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The picker
The picker is how you paste. Press ⌥⌘V in any app and a search panel opens in the middle of the screen, even over full-screen apps. Find a snippet, press Return, and it's pasted where you were typing.
The app you were using stays in front the whole time, so its window, selection and caret are exactly as you left them when the picker closes.
Find a snippet
Start typing. The list filters as you type, matching both titles and snippet text:
- Case and accents don't matter.
cafefinds “Café hours”. - Abbreviations work from the start of words.
hmadrfinds Home Address;mnfinds Meeting Notes. - Keywords jump straight to a snippet. Give a snippet the keyword
qrin the library, and typingqrputs it first.
With nothing typed, the list starts with your favorites (★), then the snippets you used recently, then everything else.
Paste, copy or pick by number
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| ↑ ↓ | Move through the list |
| Return | Paste the selected snippet into the app you were using |
| ⌘Return | Copy it to the clipboard instead of pasting |
| ⌘1 … ⌘9 | Paste the first to ninth result directly |
| ⌘Y | Show or hide the preview of exactly what will be pasted |
| ⌘O | Open the library |
| Esc | Close the picker (clicking outside it does too) |
Copy when an app won't take the paste
A few apps ignore pasted keystrokes. Press ⌘Return to copy the snippet instead, then paste it yourself with ⌘V.
Preview before you paste
Press ⌘Y and a preview opens next to the list, showing the selected snippet with its placeholders filled in: today's date, your variables, and what your answers would be. Questions show as «Name» until you answer them. The picker remembers whether the preview was open.
Answer questions
When a snippet asks for something, like {{input:Name}} or {{choose:Tone=Formal|Casual}}, pressing Return doesn't paste right away. The picker switches to a short form instead:
- Each question appears once, even if the snippet uses it several times.
- Answers start pre-filled: with the default answer (
{{input:Name=there}}) or the first choice in a list. - Tab and ⇧Tab move between fields.
- Return pastes. In a multi-line answer (
{{input:Notes…}}), Return starts a new line and ⌘Return finishes. - Esc goes back to the list without pasting.
If you opened the picker with ⌘Return to copy, finishing the form copies too.
See Questions and forms for everything a snippet can ask.
Where the text goes
When you choose a snippet, HandyPaste:
- puts the text on the clipboard,
- waits until you've let go of ⌥ and ⌘ from the shortcut, so they don't mix with the paste,
- presses ⌘V in the app you were using,
- moves the caret back to
{{cursor}}, if the snippet has one.
By default the snippet stays on the clipboard afterwards, so you can paste it again with ⌘V. If you'd rather keep what you had copied before, turn on Settings ▸ Pasting ▸ Put back what was on the clipboard after pasting. See Settings.
Without Accessibility permission
HandyPaste needs Accessibility permission to press ⌘V for you. Without it, choosing a snippet copies it, and the picker shows Allow Pasting… in its footer. See Troubleshooting.
Change the shortcut
Open Settings ▸ General ▸ Keyboard Shortcuts, click the Open Picker shortcut (it changes to Type Shortcut…) and press the new combination. It must use ⌥ or ⌃, or ⌘ together with ⇧. If another app already uses it, HandyPaste says so and keeps the old one. The round arrow next to it brings back ⌥⌘V.
In Finder, ⌥⌘V normally moves copied files; while HandyPaste uses it, that goes to HandyPaste instead. More on choosing a shortcut.
Other ways to open the picker
- Click the menu bar icon and choose Open Picker.
- Run the Open HandyPaste Picker action from the Shortcuts app. See Menu bar, Services and Shortcuts.