Your shortcuts in any Windows program
Type /sig in Word, Outlook or WhatsApp and NexoPad writes the full text.
With NexoPad for Windows, your shortcuts work outside the browser: in Word, Outlook, Excel, Teams, WhatsApp, Telegram, Notepad and almost any program where you type. They are the same shortcuts from your NexoPad account, the ones you already use in the extension.
This guide covers when a shortcut expands, where it works, what happens to formatting, how to fill in shortcuts with fields, the // search and the My shortcuts page. To install the app, start with Install and get started. Screenshots have their own guide.
How a shortcut is inserted
Type the shortcut where you want the text
Put the cursor in a document, an email or a chat and type your shortcut, for example /sig. Upper or lower case doesn't matter.
NexoPad swaps it right away
As soon as you type the last character of the shortcut, NexoPad erases it and writes the full text in its place. You don't need to press Space or Enter.
If it has fields, fill them in
If the shortcut has blanks (a name, a date, an option), a small window opens first so you can complete them. When you click Insert, the text appears in the program where you typed the shortcut.
When it expands and when it doesn't
- It has to start a word. Before the shortcut there must be a space, the start of the line or a sign such as
(. If it is stuck to a letter or a number, as inhello/sig, it doesn't expand. That way nothing changes in the middle of a word. - A shortcut that is the start of another one waits. If you have
/prand/price, when you type/prNexoPad waits for you to press Space or Tab. That Space is erased too, and the Tab never reaches the program. - You can fix typos as you go. If you make a mistake, delete it with Backspace and keep typing: the shortcut still expands.
- Some keys start over. Enter, Esc, Delete, the arrow keys, Home, End, a mouse click, a Ctrl or Alt combination or switching windows make NexoPad forget what you had typed. If that happens halfway through a shortcut, type the whole shortcut again.
- Variants. If the shortcut has several versions, one is inserted at random (never the same one twice in a row) or Pick a version opens so you can choose with the mouse or the keys 1, 2, 3…, depending on how you set it up.
How the text gets there
NexoPad erases the shortcut and pastes the text, as if you pressed Ctrl+V. Then it puts your clipboard back the way it was. What it puts there in passing is not saved in the Windows clipboard history (Win+V).
If the shortcut contains {{cursor}}, the cursor ends up at that point of the text, ready for you to keep typing.
Where it works and where it doesn't
| Where | Does it work? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Word, Outlook, Excel, Teams, WhatsApp, Telegram, Notepad and almost any program where you type | Yes | That's exactly what it's for. |
| Browsers: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi… | No | The NexoPad extension works there, with the same shortcuts and its own //. |
| Password managers (1Password, Bitwarden, KeePass, LastPass…) and Windows windows that ask for permission or a password | Never | For security. |
| Terminals: PowerShell, Command Prompt, Windows Terminal, PuTTY… | Never | A shortcut with line breaks could run commands by accident. |
| Remote desktop: Remote Desktop Connection, AnyDesk, TeamViewer… | Never | What you type there goes to another computer. |
| Programs you turn off in Apps | No | Your choice. You turn them back on with one click; see Install and get started. |
| Programs running as administrator | No | Windows doesn't let NexoPad type into them. |
Bold, lists and plain text
NexoPad pastes every shortcut in two versions at once, with and without formatting, and each program takes the one it understands.
In programs that accept formatting when pasting, such as Word, Outlook, Teams or Telegram, the text arrives with its bold, lists and links.
In programs that only take plain text, such as Notepad, you get clean text: lists with “•” or “1.”, “2.”… and every link as “text (address)”, so the address isn't lost.
You add the formatting when you create the shortcut, in the web dashboard editor or in the extension's editor.
Shortcuts with fields to fill in
If a shortcut has fields, typing it opens a small window on top of everything, with the shortcut's title at the top. You fill in the fields on the left and, on the right, Preview shows the final text as you type. Click Insert and NexoPad goes back to the program and writes the text where you typed the shortcut.
Field types
| Field | How you fill it in |
|---|---|
Text · {{input:Name}} | Type in the box. Below it you see the last 3 values you used in that field: click one, or use the up and down arrows while the box is empty. The × removes a value from the list. |
Paragraph · {{paragraph:Details}} | A bigger box for several lines: Enter adds a line break and Ctrl+Enter inserts. |
Menu · {{dropdown:Service|A|B|C}} | With up to 4 options you get numbered buttons: click one or press 1, 2, 3 or 4 (they work for the first button menu, when you are not typing in a box). With more options you get a list. The option you picked last time comes preselected. |
Date · {{datepicker:Valid until}} | It starts on today. You have Today, Tomorrow, Next Monday and a calendar where the arrow keys move the day. It is written as 24/10/2026, or with the day and month in words if the field has |long. |
Keys in the small window
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
Tab | Moves to the next field. |
Enter | Inserts the text. In a paragraph, use Ctrl+Enter. |
1–4 | Picks an option in the button menu. |
| Up and down arrows | In an empty text field, they go through your recent values. In the calendar and in lists, they change the day or the option. |
Esc | Closes the small window without inserting anything. The shortcut you typed stays in the text. |
Automatic variables that work on the PC
| Variable | What it writes |
|---|---|
{{date}} · {{time}} | The date (24/10/2026) and the time (16:30) when you insert. |
{{weekday}} · {{month}} · {{year}} | The day of the week, the month and the year. |
{{date:DD/MM/YYYY}} | The date in the format you want: day, month, year, month name, day name and time. |
{{date:+7_days}} · {{date:+3_workdays}} | A future date in days, months (months), years (years) or business days, which skip Saturdays and Sundays. With |long it is written in words, like “Wednesday, October 28”. |
{{greeting}} | “Good morning”, “Good afternoon” or “Good evening”, depending on the time. |
{{random:Hi|Hello|Hey}} | One of the options, at random. |
{{clipboard}} | Whatever you have copied at that moment. |
{{cursor}} | Leaves the cursor at that point of the text instead of at the end. |
{company_name} | Your team's company variables, with single braces. |
Greeting and language
{{greeting}} says “Good morning” from 6:00, “Good afternoon” from 12:00 and “Good evening” from 20:00. You change the afternoon time in Preferences › When to start saying "Good afternoon" (12:00, 13:00 or 14:00). It is capitalized at the start of a sentence and lowercase after “Hi, …”.
The greeting and the names of days and months follow NexoPad's language, which you choose in Preferences › Language.
You'll find the full list and how to create variables in Variables, macros and automatic captures.
What changes compared with the browser
- The details the extension reads from the web page (first name, full name, job title, company, email and subject) are asked for in the small window here, one field each.
{{url}},{{domain}}and{{page_title}}stay empty: there is no web page in a program.- Your own variables and those from your automatic captures are also asked for in the small window, with their name.
- Shortcuts limited with Only on these websites are not used on the PC. Those set to Everywhere except these work in every program.
Find a shortcut with //
Type two slashes
Type // at the start of a line or after a space, in any program where NexoPad works. The search opens next to the cursor; if the program doesn't report where the cursor is, it appears near the middle of its window.
Search
Type a few letters of the shortcut, the title or the text. Before you type anything, your most used shortcuts come first.
Pick with the arrows and press Enter
Move with the arrow keys and press Enter, or click the shortcut. The two slashes are erased and the text is inserted. If the shortcut has fields, the same window turns into the small window to fill them in.
Or close it
Esc, the × or a click in another program closes it without inserting anything, and the two slashes stay typed.
How results are ordered
- Before you type anything, you see your most used shortcuts. Up to 20 are shown.
- As you type, shortcuts whose shortcut matches come first (exactly, starting the same way or containing it); then those that match in the title; and last, those that contain it in the text.
- Upper or lower case doesn't matter. If you type the whole shortcut with its slash, like
/hi, it comes first. - What you search for is highlighted in the title and the shortcut. Team shortcuts have a Teams label, and a number means the shortcut has several versions.
- It doesn't open in addresses like
https://or right after a word (a//). - You turn it off in Preferences › Search with //. If any shortcut in your account starts with
//, it turns off by itself so they don't clash.
The My shortcuts page
- The list: each shortcut with its title, its shortcut and its uses. Has fields means the small window opens when you insert it.
- Sort: Most used, A-Z or Recent, which puts the ones you changed last at the top.
- Search: the search box in the header, Search a shortcut or text…, filters by shortcut, title or text.
- The full text: when you pick a shortcut you see all of it on the right, with the fields highlighted in yellow.
- Copy the text: copies it without formatting, with the date, greeting and other automatic variables already filled in. It doesn't open the small window, so fields are copied unfilled.
- All, Mine and Team: these filters only appear if you belong to a team.
Create or edit a shortcut
Click New or Edit
Shortcuts aren't written in the app. + New opens a blank shortcut and Edit opens the one you have selected, in the extension's Notebook or in the web dashboard.
Choose where they open
In Preferences › Create and edit shortcuts in you choose Automatic, the Notebook in Chrome, Edge or Firefox (only browsers where the extension is installed appear) or Web dashboard. With Automatic, the Notebook is used if the extension is installed; otherwise, the web dashboard.
Save and go back to your program
Save as usual. For the next 3 minutes, NexoPad checks for changes every 15 seconds, so the shortcut reaches your PC right away.
See how the editor worksWhen changes reach the PC
Everything you change in the web dashboard or in the extension arrives on its own: NexoPad checks for changes every 5 minutes while you use the computer, and also when you open its window or the // search. To skip the wait, click Sync now on the NexoPad icon next to the clock, or the sync card on Home.
Without internet, your shortcuts keep working with the last saved copy, and Home shows Offline. Uses from that time are sent when the connection comes back.
Team shortcuts
If you belong to a NexoPad team, you also get its approved shortcuts (only those for your department, if the team separates them). They have a Team label in My shortcuts and Teams in the // search, and they insert just like yours.
You can't change them from the app: when you pick one you'll see “This is a team shortcut: the team admin changes it.”, and the button becomes Open the web dashboard. Company variables such as {company_name} are filled in automatically.
If the team payment is pending, Home shows Team vault paused: team shortcuts still insert, but they can't be edited. More in Team vault.
Monthly uses and plan
Every shortcut you insert counts as one use, whether you type it or pick it in the // search.
On Home you see your uses this month. On the Free plan they are shown out of the month's 200, with a bar; on Pro or Teams, no limit. Home also shows how much typing time you've saved this month, and Preferences › Account repeats your plan and your uses.
If you reach 200 on the Free plan, NexoPad lets you know. From then on, typing a shortcut opens “You've used this month's 200 uses” instead of inserting the text: you can upgrade to Pro or wait, because your uses come back on the 1st of next month.
The app is free and works with your same account and plan. Compare plans on Pricing.
Common problems
- A shortcut doesn't expand: check that it is in My shortcuts (if you just created it, click Sync now), that you don't type it stuck to a letter and that it isn't the start of a longer shortcut; in that case, press Space or Tab at the end.
- It doesn't expand in one program: it may be a browser, a password manager, a terminal or a program you turned off in Apps. If the program is running as administrator, Windows doesn't let NexoPad type into it: open it the normal way.
- It doesn't expand anywhere: check that NexoPad is running (its icon next to the clock), that it isn't Paused and that you are signed in. If you type
//while signed out, Windows shows the notice “NexoPad isn't signed in”. Pausing is explained in Install and get started. - `//` doesn't open the search: type it at the start of a line or after a space. Also check Preferences › Search with //: if it says “Off: you have a shortcut that starts with //.”, change that shortcut.
- The text comes out without bold: that program only accepts plain text; formatting is kept in programs such as Word, Outlook, Teams or Telegram. Copy the text in My shortcuts also copies without formatting.
- The text appears somewhere else or extra characters are deleted: when you click Insert, NexoPad erases the shortcut and pastes wherever the cursor is at that moment. While the small window is open, don't click somewhere else in the document.
- A shortcut limited to certain websites doesn't expand: shortcuts set to Only on these websites aren't used on the PC.
- “You've used this month's 200 uses” opens: you've reached the Free plan's uses. They come back on the 1st of next month.
Frequently asked questions
Can I create shortcuts in the Windows app?
Not directly. + New and Edit open the extension's Notebook or the web dashboard, depending on Preferences › Create and edit shortcuts in. Once you save, the shortcut reaches your PC on its own within seconds.
Why doesn't it work in Chrome or Edge?
Because in browsers the NexoPad extension does the work, with your same shortcuts and its own // search. If you don't have it, see how shortcuts work in the extension.
Does it work offline?
Yes. NexoPad uses the last copy of your shortcuts saved on the PC. Changes and uses sync when the connection comes back.
Does NexoPad save what I type?
No. It only looks at the last few characters you type to recognize a shortcut, and it never stores or sends any of that. Only your shortcuts and how often you use them go to your account. What you type in the small window is remembered only on this PC, to offer you recent values.
Can I have a shortcut that starts with //?
Yes, but then the // search turns off by itself so they don't clash. In Preferences you'll see “Off: you have a shortcut that starts with //.”.
Is there a version for Mac or Linux?
No. NexoPad for Windows only runs on Windows. On Mac and Linux you can use your shortcuts in the browser with the extension.
Don't have NexoPad for Windows yet?
It's free on the Microsoft Store and uses your same NexoPad account.