Small shortcuts. Complete replies.
See how a shortcut becomes a saved reply, learn the default Space trigger, and choose search or Copy when direct expansion is unavailable.
Shortcuts and triggers, explained
Learn where an alias matches, what Space does, and when the optional Tab, Enter, or immediate triggers need extra care.
Choose a valid alias
New aliases should start with a semicolon, such as ;thanks. Slash aliases remain supported. An alias must contain 2–128 UTF-16 code units, with no whitespace or control/format characters. Matching is case-sensitive by default.
Type the alias at the beginning of an editor, after whitespace, or after opening punctuation. It should not expand in the middle of a word or URL. Closing punctuation is part of an alias when you explicitly include it.
Matches: ;thanks + Space Does not mean the same alias: ;thanks! Also supported when saved: /thanks
Understand the trigger
Space expands a confirmed match and leaves one trailing space. Tab or Enter expand without a trailing delimiter when explicitly configured. An unmatched Tab retains normal navigation. Enter is consumed only for a confirmed expansion.
Immediate expansion happens after typed text, not during composition or as the default response to a pasted alias. Avoid immediate ;ref if ;refund also exists in overlapping scope. The short alias would fire before the longer one is complete.
- Start of text or a word boundary
- Exact saved alias
- Configured trigger
Resolve conflicts visibly
Two identical aliases can coexist in disjoint scopes. Overlapping exact aliases require distinct explicit numeric priority; ties fail closed. Priority does not solve immediate-prefix conflicts.
When an alias does not work, check its spelling, trigger, enabled/review state, access, and scope. Search may find text using tolerant accent/Arabic normalization even when the literal shortcut differs. Test changes in the practice field before relying on them.
Run a three-line practice check
In Help & practice, type ;thanks then Space on a new line. It should expand. Next type word;thanks then Space; it should remain literal because the alias is inside a word. Finally paste ;thanks without typing a trigger: pasting alone should not expand it. If the first check fails, compare the saved spelling and confirm Space is the configured trigger.