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Free plan includes built-in expansions plus 1 custom expansion. Pro unlocks unlimited custom expansions.

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What is Text Expander?

Text Expander lets you type a short trigger (like :date) anywhere on your computer and have it automatically expand into longer text. This works globally, in any app and any text field.

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Built-in Expansions

TriggerExpands ToExample Output
:dateCurrent date2026-05-10
:timeCurrent time14:30

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Creating Custom Expansions

  1. Open the Vowen app and click Dictionary in the left sidebar
  2. Switch to the Expansions tab
  3. Click + Add Expansion
  4. Enter your trigger (e.g., :addr) and replacement text (e.g., “123 Main Street, Suite 400, New York, NY 10001”)
  5. Click Save
New custom expansions open in the Rich editor by default, so you can keep bold, links, lists, and other formatting in the expanded text. Use the Plain/Rich toggle in the editor if you’d rather store the expansion as plain text. (The built-in :date and :time are always plain.)

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How It Works

  1. You type the trigger characters (e.g., :email)
  2. Vowen detects the completed trigger
  3. It simulates backspaces to delete the trigger
  4. It pastes the replacement text
This happens in real-time as you type, no shortcut needed.

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Use Cases

  • Contact info: :email → your email address
  • Signatures: :sig → your full email signature
  • Boilerplate: :thanks → “Thank you for your message. I’ll get back to you shortly.”
  • Links: :gh → your GitHub profile URL
  • Date/Time: :date → today’s date (built-in)

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Managing Expansions

  • Enable/Disable: toggle individual expansions without deleting them
  • Edit: change the trigger or replacement text
  • Delete: remove custom expansions (built-ins cannot be deleted)
  • Built-in label: shows which expansions are system-provided
  • Search: filter the list by shortcut or text with the search bar at the top
  • Tags: label expansions with colored tags, then use the tag filter bar (with any/all match modes) and sort options to organize a large library

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Suggestions Dropdown

Turn on Show suggestions dropdown at the top of the Expansions tab and Vowen shows a live picker as you type a : trigger. Matching expansions appear in a small list near your cursor; click one to insert it without stealing focus from the app you’re typing in — handy when you can’t remember the exact shortcut. It’s off by default.

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Bulk Import

Building dozens of expansions one-by-one in the app is slow. You can prepare a JSON file with all of them (plain text or rich HTML) and import it in one click — see Import & Export Data for the file format and an LLM-ready prompt that converts any source list (spreadsheet, Word doc, wiki) into a ready-to-import file.

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Behavior Notes

  • Expansions are paused during voice recording (won’t interfere with transcription)
  • A mouse click resets the trigger buffer (starts fresh)
  • Triggers are case-sensitive
  • The trigger prefix : is not configurable currently