spreadsheet of replies? Import them easily with a CSV file:

CSV Format

title,text,color
Thanks,Thank you for your message!,yellow
Address,123 Main Street,maroon
OOO,I'm out of office until %%DATE +1W%%,purple