Back to Learning CenterTroubleshootingGeneralBasic troubleshooting when textexpander isnt working

Basic Troubleshooting When TextExpander Isn’t Working

How to troubleshoot TextExpander not working

If TextExpander is not working, try these steps based on how TextExpander is acting –

  1. When I type a Snippet abbreviation the abbreviation doesn’t disappear and I don’t hear the expansion sound.
    • If nothing happens when you type a Snippet, it could be TextExpander is not running. Locate the TextExpander app in your:
      • (Mac) Applications folder (or in your Downloads folder if you never moved it after you first installed), and double-click on the app to launch it.
      • (Win) Startup menu and double-click the app to launch it.
  2. When I expand a Snippet the abbreviation does disappear, but it is not replaced with the Snippet’s full and accurate content.
    • If something unexpected shows up when you expand a Snippet, contact Support and explain what is happening.
  3. I tried expanding a Snippet in the TextEdit app (Mac) Notepad (Win) and…
    • It worked! If your Snippets are only expanding in certain apps, like TextEdit, but not in others, you might have turned off certain Snippets from expanding in certain groups. See our article on selective app expansion.
    • It didn’t work. Continue to step 4.
  4. Looking at the TextExpander icon in the menu bar in the upper right (Mac) notifications area in the lower right (Win) of my screen it appears grayed out or has a yellow triangle on it.
    • TextExpander is currently disabled. To re-enable it see the below section about turning expansion back on.

TextExpander Expansion

Mac

  1. Please check that Expand abbreviations is checked in TextExpander’s Expansion preferences.
  2. Please select the TextExpander menu bar item and ensure that the second item reads Disable Expansion rather than Enable Expansion. If it reads Enable Expansion, please choose Enable Expansion:
  3. If the TextExpander menu bar item notes something about secure input, please review this.

Windows

  1. Please check that Expand abbreviations is checked in TextExpander’s Expansion preferences.
  2. Please select the TextExpander icon in the system tray and ensure that the second item reads Disable Expansion rather than Enable Expansion. If it reads Disable Expansion, please click on Disable Expansion to Enable Expansion.

Chrome

  1. Click on the TextExpander icon in the upper right of the Chrome browser.
  2. Select the cog/gear to open Options.
  3. The top option should say “Disable Expansion” (This indicates that TextExpander is enabled, if it says “Enable Expansion”, you’ll want to click on it to Enable)
  4. Tip: Shift-reload the page by pressing the shift key and clicking reload.

Reset TextExpander

If you are experiencing some trouble with TextExpander related to Snippet syncing, sign out then sign back in.

Mac

  1. With the TextExpander app open, select the “TextExpander” menu at the top of your screen and choose “Sign out of TextExpander.” If you don’t have TextExpander in your Dock then you won’t see it in the menu bar. Make TextExpander visible in the Dock by going to TextExpander’s Preferences > Appearances and unchecking the “Hide In Dock” option.

iOS

  1. Select the gear icon to open the Settings, scroll to the bottom, and tap “Sign out of TextExpander.” On an iPhone the Settings are only visible from the Groups list view.

Windows

  1. Locate the TextExpander icon in the notifications area of the taskbar in the lower right corner of the screen. Click on it, then click “Sign out of TextExpander.”

Chrome

  1. Click on the TextExpander icon in the upper right of the Chrome browser.
  2. Select the cog/gear to open Options.
  3. Choose “Sign out of TextExpander”.

Syncing TextExpander

If you are having trouble syncing TextExpander across your devices it could be you don’t have the correct versions. You need the matching generations of TextExpander to match up the syncing. Below is a chart of the versions of TextExpander app icons matched up.

For directions on setting up sync across older versions, see How Do I Sync Version 5? or How Do I Sync Version 3, 4?

If you do have the latest versions of TextExpander for Mac, TextExpander for Windows, and TextExpander for iPhone & iPad, then sign in to your account on TextExpander.com. What you see there is the current state of your Snippets. Any differences in the apps mean that TextExpander is out of sync. To fix this, sign out of the app, then back in. Note, this will erase any edits or Snippets you made since that last time the app was in sync. Be sure to move any new Snippets which are in the app but not on TextExpander.com to their own group. Then save that group to your desktop before you sign out.

TextExpander for MacTextExpander for iPhone & iPadSync Method
TE v6 version 6Touch v4 version 4TextExpander.com
TE v5 version 5v3.5 version 3.5iCloud Drive, Dropbox
TE v4 version 4Touch v2 version 3.2, 2Dropbox