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Automatically replacing text

You can set TextEdit to recognize and replace text you don’t want with text you do want. For example, when you type “teh,” you can have TextEdit automatically convert it to “the.”

To specify text that TextEdit should use to replace particular text:

  1. Choose Edit > Substitutions > Show Substitutions, click Text Preferences, and then click Text. You can also choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Language & Text, and then click Text.

  2. Use the table to set up text replacement criteria. Each replacement is described in a separate row.

    • To activate or deactivate a replacement, select or deselect its checkbox in the first column.

    • To specify a new replacement, click the Add (+) button. Press Tab, and in the second column, type the text you want to automatically replace. Press Tab again, and in the third column, type the replacement text.

    • To remove a replacement, select it and then click the Delete (-) button.

To apply text replacement as you type:

  • Choose Edit > Substitutions, and then choose Text Replacement from the submenu.

  • To automatically use text replacement in all new documents, choose TextEdit > Preferences, click New Document, and then select “Text replacement” below Options.

To apply text replacement to text you've already typed:

  • To use text replacement for only part of a document, select that part, choose Edit > Substitutions > Show Substitutions, select Text Replacement, and then click "Replace in Selection."

  • To apply text replacement throughout the document, choose Edit > Substitutions > Show Substitutions, select Text Replacement, and then click Replace All.

Text replacements are automatically applied to any additional text you type in the document.

To stop using text replacement:

Choose Edit > Substitutions, and then choose Text Replacement from the submenu to deselect it.