Espanso: A Privacy-First, Cross-Platform Text Expander for Productivity

Espanso: A Privacy-First, Cross-Platform Text Expander for Productivity

Summary

Espanso is a powerful, privacy-first, and cross-platform text expander written in Rust, designed to significantly boost your productivity. It automates repetitive typing tasks by replacing keywords with predefined text, code snippets, or custom script outputs. This versatile tool enhances efficiency across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Repository Info

Updated on November 29, 2025
View on GitHub

Tags

espansotext-expanderproductivity-toolsRustLinuxmacOSWindowsutility

Click on any tag to explore related repositories

Introduction

Espanso is a powerful, privacy-first, and cross-platform text expander written in Rust. It's designed to significantly boost your productivity by automating repetitive typing tasks. At its core, Espanso detects when you type a specific keyword and instantly replaces it with a predefined text, code snippet, emoji, or even the output of a custom script.

This versatile tool works seamlessly across Windows, macOS, and Linux, integrating with almost any program you use. Key features include support for emojis and images, a powerful search bar, date expansion, custom scripts, shell commands, and app-specific configurations. Espanso is also highly extensible through packages and features a built-in package manager for the Espanso Hub, allowing for advanced customization with file-based configurations and regex triggers.

Installation

Getting started with Espanso is straightforward. For detailed installation instructions tailored to your operating system, please visit the official documentation. The documentation provides comprehensive guides to help you set up Espanso quickly and efficiently.

If you need assistance during installation or have questions, the Espanso community is very active. You can join the official Subreddit or the official Discord server to connect with other users and contributors.

Examples

Espanso simplifies your daily typing with simple keyword-to-text replacements. For instance:

  • Type :date to automatically insert the current date.
  • Type :email to expand into your full email address, your.email@example.com.
  • Create custom snippets for frequently used code blocks, saving you from retyping complex syntax.
  • Use :sh to execute a shell command and insert its output.
  • Easily insert emojis by typing a short keyword, like :smile for ?.

Beyond simple text, Espanso supports advanced features like forms, allowing you to create interactive expansions that prompt for input, and custom scripts for dynamic content generation.

Why Use Espanso?

Espanso offers numerous benefits for anyone looking to enhance their digital workflow:

  • Boost Productivity: Eliminate repetitive typing and automate common phrases, code snippets, and even complex workflows.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility: Enjoy the same powerful features on Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring a consistent experience across all your devices.
  • Privacy-First Design: Developed with privacy in mind, Espanso processes your expansions locally.
  • Extensibility: Customize and extend Espanso's functionality with packages from the Espanso Hub, or create your own custom scripts and configurations.
  • Open Source: Being open source, Espanso benefits from community contributions and transparency.

Links