Find it in the palette
Type sn and a space to search only snippets, or just start typing a name, abbreviation, or a few words of the text. Return pastes it into the app you were using.
Docktopus for macOS · New
Snippets
Save the text you type again and again, fill in dates and names on the fly, and expand short abbreviations in any app.
Three distinct themes. Light and dark presets. Free to try, one purchase to keep.
Snippets
Type it once. Paste it everywhere.
Save the replies, signatures, addresses, and boilerplate you keep retyping. Give each one a name and, if you like, a short abbreviation such as ;sig. Paste it from the search palette, a Shortcut, a docktopus:// link, or by typing the abbreviation in any app.
Or just type the abbreviation
Turn on Expand Abbreviations as You Type, and ;sig becomes your full signature in Mail, Slack, a browser, or any other app.
Your clipboard stays put
Pasting a snippet puts back whatever you had copied, and snippets never show up in clipboard history.
In the search palette
Option-Space, a few letters, Return.
Snippets appear with their abbreviation and a preview of the text. The action menu copies a snippet instead of pasting it, opens it in Settings, or deletes it, and Save as Snippet… turns a text clip from your clipboard history into a new snippet.
The palette follows your theme. Switch it above.Animated mockup
Animated mockups with sample snippets. Explore everything else Search finds.
Placeholders
The details fill themselves in.
Placeholders are filled in the moment a snippet is pasted, so one snippet covers every date, recipient, and order number.
Date and time
{date} and {time} use your region’s format. Add a format of your own, such as {date:yyyy-MM-dd} or {date:EEEE, d MMMM}.
Clipboard
{clipboard} drops in the text you copied last, for a link you want to wrap in a message or a name you want to greet.
Cursor
{cursor} leaves the caret right where you will type next, such as between the tags of <b>{cursor}</b>.
Fill-in fields
{input:Name} asks for a value before pasting. Use the same field twice and it is asked for once. Type {{ or }} for a literal brace.
Shortcuts and links
Paste from a Shortcut, a hotkey, or a Stream Deck button.
The Paste Snippet action in the Shortcuts app lists your snippets with their abbreviations. Every snippet also works as a link, so launchers and scripts can paste it too.
Paste or copy
docktopus://snippet?name=Signature pastes into the app in front. Add &mode=copy to put it on the clipboard instead. Links work once you allow them in Settings → Automation.
Fill in fields from the link
docktopus://snippet?name=Reply&input.Name=Ada fills {input:Name} for you. Leave it out and Docktopus asks. More about Shortcuts and links.
Settings → Snippets
One library, on every Mac you use.
Add, edit, duplicate, reorder, and delete snippets in their own Settings pane. The editor warns when two snippets share an abbreviation, or when a shorter one would expand before yours is fully typed.
Privacy, sync, and limits
Typed abbreviations stay private
Expand Abbreviations as You Type is off by default and needs Accessibility access, which macOS asks for when you turn it on. It never runs in password fields, during a Privacy Pause, inside Docktopus, or in apps you exclude. Typed characters are only held in memory to spot an abbreviation and are never stored.
Synced with your configuration
Snippets are part of configuration export, import, and sync between your Macs. Typed abbreviations are switched on separately on each Mac.
Trial and licence
Snippets follow the same trial and licence rules as Shortcuts and links.