Catchword help

Getting started

How do I install Catchword?

On Catchword's Chrome Web Store page, click Add to Chrome. Chrome shows no warning: at install Catchword can read or change nothing on any website. Then pin it (puzzle icon → pin) to keep its icon at hand; it shows ; on tabs where typed shortcuts listen.

What happens on the welcome page?

It opens once, right after installation, in three steps. Pick your starter pack: five snippets in English or French, which you can edit or delete any time. Type a shortcut here: a practice reply where you type one of the pack's shortcuts and watch it expand, with nothing to allow. Use it on your sites (optional): turn typed shortcuts on for a first site where you write. You can skip any step and do it later from the palette or Settings.

Typed shortcuts

How do typed shortcuts work?

Give a snippet an abbreviation (for example thx). On a site where typed shortcuts are on, type the prefix and the abbreviation — ;thx — in any text field: it is replaced by the snippet at once. Ctrl+Z (⌘Z) undoes it: in text boxes and most editors ;thx comes back (some rich editors, such as ProseMirror- and Quill-based ones, undo the shortcut together with the text). A shortcut only fires at the start of a field or after a space or punctuation, so word;thx or a web address never expands.

How do I turn them on for a site?

On that site, click the Catchword icon (or press Alt+Shift+Space) and turn on Type shortcuts on ‹site› at the bottom of the palette. Catchword explains what it does, then Chrome asks you to allow that one site. It works at once in the tabs already open. You can also add a site in Settings → Typed shortcuts → Add a site, or during the welcome steps.

What does Catchword read on those sites?

Only the last few characters before your cursor in the text field you are typing in (never more than your longest shortcut plus two), at each key you type there. They are processed in your browser and never stored or sent. Between two keys Catchword keeps only a count and a one-way fingerprint of them: that is how it knows you typed the whole shortcut yourself, so a page cannot plant half of one and let your next key finish it. Catchword skips the password, card, one-time-code, bank and similar fields and the sign-in and payment forms it can recognize (a form that also asks for a password or a card), and it never runs on the payment and sign-in sites of its built-in list (Settings → Typed shortcuts → Built-in list of payment and sign-in sites). It cannot recognize every sensitive field: pause Catchword on a site if in doubt. The same explanation is always in Settings → What Catchword reads.

How do I know where they are on?

Pin Catchword (puzzle icon → pin): its icon shows ; on tabs where typed shortcuts listen. The palette's bottom line and Settings → Sites show each site's state: On, Paused, or Chrome's access is missing (click Allow to ask again).

How do I pause or stop them?

Per site: turn the switch off in the palette (pause), or use Settings → Sites → Pause / Remove (removing gives Chrome's access back). Everywhere at once: the switch at the top of Settings → Typed shortcuts, or the keyboard shortcut Alt+Shift+K (change it in chrome://extensions/shortcuts). If you revoke access in Chrome's own settings, typed shortcuts stop at once and Catchword shows it as "Chrome's access is missing". Settings → Reset all data deletes everything Catchword stored and gives back every access Chrome granted it (sites, all sites, clipboard).

Can I change the prefix or when a shortcut expands?

Settings → Typed shortcuts: the prefix is 1 to 3 characters that are not letters, digits or spaces (; by default; //, !, ;; also work). When to expand: As soon as it's complete (default) or After Space, Tab or Enter (Space is kept, Tab and Enter are not; if the shortcut cannot be completed there, for example because it needs the palette, the Space comes back, but a Tab or Enter does not: press it again). When one shortcut is the start of another (;meet and ;meeting), the shorter one waits for a space or punctuation.

A shortcut shows a message instead of the text.

Snippets with fill-in fields or {clipboard} (and Pro variables on the Free plan) can't be completed where you type. The message tells you which keys open the palette: it opens directly on that snippet's form, and Insert replaces the shortcut you typed.

A snippet must never expand by typing.

Tick Palette only in the editor (useful for bank details or private text). It still appears in the palette. With Pro, Only on these sites limits a snippet's typed shortcut to some sites and their subdomains.

It doesn't expand on a site.

Check that the site is On (palette bottom line), that you are in a normal text field (not a password, card or code field, nor a sign-in or payment form), that you typed the whole shortcut yourself (a pasted shortcut, or one the page or an autocorrect wrote, does not expand: type it again), and that the page's editor is not inside a frame from another website (Catchword only works in frames of the same site, and in blank or inline frames). Google Docs, Sheets and Slides draw text on a canvas: use the palette there, which copies the snippet for you to paste. If a specific site misbehaves, tell us which one.

What is "Everywhere"?

An advanced option (Settings → Typed shortcuts) that turns typed shortcuts on for every website, except the payment and sign-in sites of the built-in list and the sites you paused. It has its own explanation before Chrome's prompt. Chrome then warns that Catchword "can read and change all your data on all websites": that is the only way Chrome can give access to every site. Most people are better served by adding the few sites they write in.

The palette

How do I insert a snippet from the palette?

Click in the text field, press Alt+Shift+Space (or click the Catchword icon), type a few letters of the title, abbreviation, tag or text, then press Enter. Use ↑/↓ to pick another result, Esc to close. The palette needs no access to your sites.

"Copied — paste it where you need it".

Catchword could not type into the page, so it put the snippet on your clipboard: press Ctrl+V (⌘V) where the text should go. This happens when no text field was selected, on pages Chrome protects (chrome://, the Chrome Web Store, the PDF viewer), in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, in fields inside frames from another website, and in password or number fields.

The palette shortcut does nothing.

Chrome assigns Alt+Shift+Space only if no other extension uses it. Open Settings → Keyboard shortcuts → Change shortcuts (or chrome://extensions/shortcuts) and choose another one.

Snippets

How do I create or edit snippets?

Palette → pencil icon, or the Snippets tab. New snippet: a title, the text, optionally an abbreviation (your typed shortcut), a folder and tags, then Save (Ctrl+S / ⌘S). The editor shows the typed shortcut and warns when two shortcuts overlap.

Which variables can I use?

Free: {date} (also {date:short}, {date:medium}, {date:long}, {date:full}, {date:iso}), {time} ({time:long}, {time:iso}), {weekday} ({weekday:short}), {cursor} (where the caret goes after inserting), and {input:Label} (a one-line field you fill in before inserting). Pro: {input:Label=Default}, {select:Label|Option A|Option B}, {textarea:Label}, {checkbox:Label|Text if ticked|Text if not}, {datefield:Label}, date math {date:+3d} / {date:-1w:short} / {date:+2m} / {date:next monday}, conditions {if:Field=Value}…{else}…{endif} (also !=, and {if:Field} for a ticked checkbox), and {clipboard}. The Insert variable menu writes them for you. Dates use your browser's language. Without Pro, Pro variables are inserted as typed and fields as [Label]: nothing is lost.

How do I type a literal brace?

Write {{ for { and }} for }. Anything in braces that isn't a variable is inserted as you typed it; the editor warns you.

What are presets?

(Pro) In a fill-in form, Save as preset remembers the values you typed, so a later insertion can reuse them from the Preset list.

How do folders and tags work?

Create a folder with the folder button or from the editor's Folder list; rename or delete it from its ⋯ menu (deleting a folder never deletes its snippets). With Pro, a folder can sit inside another. Tags are words separated by commas; search finds them.

Import, backup, restore

Can I import from another text expander?

Library → ⋯ → Import… → A file: a Catchword backup, a JSON list, a CSV with column names (title, abbreviation or shortcut, folder, body or text; French names work too), an export from ProKeys or Auto Text Expander (JSON), or a TextExpander or aText CSV. The format is detected and shown. Or A pasted list: one snippet per line, the abbreviation, then a tab, = or :, then the text (\n for a line break). If the abbreviations start with another tool's prefix (/, //, ;;…), Catchword offers to swap it for yours. Import adds snippets and skips exact duplicates; it never replaces or deletes anything.

What are restore points?

Before every import, restore and upgrade, Catchword saves a copy of your library on this device (the last five, as long as they fit next to your library in Chrome's 10 MB: past about 4 MB of snippets no copy fits, the manager warns you and the import or restore tells you that no restore point was saved). Library → ⋯ → Restore points… → Restore puts it back; your current library is saved as a restore point first.

How do I back up or move my snippets?

Library → ⋯ → Export… downloads a Catchword backup (JSON, with Pro site rules and presets) or a spreadsheet (CSV; cells a spreadsheet could run as a formula start with an apostrophe, which Catchword removes when it imports its own file). With Pro you can export one folder or tag on its own. Catchword has no account and no sync: keep your backup somewhere safe.

What happens if I uninstall Catchword?

Uninstalling deletes your snippets, restore points, sites list, activity and license from this browser, and nobody can recover them. Export a backup first (Library → ⋯ → Export…). If you use Pro, remove the license first (Settings → License → Remove license from this browser) so the installation is freed for another computer; if you already uninstalled, write to us and we will free it. Chrome then opens a short goodbye page.

Plans and privacy

What is the free limit?

The Free plan holds 30 snippets, with typed shortcuts on as many sites as you like. Your snippets are never deleted or locked: above 30 you can still insert, edit and delete them, but you can't add new ones. An import beyond the limit imports what fits and says so.

How do I get and activate Pro?

Settings → Catchword Pro. Catchword Pro costs $29 paid once (a one-time purchase) or $4.99 a month (a monthly subscription, cancel anytime), including any VAT or sales tax, for one person on up to 3 Chrome installations at the same time. You receive a license key by email: Settings → License, paste the key, Activate. Pro checks your license about once a day when you are online and keeps working offline for up to 30 days after the last successful check; after that, Pro features pause until the next successful check. To move it to another computer: Settings → License → Remove license from this browser, then activate it there.

How does the monthly subscription work, and how do I cancel it?

Catchword Pro is also sold as a monthly subscription: $4.99 a month, including any VAT or sales tax, with no commitment and no free trial. It renews every month until you cancel it. To cancel, open Settings → License → Manage billing (the Lemon Squeezy customer portal; the same link is in your receipt e-mail and on the Support page of our website, and it stays there even when Pro is not active in this browser) and cancel the subscription there; the portal also changes your payment method and has your invoices. Pro stays on until the end of the month you already paid for; after that, Catchword works as its free version, and you can buy Pro again at any time. Removing the extension does not cancel the subscription. Monthly payments are not refunded (except when an update removes a Pro feature: see section 6 of the terms of sale), but the 14-day money-back guarantee covers your first purchase of Catchword Pro, one-time or monthly. The one-time purchase costs the same as about six months of the subscription.

What does "Activity on this device" count?

Expansions and the characters Catchword typed for you, per day (kept 365 days) and per snippet — never per site. Clear activity empties it.

Does Catchword send my data anywhere?

No. Snippets, what you type, your sites list and your activity stay in this browser. The only network requests are license checks (license key and a random installation id).

Can I use it at work?

Yes, but check your organization's rules before storing customer or colleague data in snippets: they stay in this browser, and backups are files you manage.