TypeInstead
Stop typing the same things twice
Type a few words in any app. TypeInstead fills in the rest — your number in the right format, a link that stays clickable, even the file someone just asked for.
macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon and Intel · Works in any app you type in
A few you'd set up on day one
my email
you@example.com
my phone
(555) 010-4477
my linkedin
my LinkedIn
my passport scan
Passport scan.pdf
Not just text. The real thing.
Most expanders paste plain characters. TypeInstead puts in what the content actually is, and falls back gracefully where an app can't take it.
Numbers, kept in format
Pick the country format once. Your number comes out the same way every time, with the country code or the leading zero, however you need it.
Links that stay clickable
In Mail, Notes, Messages and anywhere else that takes rich text, you get a real link with readable text. Elsewhere, the words and the URL in plain text.
Files, by typing their name
For the documents people keep asking for. Type your trigger and the file attaches right after your words — no Finder window, no hunting through folders.
Triggers you'd write anyway
Whole phrases, not cryptic abbreviations. my phone works. So does ;ph if that's more your thing.
One key to undo
A natural phrase can fire mid-sentence. Press Backspace straight after and your own words come back, exactly as you typed them.
Out of the way where it matters
It skips fields your Mac marks as password fields, and you can switch it off per app under Excluded Apps.
Three minutes to your first snippet
- Grant one permission. TypeInstead needs macOS Accessibility so it can notice your trigger as you type and put the content in. The app walks you through it and shows you exactly where to click.
- Practise it once, safely. A short guided tour lets you try a real expansion in a mock chat and a mock mail draft, so you can feel it work before you point it at anything of yours.
- Save what you keep retyping. Your number, your links, the PDF you send every week. TypeInstead lives in your menu bar and Dock, and expands your snippets wherever you type next.
Optional, and on your Mac: on macOS 26 and later, Apple's on-device model can suggest other phrases you might naturally type for the same snippet. It runs on your Mac, nothing is sent anywhere, and every part of TypeInstead works without it.
Your words never leave your Mac
TypeInstead has to watch for your triggers to do its job, so here is exactly what that means. There is no account to make and no server of ours for anything to go to.
Keystrokes aren't kept
What you type is compared against your own triggers in memory and then discarded. Nothing is written to disk, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Snippets stay local
Your snippets live in a plain file in your own Library folder. No sync, no cloud, no sign-in.
No analytics in version 1.0
TypeInstead collects nothing about you. If that ever changes it will be a switch you turn on yourself, never on by default.
One app, one price
TypeInstead is sold through Setapp, which handles the purchase, the receipt and the updates. Pick whichever suits you.
Buy once
one-time, yours to keep
- Version 1.x updates included
- No subscription, no renewal
- Use it on your own Macs
Or try it monthly
a month, after a free week
- 7-day free trial
- Every update while subscribed
- Cancel whenever you like
Payment, invoices and refunds are handled by Setapp. See Terms of Use.
Questions
Why does it need Accessibility permission?
macOS only lets an app see keystrokes and put text into other apps through Accessibility. There's no narrower permission that would do it. TypeInstead uses it for exactly those two things, and you can revoke it at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
Is it recording what I type?
No. Keystrokes are matched against your triggers in memory and thrown away. They're never stored and never transmitted. The matching buffer also clears when you click, use an arrow key, press Escape or use a keyboard shortcut.
Does it work in every app?
It works wherever you can type. Rich output — clickable links and file attachments — depends on what the app accepts; where an app only takes plain text, you get the plain-text version instead. If a particular app misbehaves, add it to Excluded Apps.
Do I need a Setapp membership?
No. TypeInstead is sold on its own. You'll need a Setapp account so it can be installed and kept up to date, but not a full Setapp membership.
What happens to my snippets if I stop paying?
They're your files, in your Library folder, in plain text. You can back them up from inside the app at any time.
Which Macs does it run on?
macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on both Apple silicon and Intel.