Getting Started

Turn short keywords into the text you use every day.

Create your first snippet

Choose File → New Snippet (⌘N). Give it a name, enter a keyword such as :hello, and write your text in Template. Keep Expansion enabled, then save with ⌘S.

Name: Greeting
Keyword: :hello
Template: Hello! Thanks for getting in touch.

Enable expansion

Open Settings → General and enable text expansion. Allow Textend in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility when prompted. You can still manage and copy snippets without this permission.

Try it

Type your saved keyword in Settings → General → Try Expansion, or in a supported text field such as a TextEdit document. The library editor itself is excluded. Textend inserts text without pressing Return or executing commands.

Keep Textend available

Closing the library leaves Textend running in the menu bar. Use its menu to open the library, access Settings, pause expansion, or quit. In Settings → General → App Behavior, turn off Show Textend in the Dock, then quit and reopen Textend. The Dock icon stays hidden even while windows are open. Changing the setting does not hide windows or interrupt editing; it takes effect on the next launch. The preference is remembered on this Mac. Launch at login is optional in the same section.