Inline Shortcuts for Mac: Give your frequently used clips custom shortcuts
What are Inline Shortcuts?
Inline Shortcuts let you assign a short name to a clip you want to reuse frequently.
For example, instead of typing:
Thanks for reaching out. I’ll take a look and get back to you shortly.
every time you need it, you could save the message as a clip and assign it:
;reply
Type ;reply while writing an email or message, and Pastea replaces the shortcut with the full saved response.
You don't need to open Pastea, search your clipboard history, or interrupt what you're doing.
How to create an Inline Shortcut in Pastea
Creating one only takes a few seconds:
- Open your Pastea clipboard history.
- Right-click the clip you want to reuse.
- Select Add Inline Shortcut
- Give it a short, memorable name such as
;sig;addr;welcome
Once it is saved, type the shortcut wherever you normally type or paste content.
Pastea removes the trigger you typed and inserts the saved clip in its place.
You can view, rename, or remove your shortcuts at any time from:
Settings → Inline Shortcuts
You can also change the prefix used for shortcuts. If ; doesn't fit the way you work, choose another prefix from the same settings page.
Paste snippets without opening your clipboard manager
Clipboard history is useful when you're looking for something you copied earlier.
But some clips aren't things you want to search for again and again.
- Your email signature.
- Your company address.
- A frequently used support reply.
- A scheduling link.
- A code block you use in multiple projects.
Inline Shortcuts turn those frequently reused clipboard items into something you can paste directly from your keyboard.
Instead of:
Open clipboard → Search → Select → Paste
you can simply type:
;sig
and continue working.
Inline Shortcuts work with more than text
Pastea's Inline Shortcuts aren't limited to plain text snippets.
You can create shortcuts for different types of clips you already have in Pastea.
For example, you can use a shortcut for:
- Formatted text
- Email signatures
- Frequently used links
- Code snippets
- Templates
- Addresses
- Images
If manually pasting the saved clip would preserve its content or formatting, using its Inline Shortcut does the same.
That means Pastea can work as both a clipboard manager and a text expander, without requiring you to maintain a completely separate library of snippets.
Useful Inline Shortcut ideas
The best shortcuts are usually for things you paste often enough that searching for them becomes annoying.
Here are a few examples:
;sig Email signature
Paste your full email signature without typing or copying it from an old email.
;addr Address
Useful for checkout pages, forms, invoices, and other places where you repeatedly enter the same address.
;reply Frequently used response
Save answers you regularly send in Mail, Slack, support tools, or social platforms.
;repro Bug report template
Developers can keep a standard bug-report structure ready to paste into GitHub, Linear, Jira, or another issue tracker.
;cal Calendar link
Paste your scheduling link without opening your calendar or searching through previous messages.
;intro Introduction
Keep a reusable introduction for outreach messages, proposals, applications, or emails.
The exact shortcuts don't matter. What matters is choosing names short enough to type quickly and specific enough that you remember them.
Inline Shortcuts vs. a traditional text expander
A text expander normally starts with a collection of snippets you create specifically for reuse.
Pastea approaches the workflow from the clipboard.
You copy something normally, Pastea remembers it, and if you realize you use that item frequently, you can turn that existing clip into an Inline Shortcut.
So your clipboard history and reusable snippets don't have to live in two separate places.
Copy something once.
Give it a shortcut.
Reuse it whenever you need it.
Privacy and Accessibility
Inline Shortcuts require macOS Accessibility permission because Pastea needs to perform the equivalent of pasting the selected clip into the application you're using.
Pastea only watches for shortcut triggers while you have at least one Inline Shortcut configured.
Your keystrokes are not stored. Pastea compares what you type with the shortcut names you've created so it can recognize when one should expand.
Secure input fields, such as password fields, are handled by macOS differently and don't provide keystrokes to apps like Pastea. As a result, Inline Shortcuts won't expand inside those fields.
As a general rule, passwords, credentials, API keys, financial information, and other sensitive data are better kept in a dedicated password manager rather than saved as reusable clipboard clips.
What happens if clipboard history is automatically deleted?
Normally, Pastea can remove older clipboard items according to the retention period you've selected.
Clips with an active Inline Shortcut are different.
Because you've explicitly told Pastea that you want to keep reusing that clip, it is kept beyond your normal clipboard-history retention period.
You don't need to separately pin it or add it to a list just to keep the shortcut working.
Frequently asked questions
What is an Inline Shortcut?
An Inline Shortcut is a short trigger such as ;welcome that you assign to a saved Pastea clip. When you type the trigger, Pastea replaces it with the full clip.
Can I use Pastea as a text expander on Mac?
Inline Shortcuts provide text-expander-style functionality inside Pastea. You can assign short triggers to frequently used clips and type them to paste the complete content without opening your clipboard history.
Can Inline Shortcuts paste images?
Yes. Inline Shortcuts aren't limited to plain text. You can assign them to supported clips such as formatted text and images and paste that content using the shortcut.
Can I change the ; shortcut prefix?
Yes. Go to Settings → Inline Shortcuts to change the prefix to something that better fits the way you type.
Does Pastea store what I type?
No. Keystrokes are not stored. Pastea checks what you're typing against the shortcut triggers you've created so it can recognize when an Inline Shortcut should expand.
Paste the things you use every day, faster
Your clipboard history is great for finding something you copied once.
Inline Shortcuts are for the things you know you'll need again.
Turn your most-used clips into short commands and paste them from anywhere on your Mac without opening another window.
Copy once. Give it a name. Type it whenever you need it.
More questions? The help centre covers shortcuts alongside everything else.
