Create keyboard shortcuts on iOS on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

One of the lesser known, and  features in iOS is the ability to create keyboard shortcuts. You can choose a phrase that you type often and then create a shortcut made up of a few letters. For example, if you are in a lot of meetings, you may need to respond to texts telling people that you can’t talk at the moment. Another way you can use this feature is to create a shortcut to often-typed items, such as email addresses. You can create a 4 letter shortcut that will then be translated into an entire phrase response. Here is how:

1. Open up Settings. Tap on General–>Keyboard–>Text Replacement

2. Type in the phrase that you want to create a shortcut for. Here is the one I used: “Isn’t this shortcut cool?”

3. Type in a few letters in the Shortcut field that corresponds with the phrase you wrote in the field above. For my phrase, I just chose the first letters of the first 4 words: “itsc”.

4. Now, any time you type anywhere on your device, if you type in the shortcut letters (“itsc”) the entire phrase will automatically appear in the Quick Type toolbar above your keyboard. Simply press space or tap on the phrase in the toolbar to insert the entire phrase into wherever you are typing.

Simple as that!

Type in a phrase that you often use and assign it 3 or 4 memorable letters as a shortcut. Use this shortcut to insert this phrase into any place you are texting on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.

Type in your chosen shortcut and the phrase will appear in your Quick Type toolbar. Simply tap space or tap on the phrase to add the entire phrase into the place you are typing.