How to set up text replacements on a Mac

2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

A text replacement turns a few letters into a longer text as you type. For example, typing adr could insert your full address. It saves time with email addresses, greetings and phrases you write often.

These steps are for recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings. The pictures are our own screenshots from macOS Tahoe 26 on a MacBook Pro.

Step by step

1. 

   Open System Settings and click Keyboard

   Click the Apple menu, then System Settings. Keyboard is far down in the sidebar, so scroll.

   Done

2. 

   Click Text Replacements

   The button is in the Text Input section.

   Done

3. Click the plus button

   It is at the bottom left of the list.

   Done

4. Type the short code and the full text

   In the first field, type the short code. Choose something you would never type by accident. In the second field, type the text it should become.

   Done

5. Click Add, then Done

   The new entry appears in the list.

   Done

6. Try it

   Open Notes or Mail, type the short code and press the Space bar. The full text replaces it.

   Done

Good to know

Text replacements do not work in every app. Apple says so itself. In some apps the choices are in the Edit menu under Substitutions, Show Substitutions.

With iCloud Drive set up on your Mac, iPhone and iPad and the same Apple Account on each, a replacement you add on one device works on the others as well.

To copy your replacements to another Mac, select them in the list and drag them to the desktop. That creates a file you can drag into the Text Replacements window on the other Mac.

Start short codes with an unusual letter pair, such as xx, so that ordinary words never trigger them.

In short: System Settings, Keyboard, Text Replacements, plus, short code and full text, Add.