Import your snippets from TextExpander, Espanso, Text Blaze or CSV

Switching text expanders should not mean retyping your library. Export from your current app, drop the file into Lightning Assist, and see every snippet converted — triggers, placeholders and all — before anything is saved.

The short answer

Lightning Assist imports snippet libraries from TextExpander (XML/plist or CSV), Espanso (YAML), Text Blaze (JSON) and any CSV. The preview is free and complete: you see every snippet with its trigger and mapped placeholders, plus which ones would collide with snippets you already have. Importing is free too — the free plan takes as many as it holds, Pro takes the whole library at once. Nothing in your library changes until you import.

How it works — three steps

Export from your current app
TextExpander, Espanso and Text Blaze each have an export option (steps for each below). If you keep snippets in a spreadsheet, a CSV with a trigger column and a content column is enough.
Drop the file into Lightning Assist
Open My Snippets → Import (or the import step in the tour), then choose the file or drag it onto the window. Lightning Assist detects the format from the content, not the file extension.
Review, then import
You get a table of every snippet converted: trigger, name, content, and any collisions with your existing library. Rows that cannot be converted are listed, not hidden. Click Import — your snippets are live and expand everywhere.

The preview is free on every plan, and so is importing — the free plan takes up to its 20 snippets, Pro takes the whole library. Nothing you already have is changed until you import.

Bring your library with you — for free, in five minutes

Download for Windows, macOS or Linux and drop your export in. Text expansion is free forever; so is bringing your snippets over.

Download free

How to export from each app

From TextExpander

Lightning Assist reads TextExpander’s native XML/plist export and its CSV export. Fill-in fields (%filltext:name=…%), the clipboard token and the cursor marker are mapped to Lightning Assist placeholders.

In TextExpander, select the snippet group you want (or all groups).
Choose File → Export (or Settings → Export on the web app) and save the file.
Import that file in Lightning Assist — one group at a time works fine, and collisions between groups are flagged.

From Espanso

Espanso keeps snippets in YAML match files. Lightning Assist reads them directly — triggers, replacements and {{variables}} become snippets, values and placeholders.

Open your Espanso config folder (espanso path shows it) and go to match/.
Take base.yml and any other .yml match files you use.
Import each .yml file in Lightning Assist. Triggers like :sig keep their leading symbol as the inline prefix.

From Text Blaze

Text Blaze exports folders as JSON. Shortcuts become triggers; {formtext} fields become placeholders you fill in when you expand.

In the Text Blaze dashboard, open the folder you want to move.
Use the folder menu → Export and download the JSON file.
Import that file in Lightning Assist. Repeat per folder if you keep several.

From a CSV or spreadsheet

Any CSV works: a header row helps but is optional. Lightning Assist looks for a trigger/abbreviation/shortcut column, a content/snippet/text column, and an optional name/label column.

Put one snippet per row: trigger in one column, the full text in another, an optional name in a third.
Multi-line content is fine — quote the cell. Save as CSV (UTF-8 if your app offers it).
Import the CSV. Triggers longer than 24 characters or containing spaces are reported as not convertible, not silently truncated.

What gets converted — and what is reported

Triggers keep their symbol

A trigger like ;sig or :addr keeps its leading symbol as the inline prefix, so it fires exactly as it did before. Bare-word triggers stay bare-word.

Placeholders are mapped

TextExpander fill-ins, Espanso {{variables}} and Text Blaze {formtext} fields become Lightning Assist placeholders you fill in at expansion time.

Collisions are shown, never overwritten

If an imported trigger matches one you already have, the row is marked and skipped — your existing snippet wins. Our starter samples step aside for your real snippets.

Nothing is lost silently

Rows that cannot be converted (a trigger with spaces, an empty value, an over-long trigger) are listed by name so you can recreate them by hand — not dropped without a word.

Frequently asked questions

Is the import free?

Yes. The preview is free on every plan — you see your whole library converted before deciding — and importing is free too: the free plan brings in 5 snippets per import, up to its 20; Pro brings in the whole library at once. Text expansion itself is free forever.

Will my triggers still work the same way?

Yes. Leading symbols (;, :, /) become the inline prefix, so ;sig fires as ;sig. Placeholders are mapped to Lightning Assist’s format. You review every row before importing.

What if a file is not recognised?

For an unrecognised format you can ask AI to read it and propose snippets — you still review and approve every row before anything is saved. If the AI finds nothing, the credits are returned.

What happens with duplicates?

A trigger you already have is skipped (your existing snippet wins). Two rows with the same trigger inside one file: the first is imported, the second is reported as a duplicate.