Although in personal tastes and preferences we find opinions of all kinds, as a general rule it is usually more comfortable to write on physical keyboards than on the mobile. However, this does not mean that we do not find some other option to write faster and with less effort.
If you have an Android mobile and use the google keyboard, you are probably interested in knowing how you can save yourself that time. And it is that, if you already have a series of expressions that you resort to on a regular basis and you are lazy to always write, you can save time. In this post we explain how you can execute keyboard shortcuts to avoid always typing the same thing manually.
How to set up Google keyboard text substitution
The first, what exactly is this function? Well, basically, just by writing a character or a set of them, the text will be replaced. You can create all kinds of shortcuts like this: change an “h” for a “hello”, a “My name and DNI” for a “Paquito Pérez Gonzalez 55543168-J”, etc.
In the following sections we will see possible uses with more specific examples, but broadly speaking it becomes a utility with which save time typing all kinds of recurring words or phrases and even emojis. And for this, you must have the Google keyboard installed on your mobile, have it configured as the default and then follow these steps:
- open the app gboardwhich is basically the Google keyboard and it will launch right into your settings.
- go to Dictionary and click on personal dictionary and then in Spanish – Spain) (or whatever language you have set).
- Click on the icon + located at the top right of the screen.
- Fill in the fields as follows:
- Upper field: the word, phrase, emoji (or set of these) that you want you want to abbreviate.
- Bottom field: the letter, abbreviation or phrase you want to use.
- In the absence of a confirmation button you can go back to create another keyboard shortcut if you wish or finish the task completely.
Once you have added the keyboard shortcuts, you will need to use google keyboard regularly to access them. When you want to use it, you must be in a text field and write the abbreviation you chose, seeing at that moment as the quick option to automatically replace it with the word / phrase that you really wanted to write.
If once the shortcut is created you want edit or delete it, it will be enough for you to follow the same adjustment route and enter it. You can edit the text fields or delete it by pressing the trash can icon located at the top right.
Examples of use of this function
Knowing how these little shortcuts are activated, let’s now see what applications they can have in the context of our routine. In simpler cases like saying good morning or saying thank you, shortcuts like “bd” and “gr” can help us. They are abbreviations that we do not use in other contexts and they will not cause problems and, although there are those who can understand these abbreviations by themselves, it is much more practical that after writing them they translate into “good morning” and “thank you”.
There is also specific cases in which this is an interesting function. For example, for fill in text fields in forms on a website or an app. Don’t want to be writing your name, surnames, address or email? Easy: you create text substitutions for each one and so when it’s your turn to fill it in you won’t have to put everything.
In somewhat more complex cases We come up with predefined templates in the purest email style, so that you can already have a text to send without having to write it completely or only having to retouch some points. It is valid even for personal notes. For example, imagine that each day you like to write down what you have done at the end of the day in the form of a journal, you could have the text “journal template” be replaced by a list divided into work items, personal, finances, etc.
