Help Desk Geek – Help Desk Tips For IT Pros

If you do a lot of typing of the same phrases over and over again, TypingAid can save you time.

It is a free, simple auto-completion tool that suggests phrases that match the first few letters typed in. You can type long words and phrases using just a few keystrokes.

Download TypingAid from:

http://www.artwinauto.com/downloads/typing-programs/typingaid.html.

Installing TypingAid

TypingAid does not require installation. Simply unzip the downloaded files and run TypingAid.exe.

However, in order for TypingAid to be able to use your custom words and phrases when making suggestions, you have to add your words and phrases to the wordlist.txt file. This file has to reside in the same directory as the TypingAid.exe file. TypingAid comes with a sample wordlist.txt file that you can edit to suit your purposes.

Using TypingAid

To start using TypingAid, run the TypingAid.exe file. Remember that it does not matter what directory the TypingAid.exe file is in, as long as the wordlist.txt file is in the same directory.

The TypingAid icon displays in the system tray.

The easy way to add a word or a phrase to the wordlist.txt file is to type the word or phrase in the text editor or word processor, highlight it, and press Ctrl + Shift + C. The word or phrase is automatically added to the wordlist.txt file and TypingAid is restarted so the updated wordlist.txt file is available.

When you start to type the first three letters of what you type is compared to the words and phrases in the wordlist.txt file. Any words or phrases in the wordlist.txt file that match the first three letters typed, are suggested in a numbered list as pictured below.

To select a word or a phrase, type the number in front of it. The corresponding text is inserted into your document.

If you want to disable the pop-up suggestions temporarily, right-click on the TypingAid icon and select Pause Script.

The icon turns red and you can type with no suggestions popping up. Select Pause Script again to reactivate TypingAid.

If you want to temporarily disable the Ctrl + Shift + C hotkeys, right-click on the TypingAid icon and select Suspend Hotkeys. The icon becomes an ‘S’ instead of an ‘H.’ Select Suspend Hotkeys to have access to be able to easily add words and phrases to the wordlist.txt file.

TypingAid works in all all programs in which you type text, both offline and online. The program is very small and portable so you can use it on any computer very easily.

by Lori Kaufman