TextExpander version 7.8 is available now for Mac and Windows. We’ve made a few small changes that should make your day-to-day text expansion even easier. This blog outlines a few changes that you’ll see when you update to version 7.8, along with some welcome bug fixes.
Check out our video for a touch of the new features in TextExpander 7.8!
Not able to play the video? Click here to watch the video
1. Easier creation of Rich Text Snippets
Many customers told us they were unaware of TextExpander’s Rich Text formatting. Now, all new Snippets default to Rich Text instead of Plain Text. When you click the New Snippet button, you automatically see more formatting options for your Snippet.
Rich Text Snippets let you add these features to your Snippets:
- Add hyperlinks
- Adjust the text size
- Align text left, right, or center
- Alter the text color
- Change the font
- Apply bold, italic, and underline styling
- Insert images
What if you don’t want rich text? Don’t add any formatting to your Snippet; it will still expand in plain text!
2. Snippet editor improvements
We’ve introduced many reliability enhancements and bug fixes to the Snippet Editor. These updates focus on improving the experience of pasting content into tables and editing links within your Snippets. Here’s a closer look at what’s new:
More reliable tables
Pasting content from external sources—like Google Sheets—directly into tables within the Snippet Editor is now much smoother. Previously, pasting could disrupt the table structure, sometimes deleting cells or altering the format. With this improvement, the table structure remains consistent. For example, if you start with a 3×3 table, it stays a 3×3 table, no matter what content you paste in.
We’ve also addressed a critical issue where using the backspace key to remove content from a table cell could corrupt the table. Users found that deleting content would sometimes remove entire cells with no way to add them back. With the latest update, using backspace will now only remove the text within the cell, leaving the table structure intact.
Enhancements in link editing
Editing links within the Snippet Editor is now more reliable and user-friendly. In the past, creating a link and then starting a new line of text would sometimes result in all subsequent text being linked. Now, links will only apply to the selected text, and when you move to a new line, the link formatting will no longer carry over. Additionally, updating URLs for existing links is more straightforward—highlight the link, change the URL, and your changes will apply precisely as expected.
These improvements are designed to streamline your workflow and reduce frustrations so you can focus on creating and editing your snippets with confidence and ease. Happy editing!
3. Improved discoverability of the New Snippet button
We’ve updated the Snippet button to appear more prominently in the desktop app. It appears near the top of the TextExpander window whenever a Snippet Group is selected in the sidebar — you can’t miss it!
Here’s a tip: You can always create a new Snippet in TextExpander by pressing Command-N in macOS or Control-N in Windows.
4. Easier access to team creation and management
You asked for an easier way to access team account settings, and we listened! You can now access those through the desktop app. Click the button with your name in the lower-left corner of the window to reveal a menu.
From the menu, choose Create a Team or Manage My Team to view your organization settings through the web app.
Want better permission management? If you use an Individual account with your team, you may want to consider upgrading to an Organization account to access:
- Multiple users all sharing a common Snippet library
- Single source of management
- SSO support for easy sign-in
- One invoice for your entire team
5. Inline Search reminder
Inline Search is one of TextExpander’s most useful features, letting you search your TextExpander Snippets from any program without navigating back to the TextExpander app..
The 7.8 update makes this feature a little less hidden. Now when you search for a Snippet inside TextExpander, a notice appears reminding you how to access Inline Search.
Here are the keyboard shortcuts for Inline Search:
- macOS: Command + /
- Windows: Control + /
- Chrome: Control + Period
6. Press Esc to close dialogs
Last, but not least: You can now press the Escape key on your keyboard to close dialogs, like when creating a fill-in field.
TextExpander 7.8 bug fixes and improvements
Here are the rest of the fixes you can look forward to in TextExpander 7.8:
- Stops displaying maintenance alert once the maintenance is finished and successfully connected
- Fixes pasting into tables in the Snippet Editor
- Improves editing of links in the Snippet Editor
- Stops showing needs update message after upgrading
- Fixes backspace corrupting tables in the Snippet Editor
- Fixes copying and pasting of Optional Sections
- Fixes crash when editing lists in some circumstances
- Fixes spacing between editor elements
- Fixes closing a dialog via Esc
- Preserves the first position as the default selection when editing Popup options in the Snippet Editor
- Requires an Abbreviation to be specified when embedding a Snippet in the Snippet Editor
- Fixes word wrapping in the date adjustment dialog box
- Fixes crash when opening Quick Actions (Windows Only)
- Fixes intermittent bugs with image insertion in the Snippet editor
- Fixes missing macOS application menu separators (macOS only)
