Espanso
Espanso is a cross-platform text expander for macOS that replaces typed shortcuts with snippets, templates, emojis, dates, and script output.
What is Espanso?
Espanso is a text expander for macOS, Windows, and Linux that helps you type faster by replacing short triggers with longer text, symbols, dates, emojis, and other reusable content. It is designed for people who write the same phrases repeatedly, including support staff, developers, writers, students, and office users. You can use it to insert canned replies, code snippets, signatures, form-style templates, and package-based expansions in almost any app. Espanso also includes a search bar for finding saved snippets and supports script or shell-powered expansions for more advanced workflows. The app uses file-based configuration instead of a traditional settings-heavy interface, which makes it appealing to users who want portable, editable text expansion rules.
Key features
- Expand typed shortcuts into full phrases and templates
- Insert dates, emojis, and symbols while typing in other apps
- Search saved snippets from a quick launcher
- Use forms to fill reusable templates with custom values
- Run shell commands or scripts and insert their output
- Install community packages for specialized snippet collections
- Work across macOS, Windows, and Linux with shared text expansion workflows
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Safety overview
Status: Mostly safe
Espanso's background typing expansion behavior is consistent with its purpose, but that also means it monitors text input system-wide so it can detect trigger words. Review your snippet rules carefully before storing sensitive information such as passwords, personal identifiers, or private message templates, and be cautious with packages or script-based expansions that execute commands or insert dynamic content.
Recommendation: Keep Espanso if you use text shortcuts, templates, or repetitive writing workflows, since removing it will stop your snippet expansions across apps. If you no longer rely on those shortcuts, you can remove it and clean up its configuration files afterward.
Common paths
/Applications/Espanso.app~/Library/Application Support/espanso~/.config/espanso
Support paths
~/Library/Application Support/espanso
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