Text Expander Shortcuts

WHAT IT DOES

Text Expander Shortcuts is a browser extension that monitors your typing in any input field, textarea, or content-editable element and automatically expands user-defined abbreviations into full phrases or sentences. You create custom shortcut-expansion pairs, and whenever you type a shortcut followed by a space, the tool instantly replaces it with the corresponding expansion. For example, typing "brb " could expand to "Be right back! " and typing "ty " could expand to "Thank you! " The tool supports case-sensitive matching, so "brb" and "BRB" are treated as different shortcuts if desired. A global toggle lets you enable or disable expansion at any time without deleting your shortcuts. The tool is ideal for customer support agents, developers, writers, students, and anyone who frequently types repetitive text, responses, code patterns, or commonly used phrases.

WHERE IT RUNS

Text Expander Shortcuts works on any webpage that contains input fields, textareas, or content-editable elements. It runs locally in your browser as a lightweight userscript, monitoring typing events across the entire page. It works on form pages, chat interfaces, email clients, content management systems, code editors, social media platforms, and any other page where text input is used. The tool handles static pages, dynamically loaded content via AJAX, and single-page applications where input fields appear and disappear without page reloads. All shortcut data is stored locally using GM_setValue—no text is ever sent to any server.

HOW TO USE

After installation, open the floating panel by clicking the extension icon. The panel shows a list of your saved shortcuts and their expansions. To add a new shortcut, enter an abbreviation in the "Shortcut" field and the full text in the "Expansion" field, then click Add Shortcut. Use the global toggle switch at the top of the panel to enable or disable expansion without deleting your shortcuts. To delete a shortcut, click the ✕ button next to it. Once enabled, simply type the shortcut in any input field followed by a space, and the shortcut will automatically be replaced by its expansion. For example, type "omw " and it expands to "On my way! " The expansion occurs instantly as you type, saving you time and keystrokes. All shortcuts are saved automatically and persist across browser sessions.

REAL MECHANISM — WHY THIS WORKS

Most text expansion tools use global keyboard hooks or system-level automation that can interfere with other applications and cannot target specific web input fields. Text Expander Shortcuts uses a DOM-event-driven engine that works entirely within the browser. The engine attaches input event listeners to all input fields, textareas, and content-editable elements on the page, and monitors each keystroke in real time. When a user types a space, newline, or tab, the engine captures the current cursor position and extracts the word immediately preceding the cursor. It then checks this word against the user-defined list of shortcuts using case-sensitive comparison. If a match is found, the engine constructs the new text by concatenating the text before the shortcut, the expansion text, and the text after the shortcut. It then sets the new value and restores the cursor position to the end of the inserted expansion. For React and Vue applications, the engine dispatches both "input" and "change" events after modifying the value, ensuring that reactive frameworks detect the change and update their state accordingly. The engine also uses MutationObserver to watch for dynamically added input fields, ensuring that new fields are automatically monitored without requiring a page refresh. This approach ensures accurate, framework-compatible text expansion without requiring any external services or system-level permissions.

THE PANEL

The floating panel is fully draggable and remembers its position per site, snapping to the edges of the viewport when dragged near them. You can collapse the panel to a small icon to minimize screen distraction and expand it back with a single click. The panel is resizable from the bottom-right corner, giving you more space to view shortcuts and controls. Press the Escape key to close the panel instantly. The panel remains open across page navigation within the same domain, maintaining your current view state. All preferences—panel position and expansion enable toggle—are saved per domain for a seamless experience.

PLEASE NOTE

Text Expander Shortcuts requires the free BotGentz extension to be installed and enabled, as it relies on the cross-extension messaging API provided by BotGentz for DOM access permissions. Because websites frequently update their structure, expansion detection may require periodic script updates to maintain compatibility with specific input fields or rich-text editors. If the tool does not expand shortcuts as expected, please check for updates or report the issue. All shortcut data is stored locally in your browser using GM_setValue. No shortcut text, expansion content, or usage data are ever sent to any server. The extension does not read, store, or transmit any personal information. It only reads keystroke events to detect shortcuts and writes expansion text at the cursor position at your explicit request.