Insert snippets of text from manageable library

[rgmatthes]

Description of the new feature / enhancement

I have formulas, cmdlets, phrases etc. that I write many times a day. Some are quite long and tedious.

It'd be nice to be able to activate a shortcut that would allow me to select and insert one of these snippets of text wherever my cursor is placed. The snippets themselves could be created and managed in PowerToys settings.

Ideally if I select some text and insert a snippet, the snippet would incorporate that text accordingly. For example, imagine my snippet definition expects two words to be selected, so when it is inserted, those two words are used like variables to populate the snippet text. Maybe the user could select a different delineator other than space when defining their snippet, if e.g. a semi-colon or comma would be more useful for that snippet's purpose.

This is different from text expander approaches because those require the user to remember and type specific character strings for the text to be inserted, which doesn't scale to 50 or 100 snippets.

Scenario when this would be used?

• When using Excel, a user could activate the snippet shortcut in the formula bar to insert an established formula instead of tracking it down from another spreadsheet or writing it from scratch. If utilizing the aforementioned text select feature, all the references would be correctly incorporated right from the start.
• In PowerShell, a user could activate the snippet shortcut to pull in saved code structures. I have whole libraries of old scripts that are never exactly what I'm looking for, but are ultimately different arrangements of the same basic snippets. It would be faster for me to be able to quickly draw upon these snippets to build the code I need now vs. searching and combining old code.
• Outlook does not easily support saved templates (a major shortcoming IMO). This tool would allow you to save snippets of common email language, even incorporating details like recipients names, dates and more.
• The universality of this tool means similar needs can be met anywhere you type text -- Notepad++, an address bar (think parameters in a URL string), your LinkedIn correspondence, or dream bigger and think CRMs, ERPs, and HRIS tools.

Supporting information

No response

[TheJoeFin]

/dup #1758

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

Hi! We've identified this issue as a duplicate of another one that already exists on this Issue Tracker. This specific instance is being closed in favor of tracking the concern over on the referenced thread. Thanks for your report!