How to create your first text snippet
A snippet is two things: a short trigger you type, and the longer text it turns into. The whole product is that one idea. Start with the single thing you retype most — your email signature, your standard reply, your address — and give it a shortcut you would never type by accident.
Takes about 2 min
What you need
- FlashType installed in a Chromium browser
- A piece of text you type often enough to be annoyed by
Steps
Open FlashType and add a snippet
Click the extension icon and choose to create a new snippet.
Choose a shortcut
Something like /sig or /addr. A leading slash keeps it from firing inside ordinary words.
Paste the text it should expand into
Type it once, properly, so you never have to think about the wording again.
Save it
No account is required to start using snippets.
Try it in a real text box
Open Gmail or any web form, type your shortcut, and watch it expand in place.
Worth knowing
- Pick shortcuts that could never appear inside a normal word. A bare shortcut like 'sig' will fire in the middle of 'design'; '/sig' will not.
- Inline autocomplete shows matching snippets with a live preview as you type, so you do not have to remember your own shortcuts.
- Snippets are stored locally on your device by default.
Questions
How many snippets can I create?
There is no snippet cap and no paid tier. Create as many as you find useful.
Do I need an account to create snippets?
No. You can install FlashType and start creating snippets without signing in. Signing in is only relevant if you later want to sync across your own devices.