Create and insert snippets
Set up a text once and insert it with a trigger while you dictate, with placeholders for date, time and year.
- Applies to
- Windows, macOS
- Version
- Dictate 0.4.0-beta.6
In the sidebar, open Personalize›Snippets. A snippet has a trigger and a text. When you say the trigger while dictating, Dictate puts the whole text in its place.
Dictate applies snippets on these plans: Basic, Professional, Dedicated. On other plans the page shows your snippets locked, and New snippet and Import are greyed out.
Create a snippet
- Click New snippet at the top right. The Add snippet dialog opens.
- Under Trigger, enter what you say while dictating, for example "my signature".
- Under Text, enter the text. Several lines are fine.
- Click Add. Ctrl+Enter saves straight from the text field, Cmd+Enter on a Mac.
Below the page title there are examples with Add, such as a signature or a findings template. A click opens the dialog already filled in. Hide examples removes them.
| Field | At most |
|---|---|
| Trigger | 80 characters |
| Text | 4000 characters, the counter below the field shows how many you have |
Each trigger exists only once. Capitals, punctuation and hyphens do not count for this.
Insert placeholders
Below the text field is Insert placeholder. A click on a placeholder puts it at the cursor. When the snippet is inserted, Dictate replaces it:
| Placeholder | Becomes |
|---|---|
{date} | today's date |
{time} | the current time, for example 14:30 |
{year} | the current year |
The German names {datum}, {uhrzeit} and {jahr} work too. Dictate writes the date and time in the format of your dictation language. Below the list, the Placeholders line shows what each placeholder gives right now.
Insert a snippet while dictating
Say the trigger in your dictation. Dictate replaces it with the text. The trigger can stand alone or be part of a longer dictation. Punctuation, hyphens and spaces between the words of the trigger do not matter: "findings-template" also matches when speech recognition writes "findings template".
Dictate inserts the text exactly as you saved it. Smart Dictation does not change it, not even capitals or punctuation.
Change and delete snippets
Move the mouse over a snippet. The pencil opens Edit snippet, the bin deletes it. After a delete, Undo brings it back.
Above the list are Search and Sort. The search finds triggers and text. The list shows up to 200 snippets.
Bring in and back up snippets
- To bring snippets from Dragon or Wispr Flow, use Import, see Import your vocabulary.
- Export on the Dictionary page saves words and snippets in one file. Cloud backup there backs up both in your account. See Dictionary.
- Snippets are yours only. A team dictionary holds words only.
- The voice profile suggests sentences you often dictate the same way as snippets.
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