Frequently Asked Questions about Text Blaze for Windows
This is the FAQ page for the Text Blaze for Windows app.
You can contact us directly at support@blaze.today. You can also post a general question on our Community Forum.
My snippet doesn't trigger or update when I edit it.
If Text Blaze snippets are not completing when you try to trigger them, try the following steps:
Are the folder snippet trigger rules set up the way you want them?
See the question for instructions on folder snippet trigger rules.
Is the app installed and active?
You should see the Text Blaze icon in the Windows system tray.
If you are trying to use Text Blaze in administrator apps, see this question.
If after these steps you still encounter difficulty, please contact us at support@blaze.today
My snippet triggers twice when using it in a browser
This can happen if you have both the Chrome extension and the Windows app installed. To fix this, you can open the Text Blaze Dashboard in Chrome. You will see an option, asking whether you want to enable or disable the Windows app in Chrome browsers. If you don't see this option, you can also open your account settings in the Windows app, which will have a toggle for this option.
If this does not solve the issue, please email us at support@blaze.today
How do I run Text Blaze in Administrator apps?
When you launch the administrator app on Windows, you will see a notification from Text Blaze. If you don't see the notification, you can open the Windows Notifications Center manually to find it. Click the button in the notification to re-launch Text Blaze with admin privileges. Now Text Blaze will work in admin apps as well.
Alternatively, you can also quit the Text Blaze app first. And then, search for Text Blaze in Windows and choose the "Run as administrator" option.
How to use the {site} command in the Windows app?
{site} command is not yet supported in the Windows app. To use it, you can install our Chrome extension.
How to zoom in/out of the Windows app?
You can press Ctrl+Shift+Plus key to zoom in, and Ctrl+Minus key to zoom out.
My shortcut is deleted but the snippet is not inserted
This issue can happen when the target application uses a different paste shortcut than Ctrl+V. To confirm this issue, simply copy some text and try pasting it into the target app using Ctrl+V.
If this is not your issue, please email us at support@blaze.today. Otherwise, please first find a valid paste shortcut for your application. Common examples are Ctrl+Shift+V, Shift+Ins, etc. Once you have that, follow these steps:
- Install Microsoft PowerToys
- Inside PowerToys, open the shortcut remap section
- Do a remap from Ctrl+V to <your valid paste shortcut>, and choose your target application (instead of all apps)
Why is there extra space, new lines, or whitespace in my snippets?
When using advanced Text Blaze features like {formtoggle} or {if}, you may sometimes see extra line breaks or new lines in your inserted snippets. See the tidying whitespace guide to learn why this happens and how to get rid of any extra space.
Why is formatting not transferring from snippets to Microsoft apps like Outlook and Word?
The default paste settings in programs like Word or Outlook can sometimes interfere with Text Blaze snippet formatting, causing issues with alignment, highlight, font color, etc. To keep your Text Blaze formatting intact, follow these steps to adjust the paste settings.
For Microsoft Outlook
- Open an Outlook window.
- Go to File > Options > Mail > Editor Options > Advanced.
- Under the "Cut, copy, and paste" section, change "Pasting from other programs" to “Keep Source Formatting”.
For Microsoft Word
- Open a Word window.
- Go to File > Options > Advanced.
- Under the "Cut, copy, and paste" section, change "Pasting from other programs" to “Keep Source Formatting”.
I want my snippets to trigger when I do...
Folders have a snippet trigger type that controls when typing their snippets' shortcuts will activate those snippets. You can configure which snippet trigger type is used for a folder on the folder's configuration page.
There are three trigger types:
- Started by Word Break (the default): Snippets will be triggered when the shortcut is typed at the start of a new word. They will not be triggered if the shortcut is typed in the middle of a word.
- Started and Ended by Word Break: Snippets will be triggered when the shortcut is typed at the start of a new word and another non-letter character is typed. Example use cases: autocorrect (e.g. replace "theyre" with "they're") and enabling very short shortcuts that would appear in regular text (e.g. replace "w" with "with").
- Anywhere: Snippets will be triggered anytime they are typed even if it is in the middle of a word. Example use case: accented characters (e.g. replace "\e" with "é").
The following table illustrates whether the snippet \go will be triggered for each of the sample texts depending on the snippet's folder's trigger type.
| Typed Text | Trigger Type: Started by Word Break | Trigger Type: Started and Ended by Word Break | Trigger Type: Anywhere |
|---|---|---|---|
| It is time to \go. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| I ate \goat cheese. | Yes | No | Yes |
| Donot\go. | No | No | Yes |
How do I share snippets with someone else?
Text Blaze allows you to share snippet folders. Simply open up the folder in the Text Blaze Dashboard and click the "Sharing" tab. You can share the folder with one or more people. Each person will require a Text Blaze account.
You can control what access the recipients have to the shared folder and snippets. There are three access types: Owners, Editors and Viewers. Owners can edit and delete folders in addition to changing sharing. Editors can edit folders and their snippets. Viewers can only view and use snippets.
You can also use Text Blaze's Import/Export feature to share snippets. But the folder sharing capability is generally a better approach as it will keep snippets in sync as changes are made to them.
I want to change my account's email address?
Here are instructions on how to change your email address.
Where is my data stored and how is it secured?
Text Blaze protects user data from account creation using Google’s authentication services, to encryption of data in transit to and from Text Blaze servers using browser based Transport Layer Security (our application dashboard has an A+ rating from Qualys SSL Labs), and finally encryption of that data at rest on our servers using the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
We work with industry leading Cloud service providers. Our core systems are built on the Google Cloud Platform and our community forums run on Digital Ocean. These service providers maintain industry-standard security certifications such as SOC 1, SOC 2, and ISO 27001.
How to use Text Blaze on native desktop or native mobile apps?
For Windows, you can install the Text Blaze for Windows application.
For Mac, you can install the Text Blaze for macOS application.
Supporting native apps on other desktop/mobile platforms is on our roadmap, but we do not have any ETA. You can add a vote for your favorite platform here.
The Text Blaze Chrome Extension works inside the Chrome browser. Note that many apps such as Outlook, MS Word, Slack, etc. have websites where you can use them (outlook.office.com, slack.com). In these websites, Text Blaze Chrome extension will work.
My question is not answered here
You can contact us directly at support@blaze.today. You can also post a general question on our Community Forum.