A hotkey (or "keyboard shortcut", "key combo", etc.) is a combination of multiple simultaneous keypresses (or mouse clicks) to execute a phrases or to open phrase menus:

PhraseExpress inserts a phrase if you press its associated hotkey. For example, pressing CTRL+ALT+S can be assigned to insert your signature:

To assign a hotkey to a phrase:

1. Select "hotkey" as the trigger type and click the desired combination of CTRL, ALT, WIN and/or SHIFT buttons.
2. Click onto the little triangle next to the hotkey input box.
3. Select the desired letter (or mouse button) from the popup menu. Alternatively, simply click into the input box and press the entire key combination.

PhraseExpress shows a warning symbol if a hotkey is likely to interfere with other programs. We recommend to use combinations of at least two of the CTRL, ALT,WIN, SHIFT 'modifier' keys plus an additional character.

• List of hotkeys reserved by Microsoft Windows

Autotexts are text abbreviations that trigger a phrase stored in PhraseExpress. The autotext input is removed and the phrase input is inserted. Autotexts can also trigger macro automations.

Examples:

• Entering the abbreviation 'FBI' can be automatically be expanded to 'Federal Bureau of Investigation'.
• Typing mistakes are corrected as you type: 'tpyo' » 'typo'.
• Enter an autotext to launch an application. For instance, typing 'calc' can launch the Windows calculator.

In PhraseExpress, autotext works in most programs and offers significantly more functionality.

To assign an autotext to a phrase (folder):

1. Select the desired phrase in the main program window.
2. Select the trigger type "Autotext" and enter the desired text abbreviation.
3. Select an autotext option from the drop-down next to the autotext input box:
   
   

A warning symbol is shown for autotexts that are likely to interfere with your typing.

An autotext associated to a phrase executes that phrase. If the autotext is assigned to a phrase folder, PhraseExpress displays the contents of that phrase folder in a phrase menu, allowing you to select the desired phrase.

Expert options

Expert settings provide extra flexibility for special applications:

• Do you want to suppress the trailing autotext delimiter after pasting a phrase?
• Do you want to define specific leading/trailing autotext delimiters?
• Shall autotexts only be recognized within a word or only following a number?
• Do you want different text insertions depending on upper vs. lower case autotext?

Autotext delimiters

PhraseExpress monitors your keyboard input for any autotext matches. Technically, a 'separate word' is defined as entered text at the beginning of a sentence or text that follows or is followed by a space, punctuation mark, comma and semicolon, TAB or ENTER.

The character required before an autotext (leading delimiter) is called Prefix. The character which must follow the autotext (trailing delimiter) to trigger an action is called Postfix:

Prefix/Postfix	Explanation
None (available for postfix only)	There is no character required following the autotext. An autotext is recognized immediately after entering the last character of the autotext.
Any	There is any character required before/after the autotext.
Default	The autotext must follow/be followed by the default characters as defined as "default leading/trailing delimiters" (as defined in the expert options).
Enter / Space / Tab	The autotext must follow/be followed by the ENTER / SPACE / TAB-key.
Letter / Number	The autotext must follow/be followed by any letter from a-z/A-Z or number 0-9
Custom	If you select this option, an input dialog allows you to define a custom set of delimiters. Do not separate the characters with any other characters. Simply enter them one after another without any separator. Any separator, such as a comma or space, would itself be interpreted as a delimiter. You cannot enter the ENTER- or Tab-key here. Instead use #13 for ENTER and #9 for the TAB-key.
Incremental (for postfix only)	This option is deprecated. Incremental autotext has no particular postfix that would trigger a phrase. If Incremental autotext is selected as a postfix, all matching items are offered in a popup menu after you begin typing the first letters of a matching autotext. The choices narrow down as you continue typing the autotext.

Example prefix/postfix settings:

Prefix	Postfix	Explanation	Notes
Default	Default	An autotext such as 'eth' is only recognized when entered as a separate word. It is ignored in 'Ethan', within 'methane' and in the end of the word 'Beth'.	This is the default setting and recommended for most purposes.
Any	None	The autotext example 'eth' is recognized everywhere, e.g. in 'Ethan', within 'methane' and in the end of the word 'Beth'.	This option is suitable e.g. to correct mixed letters at any position of a word. Careful use is of this option is recommended as such autotext may be recognized inadvertently.
Default	Letter	The autotext example 'eth' is only recognized in the beginning of a word such as 'Ethan' but ignored within 'methane' or 'Beth'.	This option is suitable e.g. to correct mixed letters at the beginning of a word only.
Letter	Default	The autotext example 'eth' is only recognized in the end of a word such as 'Beth' but ignored within 'methane' or in the beginning of 'Ethan'.	This option is suitable e.g. to correct mixed letters at the end of a word.

Case sensitive autotext

If the SmartCaps option (or "Case sensitive autotext" in Expert options) is unset, PhraseExpress automatically adapts the letter case of the output depending on the first entered autotext letter:

• Enter the first letter of the autotext lower case, to insert a phrase beginning with lower case.
• Begin the autotext with upper case and PhraseExpress will insert the phrase beginning with upper case.

Examples:

Keyboard input	Phrase contents	Pasted text
max	maximum	maximum
Max	maximum	Maximum
MAX	maximum	MAXIMUM

SmartCaps feature requirements:

• Phrases must begin with lower case.
• Autotext must be lower case.
• Autotext must not exist in a separate lower and upper-case variation.
• Autotext option "Case sensitive autotext" must be disabled.

Manual confirmation

Phrases are inserted automatically by default if you trigger the phrase by entering its associated autotext.

If you activate option "Manual confirmation", phrases are offered in a popup menu:

Press the customizable hotkey TAB to insert the phrase or continue typing to make the menu disappear automatically.

Remove trailing delimiter

If you do not want to output the trailing delimiter after phrase insertion, select "Remove trailing delimiter".

This trigger option executes a phrase if your text input matches the specified regular expression.

A regular expression (shortened as "regex") is a sophisticated text matching system. PhraseExpress provides a selection of RegEx autotext examples if you click the triangle icon witihin the input box.

For example, a phrase folder can automatically be shown if you enter any email address. This is different from regular autotext where you could only define a specific email address which wouldn't make much sense.

Stay clear if you don't know how to use RegEx. It's for experts only!

• Regular expressions

This trigger executes a phrase if the focus switches to the program window with the specified program name and window title.

For example, you can automatically show a specific phrase folder whenever you launch or switch to a specific program window.

This trigger executes a phrase every day at the time specified.

This trigger executes a phrase if the Windows clipboard is filled with the text string specified for this trigger.

Application example: When copying a specific email address into the clipboarad, PhraseExpress offers a choice of actions (for example, sending a predefined email to this very email address).

"RegEx clipboard" triggers a phrase if the clipboard contents matches the specified regular expression.

Application example: When copying any internet address to the clipboard, PhraseExpress can show a phrase menu to offer different actions for the copied URL (for example, opening it in the browser, sending the URL with an additional text by e-mail, etc.).

A regular expression (shortened as "regex") is a sophisticated text matching system. PhraseExpress provides a selection of RegEx autotext examples if you click the triangle icon of the input box.

Stay clear if you don't know how to use RegEx. It's for experts only!

• Regular expressions

This is the default setting.

If you encounter issues where PhraseExpress fails to restore the correct focus, such as after selecting a phrase from the menu or after completing a PhraseExpress form, you may want to configure the settings for the specific program, as described in the following section.

The phrase content will be pasted into a specific program. To select the program from the menu, the desired program must be running.

Additionally, you can define a window title to further specify the output target. In the input field, you can use "*" as a wildcard placeholder:

If the program is not running when the text snippet is executed, you will receive a notification offering to revise the output target setting (provided you have write permissions for the text snippet).

The phrase will be pasted into the clipboard.

The phrase contents will be written into a text file (*.txt, *.rtf, *.doc (if Microsoft Word is installed)).

• If only the path is specified, PhraseExpress prompts you to enter the file name.
• If only the file name is specified, PhraseExpress prompts you to select the desired file directory.
• If no file/path is specified, PhraseExpress prompts you to enter the desired file location.
• If no file extension is specified, PhraseExpress automatically adds *.rtf for formatted text or *.txt for unformatted text.

Windows environment variables and PhraseExpress macros and variables are supported in the file name/path.

PhraseExpress tries to create the directories if the specified path does not exist.

Existing files will be silently overwritten with the new content.

PhraseExpress generates an email with the phrase contents as the email body and the phrase description as the email subject.

If no email address is specified, PhraseExpress prompts you to enter the email address.

If the flash button is pressed, the email will be dispatched immediately (use with caution!).

The email input field supports macros and variables.

PhraseExpress uses the email delivery method as specified in the program settings.

• E-Mail delivery method