Keyboard shortcuts and basics

Three keys cover everything. Typeahead's settings live in its menu bar icon: click it and choose Settings….

The three keys#

• Tab takes the whole suggestion and leaves your cursor at the end of it.
• Right arrow (→) takes the next word, with a space after it.
• Esc clears the suggestion.

Hold Tab or the right arrow and the words keep coming, one after another, until you let go.

Or just keep typing#

You never have to press Esc. If you type the letters the suggestion shows, they're taken from it and the rest stays put. Type something different and the suggestion follows what you wrote. Nothing goes in until you accept it.

Change the keys#

Open Settings › Shortcuts. Click Accept Suggestion, Accept Next Word or Dismiss Suggestion, then press the keys you want. You can also clear a shortcut, or put it back to the default.

To give one app its own keys, use Settings › Apps. In terminals, where Tab already completes commands, Typeahead uses ⌥Return to accept and ⌥→ to take one word. Terminals are off until you switch Typeahead on for them.

Don't want a space after each word you take? Switch off Insert a space after accepted words in Settings › General.

Pause it#

Click the Typeahead icon in the menu bar and choose Pause for 30 Minutes, Pause for 1 Hour or Pause Until Tomorrow. The icon dims while it's paused. Suggestions come back on their own when the time is up, or straight away when you choose Resume.

Switch it off for one app#

The menu bar menu has a submenu for the app you're in. Choose Disable for that app (for example, Disable for Slack) and Typeahead stays out of it until you switch it back on. The same switch is in Settings › Apps.

Fewer suggestions, or later ones#

Settings › General has five settings for how Typeahead suggests, including these three:

• Timing: Instant, Balanced (the default) or Relaxed, which waits until you pause.
• Frequency: Fewer, Standard or More. Fewer shows only the most confident suggestions.
• Length: from a word or two (Short) to a full sentence or more (Very Long).

Turn off Apple's predictions#

macOS has its own grey inline predictions, and the two would compete for the same spot. To turn the Mac's off, open System Settings › Keyboard, click Edit next to Input Sources, and switch off Show inline predictive text. Typeahead reminds you in Settings › Status if both are on.