Learn about a few different methods to permanently or temporarily save important website or app links for quickly pasting in an email, message, or document on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
If you sell a product online, share the link to your website or app, or have any other URL that you need to send multiple times each day via Messages, WhatsApp, Mail, Slack, Teams, etc., you can use these methods to enter the site address quickly and correctly.
Add the URL to Text Replacement
The built-in Text Replacement feature is hands down the best way to save your web links for quickly entering in a text field. You can assign the URL to a shortcut, and then when you type that shortcut, it will automatically change into the full URL.
For instance, I can assign my iDB author link https://makeupvana.store/author/ankur/%3C/a%3E to a shortcut like “idba.” Then, whenever I need to send someone my author link, I will just type idba and hit the space bar. “idba” will automatically turn into the full URL.
Text Replacement works with all types of text, including special symbols (, ©, ™, ®, —, etc.), email addresses, phone numbers, and, of course, website links. You can configure it on one of your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and it will be available for use on all your Apple devices. Simply go to:
- iOS: Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement
- macOS: System Settings > Keyboard > Text Replacement
Then, hit the plus button (+), enter the phrase (i.e., your website link), the desired shortcut (i.e., idba), and save it.
Save the link to a third-party keyboard clipboard
The Apple keyboard on iPhone and iPad doesn’t have a clipboard section like the stock keyboard on most Android phones. However, if you’re willing to switch from Apple’s iOS keyboard to the wonderful SwiftKey (which I have been using on my iPhone for the last 11 years), then you can save your frequently used text, like important web links, to its own clipboard and access it in just a few taps when typing.
1) Download and set up SwiftKey on your iPhone or iPad.
2) Copy the website address you want to save to the keyboard’s clipboard. Then, open the SwiftKey app and tap Settings > Clipboard > Add a new clip. Now, paste the URL here and tap Done.
3) In the future, when you’re typing and need to enter this website address quickly, tap the text field to open the keyboard. Then, touch and hold the globe key on the Apple keyboard to switch to SwiftKey if not already.
4) Now, tap the four-square icon in the SwiftKey keyboard, select Clipboard from the bottom, and tap the URL to enter it in the typing field.
Add to a pinned note and share it
You can add the website link to a note in the Apple Notes app and then pin it to the top. When you need to share this URL, touch and hold the note, tap Share, make sure it says ‘Send Copy’ on the iOS Share Sheet, and choose Messages, Mail, WhatsApp, or some other option as needed.
Leave the web page always open in a web browser
This one is obvious. You can leave that webpage open in Safari and copy the link from there whenever needed. But note that the open tab may get lost among other website tabs. So, what I do is:
- Pin the important website in Safari. And copy its link by touching and holding the pinned strip.
- Leave the website open in a secondary Safari Tab Group so it’s not hidden by other websites you visit.
- Leave the website open in another, rarely used browser, such as Google Chrome or Firefox.
Add it to the browser start page so you can copy it quickly
I’ve also added the important website to the Start Page in Safari and Chrome. Whenever I need to grab its link for sharing, I just touch and hold the website icon to copy its URL.
Add the link to the Notes app widget on the Home Screen
The next best way to quickly save and access your frequently used website or other text is to add it to the Apple Notes app, and then show that specific note as a Home Screen widget. The widget will allow you to open that note with one tap, which is handy if you have a large number of notes. Once you’re inside the note, copy the URL as you normally would.
Look for link-saving options in specific apps like WhatsApp Business
The final method to save your most-used links for quick access on iPhone is to check if such an option is available in the app you use.
For instance, if you often send your product or website link to potential customers on WhatsApp, use the ‘Quick replies’ feature in the WhatsApp Business app. Then, you can enter the link by typing a small two- or three-letter shortcut.
If you’re on a Mac
Using the built-in Text Replacement keyboard feature (already mentioned above) is one of the best ways to save and enter a link quickly in Messages, Mail, Slack, Teams, web browsers, or other documents on your Mac.
The next best method is to use a menu bar note-taking app, such as Tyke, Quick Draft, or Side Note. This will allow you to copy the website address directly from the top menu bar, without having to switch apps.
And finally, you can leave the website URL open in an app like Apple Notes, Klipped, or Antinote, and then copy it from there when needed. Just remember to open this note each time you restart your computer. In case you decide to use the Antinote app (also available with Setapp), go to its settings and enable “Auto-copy selected text.” This will allow you to copy the URL simply by selecting the text – no manual copying required.
Which method will you be using to save and access your important web links quickly?