Guide
Automate repetitive text formatting on a Mac
If you keep making the same edit to copied text, such as changing case, removing line breaks, reformatting JSON, or rearranging names, turn it into a transform. In Hotstash you pick a built-in one or describe your own, then give it a keyboard shortcut. From then on, copy the text and press the shortcut.
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Set it up once
- Find the edit you repeat. Check the built-in list first: case, whitespace, sort, duplicates, encoding, JSON, cleanup.
- If it isn't there, open the transform builder and describe it with an example input and the output you want. Hotstash writes it and tests it on your example.
- In Settings → General → Quick Transforms, assign it one of five global shortcuts.
Then every time
- Copy the text with ⌘C.
- Press your transform shortcut. The clipboard now holds the fixed text.
- Paste it.
Examples people automate
- Removing line breaks from text copied out of a PDF.
- Turning a column of names into a comma-separated list.
- Converting titles into slugs or snake_case.
- Formatting a minified API response so it's readable.
- Stripping tracking parameters from links before sharing them.
Questions
How can I automate text formatting on Mac without scripts?
Use a clipboard manager with transforms. In Hotstash, pick or describe the transform, give it a shortcut, then copy and press the shortcut.
Can I chain several edits?
Describe the whole edit in one transform, for example 'trim each line, remove empty lines, and join with commas'.
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