How to Create iPhone Text Shortcuts
Updated: May 24, 2024
Change the way you type forever by setting up iPhone text shortcuts. Here's how to do it.
It’s time to give your tired thumbs a break. Enter iPhone text shortcuts! With text replacement on iPhones and iPads, you can save time when typing messages to your family, friends, colleagues and clients. Adopting texting shortcuts on an iPhone is a simple, quick and game-changing tech tip, even for the luddites among us.
Smartphones are an essential part of our daily communication, productivity and entertainment, but without certain iPhone shortcuts to streamline your usage, it can become overwhelming—and who doesn’t like saving some time? Below, we’ll explain exactly what iPhone text shortcuts are, how to set them up and examples of what to use them for.
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What are iPhone text shortcuts?
Keyboard shortcuts are text-replacement tools for the busy iPhone or iPad user. Similar to how autocorrect works (or is supposed to work) for spelling, a shortcut automatically replaces a preset abbreviation with a longer word or phrase as you type, whether you’re on text, email, social media or notes.
There’s even a couple of iPhone text shortcuts already built in. “OMW” automatically comes up as “On my way!” on any Apple device. Just for LOLs, you can also send a screen full of lasers to a friend in iMessage by typing “pew pew.” Try it! If you have common words or phrases you find yourself typing often, try creating some shortcuts. Not only do iPhone text shortcuts speed up your texting time, but they can also save you from constant battles with autocorrect and accidental or embarrassing typos.
It’s worth noting that text shortcuts work only with your original iPhone or iPad keyboards and not with any third-party keyboard apps.
How do I make texting shortcuts on iPhone?
To make a new iPhone text shortcut:
- Launch your phone’s Settings app.
- Go to General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.
- Choose the “+” symbol in the top-right corner.
- Enter the abbreviation you’d like to use in the “Shortcut” field, and then type in the entire phrase you want it to be replaced with in the “Phrase” field.
- Tap “Save” at the top right once you’re done.
You can also make a new iPhone text shortcut directly from your keypad. While typing in a text field:
- Tap and hold the smiley-face or globe icon.
- Tap Keyboard Settings > Text Replacement.
- Enter the abbreviation you’d like to use in the “Shortcut” field, and then type in the entire phrase you want it to be replaced with in the “Phrase” field.
- Tap “Save” at the top right once you’re done.
Now when you type that abbreviation, you can select the full phrase from the option bubble below your text window or simply tap the space bar.
How to use iPhone text shortcuts to stop wrong autocorrects
Incorrect autocorrects can be really ducking annoying. If your iPhone or iPad is constantly coming up with the wrong words when you type, don’t worry: There’s an iPhone hack to fix that. You simply need a well-placed text shortcut. Simply follow the above instructions for setting up a shortcut, but fill in only the “Phrase” field with the word that’s always incorrectly corrected. Then (the most important step) leave the “Shortcut” field blank and click “Save.”
How to edit and customize iPhone keyboard shortcuts
If you find yourself typing a shortcut by accident or one of your shortcuts has a typo, there’s an easy fix. To edit and customize any shortcut:
- Go to your phone’s Settings app.
- Click General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.
- Select the shortcut you want to edit, type in the new phrase and hit “Save.”
How to delete keyboard shortcuts
No longer using a keyboard shortcut? You can get rid of it with a swipe of your finger.
- Go to your phone’s Settings app.
- Hit General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.
- Swipe left on the shortcut you want to delete.
- Continue the swipe or tap “Delete” to make the shortcut disappear.
Most useful iPad and iPhone keyboard shortcut examples
Thanks to text shortcuts for iPhones, you can communicate fast while out and about. Here are some examples of practical shortcuts you might want to try:
- If you’re constantly running late, try “FMIN” to say “I’ll be there in five minutes,” or SYS for “See you soon.”
- Personal information that you often share, like your email address, phone number and home address can be programmed to appear when you type EML, PHN or ADDR, for example.
- Create your own abbreviations for names or places that you frequently go, such as a favorite restaurant or your child’s school.
- If you’re regularly writing out a sales pitch, your business’ pricing structure or other long paragraphs, try abbreviating and making a shortcut.
- If someone always asks for, say, your apple pie recipe, save the full recipe under APL.
When customizing your shortcuts, though, try to pick abbreviations that are easily remembered but unusual enough that you’re unlikely to type them by accident. And be careful not to come up with shortcut acronyms you might already use. For example, if you regularly write about the World Economic Forum (WEF), you probably wouldn’t want to set that as your shortcut for chatting with your spouse about your kid’s weird elbow fascination.
Why trust us
Reader’s Digest has published hundreds of articles on personal technology, arming readers with the knowledge to protect themselves against cybersecurity threats and internet scams as well as revealing the best tips, tricks and shortcuts for computers, cellphones, apps, texting, social media and more. For this piece, Brooke Nelson Alexander tapped her experience as an Emmy-winning reporter covering tech, digital trends, security and privacy. Then Marc Saltzman, a tech expert, journalist and author who has reported on the tech industry for a decade and hosts the podcast Tech It Out, gave it a rigorous review to ensure that all information is accurate and offers the best possible advice to readers. We rely on credentialed experts with personal experience and know-how as well as primary sources including tech companies, professional organizations and academic institutions. We verify all facts and data and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Source:
- Apple: “Save keystrokes with text replacements on iPhone”
Originally Published: January 25, 2021
