Save text blocks and insert them

1 Create a file

Download and install Text Blocks from the Mac App Store. The first time it is run, click ‘Create a New Document’. Each one can store up to ten blocks of text in the free app.

2 Add text blocks

There are no text blocks at first and you must make some. There are several ways to do this and the simplest is to click the ‘+’ button in the top right corner of the app.

3 Enter some text

An editor window is displayed into which you should enter text you often type, like a common response to an email message. Enter a title and a tag and then click ‘Save’.

4 Advanced text blocks

Create a new text block and this time click ‘Fields’ in the top right. In some circumstances, such as emails, Text Blocks can automatically work out the name. Add ‘First Name’.

5 Fields and actions

Here we added two fields to a block of text, First Name and Date, and these are automatically filled in when text is used. Add whatever fields you need for the email reply.

6 Use Text Blocks

Open Mail and click ‘Reply’. Select all the text with Cmd+a then go to the Mail>services menu. Select ‘Reply with Text Blocks’ (Note the option to create text blocks too).

7 Choose the text

The Text Blocks window appears and all your text blocks are listed. Find the one you want to use and then double-click it to open it. Use the search function if you need to.

8 Check and copy

We chose the email response that includes fields. Notice that the fields have automatically been filled in from the email message. Click ‘Copy’ to copy the text.

9 Paste and send

Text Blocks disappears and the copied text is on the clipboard. Press Cmd+v to paste it in. This was a short block of text and it can be much longer and more complicated.