Insert reusable text with snippets

Save text you type again and again as a snippet, then insert it with a ;shortcut or from the / menu.

Applies to Web · Mac · iPhone app · saved to your account, so every device has the same snippets

Experiment conditions, sign-off lines, meeting-minute headers: anything you type the same way every time can be saved as a snippet and brought back with a few keystrokes. Snippets are saved to your account, not the device, so ones you create in the Mac app work on the web and on iPhone too. If you need the shape of a whole document, a template is a better fit.

Create a snippet

  1. Open View options (the sliders icon) in the top bar.
  2. In the Snippets section near the bottom, click Add snippet.
  3. Enter a Name. This is how it appears in the / menu.
  4. Optionally enter a Shortcut (optional). For example, with pcr you type ;pcr and then a space in a note to expand it.
  5. Type the text in Details and click Save.

Use the Edit and Delete buttons next to a snippet in the list to change or remove it.

Insert a snippet

MethodHow
ShortcutAt the start of a line or after a space, type ;shortcut and then a space. It expands in place.
/ menuType / and part of the snippet’s name. Snippets are listed after the blocks, with their shortcut (or “Snippets”) shown on the right.

Multi-line text is inserted as one paragraph per line. Snippets store plain text only, so apply bold, color and other formatting after inserting. If you type a shortcut that doesn’t exist, nothing changes and your text stays as typed.

Rules and limits

ItemLimit
Number of snippetsUp to 200
NameUp to 60 characters, required
ShortcutUp to 24 characters, optional. No spaces or semicolons, and two snippets can’t share a shortcut.
TextUp to 20,000 characters, required
Because a snippet only expands when the shortcut is typed after ;, even a common word like pcr won’t get in the way of normal writing.