How to Use Text Shortcuts for iPhone and iPad to Type Quickly

How to Use Text Shortcuts for iPhone and iPad to Type Quickly

While the default Apple Keyboard falls far short of Gboard and SwiftKey in terms of prediction, Apple offers some great add-ons for typing words and phrases quickly. One of these additions is the ability to create text shortcuts for long sentences on iPhone and iPad. Here’s how you can use text shortcuts for iPhone and iPad to type quickly.


Quickly type on i Phone and i Pad

As the name suggests, text shortcuts allow you to create shortcuts for frequently used phrases such as your email id. The feature makes even more sense on iPad, as typing on a giant screen using the default virtual keyboard might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Also, not everyone uses an expensive keyboard with an iPad.

1. Create Text Shortcuts on iPhone

First, we’ll show you how to create text shortcuts for fast typing on iPhone, then switch to iPadOS to do the same.

Step 1: Open Settings on the iPhone.

2nd step: Go to the General menu.

Step 3: Select Keyboards from the next menu.

Quickly open general menu type on i Phone and i Pad


Quickly open general menu type on i Phone and i Pad

Quickly open keyboard type on i Phone and i Pad


Quickly open keyboard type on i Phone and i Pad

Step 4: Go to Text Replacement.

Step 5: Tap the + icon at the top.

Quickly open text replacement type on i Phone and i Pad


Quickly open text replacement type on i Phone and i Pad

Quickly create a type of text shortcut on i Phone and i Pad


Quickly create a type of text shortcut on i Phone and i Pad

Step 6: Add the phrase you want to add when typing the shortcut.

In the example below, we have added the email id to type in quickly.

Step 7: Add the shortcut like “email” below.

Quickly save text shortcuts on i Phone and i Pad


Quickly save text shortcuts on i Phone and i Pad

We’ve created other text shortcuts such as the ability to add a degree symbol when we type degree, “omw” to expand the shortcut to Go! etc You can create as many text shortcuts as you want on your iPhone.

The good news is that when you create a text shortcut on iPhone, it automatically syncs with your Apple account on all Apple hardware like iPad and Mac.

When you’re signed in to the same Apple account on Mac, you can use the same shortcuts to replace text with phrases on the Mac.

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2. Create Text Shortcuts on iPad

As mentioned above, text shortcuts are even more effective on iPad. Instead of typing long email addresses or text phrases, you can create a shortcut for them and type quickly.

Step 1: Open the Settings menu on the iPad.

2nd step: Go to the General menu.

Step 3: Select Keyboard.

Open keyboard on i Pad


Open keyboard on i Pad

Step 4: Open the Text Replacement menu.

Open text replacement


Open text replacement

Step 5: Tap the + icon at the top and add Phrase from the next menu.

Quickly add new type of text replacement on i Phone and i Pad


Quickly add new type of text replacement on i Phone and i Pad

Step 6: Add a shortcut to expand the word or phrase as you type and hit the Save button at the top.

Quickly save text replacement type on i Phone and i Pad


Quickly save text replacement type on i Phone and i Pad

Now that you’ve created a bunch of text shortcuts for fast typing on iPhone and iPad, it’s time to check them out in action.

Type fast with text shortcuts

Open any chat or login screen to check out the newly created text shortcut in action.

Step 1: Open a text field on your iPhone or iPad.

2nd step: Type email (shortcut text) and you will see the suggestion to replace the text with a phrase from the keyboard.

Text shortcuts type quickly on iPhone and iPad


Text shortcuts type quickly on iPhone and iPad

You can either tap the suggestion or hit the space key to automatically expand the text with the phrase.

Delete Text Shortcuts on iPhone and iPad

If you’re done using text shortcuts to quickly type phrases, you can easily remove them from the Settings menu.

Maybe you are using a new email id and no longer need the system to type the old email id when using text shortcuts. You must delete the existing text replacement. Here’s how.

Step 1: Launch Settings and go to the General menu.

Quickly open general menu type on i Phone and i Pad


Quickly open general menu type on i Phone and i Pad

2nd step: Select Keyboard and open the Text Replacement menu.

Step 3: Tap Edit and tap the red – icon next to the text shortcut to delete it.

Quickly open text replacement type on i Phone and i Pad


Quickly open text replacement type on i Phone and i Pad

Quickly Delete Text Shortcuts on iPhone and iPad


Quickly Delete Text Shortcuts on iPhone and iPad

Tips for Fast Typing on iPhone and iPad

Besides text shortcuts, here are the other tricks you can use to type quickly on iPhone and iPad.

  • Shake your iPhone to cancel the entered text. If you typed a wrong long sentence on iPhone or iPad, you can shake the device and it will ask you to cancel the typed text.
  • Use swipe gestures to type quickly.
  • Press the spacebar twice to add a period at the end of the sentence.
  • Summon Siri to type long sentences for you.
  • Hold spacebar to move your cursor to quickly edit text.

Replace text with frequently used phrases

If you are not satisfied with the default keyboard on iPhone, you can also use Gboard or SwiftKey. How do you plan to use text shortcuts on your iPhone or iPad? Share your workflow in the comments below.

Last updated on January 26, 2022

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