With text replacement in iOS and macOS, you can make shortcuts that replace certain characters with symbols. This lets you type math and science symbols, subscripts, and superscripts.
Note: Looking for math conversion?
Text Shortcuts on iOS
- Open Settings.
- Tap General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.
- Tap "+" in the top right corner.
- In the Phrase row, type or paste a symbol, such as "²".
- In the Shortcut row, type or paste a shortcut, such as "^2".
- Tap "Save" in the top right corner.
Text Shortcuts on macOS
- Open System Preferences.
- Click Keyboard > Text.
- Click "+" near the bottom left corner.
- In the Replace column, type a shortcut, such as "^2".
- In the With column, type or paste a symbol, such as "²".
Helpful Tips
- If your devices are synced through iCloud, the shortcuts you make on one device will be available on all of your devices.
- On a Mac, you can export text replacement shortcuts:
- In System Preference's "Replace / With" box, shift-click the shortcuts you want to export, or use the command+a keyboard shortcut to select all shortcuts.
- Click-and-drag the selected shortcuts to your desktop.
- This makes a file named "Text Substitutions.plist" that contains your shortcuts.
- On a Mac, you can import text replacement shortcuts:
- Click-and-drag a ".plist" file into System Preference's "Replace / With" box.