Productivity

Hotstrings is a free Automatic Text Replacement Tool for Windows

Hazem Abbas

Dec 19, 2023 — 2 min read

Hotstrings is a free and open-source automatic text replacement tool that allows you to define text replacement definitions. For example, entering "btw/" can automatically replace it with "by the way". Hotstrings can support longer replacement text and a single triggerstring can trigger up to 7 versions of text replacements.

Features

text replacement: abbreviations (aka triggerstrings) are replaced with expansions (aka hotstrings);
definitions (triggerstring, hotstring) are stored for future reference within .csv files called libraries;
libraries can be dynamically enabled / disabled;
thanks to .csv files you can group your favorite definition libraries, e.g. emojis, physical symbols, first and second names etc.;
import of existing collections of (triggerstring, hotstring) definitions from within .ahk files; example: famous AutoCorrect.ahk with over 4 800 definitions can be easily imported.;
export of libraries (.csv) files to .ahk files;
one triggerstring can be used to trigger multiple hotstrings displayed in form of shorthand list (aka. tooltip);
entering of actual hotstring into edited text is configurable with plenty of available options
GUI (Graphical User Interface) for easy definition and/or edition of hotstrings;
all events configurable via GUI including sound emitting;
syntax of definitions is compatible with AutoHotkey options (B0, C, ? etc.);
new hotstring definitions can be pasted into application directly from clipboard;
undoing of last hotstring with user defined shortcut (Ctrl + F12 by default);
written entirely in AutoHotkey script language, single file, great for learning; can be installed and run as standalone application thanks to .exe file