Snippets
Saved typing snippets
A snippet is a titled block of text saved to your account. It syncs to your other signed-in devices, loads into the side panel in a click, and runs into whatever field you have focused. It exists so that text you use more than once does not have to be hunted down more than once.
How a snippet works
- Save it. Put the text in the panel, give it a title, press save. The title is what you will see in the list, so make it the one you would search for.
- It syncs. Sign in on another machine and the snippet is there. Nothing to export, nothing to copy between browsers.
- Load and run. Pick it from the list, and it fills the panel's text box. Focus the field you want it in, set a speed, press Start.
That is the whole feature. A snippet is not a shortcut you trigger by typing an abbreviation into a page — Typist has no trigger keywords and does not watch what you type. It is a stored block you choose deliberately and then run.
What people keep in there
- Standard replies. The three or four answers you give in support threads, forms or help desks over and over.
- Intros and sign-offs. The paragraph that opens a proposal, the block that closes a message, the bio you are asked for every time.
- Templates with gaps. A structure you run in, then fill the specific parts of by hand.
- Reusable paragraphs. A description of what you do, a disclosure, an address block — anything that is the same every time and irritating to retype.
- Common answers on recurring forms. The handful of boxes you fill the same way every week, where the text is settled and only the retyping is left.
The limits, exactly
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Saved snippets | 3 | Unlimited |
| Syncs across signed-in devices | Yes | Yes |
| Editing one you own | Free, never counts against the limit | Free |
Editing is worth saying plainly, because a cap on saves is the kind of thing that makes people afraid to touch what they have. Changing a snippet you already own never counts against the limit. You can rewrite all three of your Free snippets as often as you like. The limit is on how many exist, not on how many times you press save.
If you cancel Pro
Your existing snippets are kept, and they keep syncing to your devices. Nothing is deleted and nothing stops working. The only thing you lose is the ability to add new ones — if you are over three, you cannot create another until you are back under three. The pricing page covers the rest of what changes.
Snippets are stored on the server
This is the one place where text you put in the panel leaves your device, and it is worth being clear about rather than burying. Ordinarily the text in the panel stays in your browser and is sent only to the page you are typing into — our server never sees it. A snippet is the deliberate exception: pressing save stores its title and text on the server, which is what makes it appear on your other devices. Nothing is stored until you press save, and deleting a snippet removes it. The privacy page lists everything the server holds and everything it never receives.
Questions
- Do snippets need a sign-in?
- Yes. They are attached to your account, which is how they reach your other devices. Signing in with Google is required before typing in any case, and the permissions requested are the narrowest available — your account identifier and verified email, nothing else.
- Does loading a snippet cost words?
- No. Loading a snippet into the panel is free. Words are counted when you press Start, exactly as they are for text you typed or pasted in yourself, and a 200-word snippet run twice in a day spends 400 of the Free plan's 300-word allowance — which is to say it will not fit.
- Is there a length limit on a snippet?
- A single snippet can hold up to 100,000 characters, which is far longer than anything most people keep in one. In practice the limit you meet first is the daily word allowance when you run it, not the saving of it. If you are keeping something substantial in there, typing long text covers how to split a run and what a day's allowance actually covers.
- Where can a snippet be typed?
- Into any editable browser field you focus: a text box, a text area, a rich-text editor, or a Google Docs document. Typist types into that one field and does not click or navigate, so a snippet meant for the third box on a form goes in when you put the cursor there.
- Is three enough?
- For most people testing the idea, yes — three covers the blocks you use daily. It runs out quickly once snippets become part of how you work, which is the point at which unlimited is worth $4.99 a month and not before.
Snippets pay off most where the same text goes into the same kind of box on a schedule, which is the pattern described on repetitive browser data entry. If you have not used the extension yet, the auto typer overview is the place to start.
Free plan: 300 words a day and 3 saved snippets. A Google sign-in is required before typing.