More placeholders on the free plan
Free

[$PROMPT:Label] is now available on the free plan: shows an input dialog at expansion time so the same macro can ask for a name, subject, or any other quick value.
[$CHOICE:option1|option2|option3] is now available on the free plan: shows a dropdown picker at expansion time for predetermined options.
Tab stops [$1] through [$9] and [$0] are now available on the free plan: press Tab to jump between fillable spots in an expanded macro; [$0] sets where the cursor lands.


New:

Smart Variants (Pro + beta): one hotword can expand into different text depending on the site you are on, the time of day, your browser language, or other conditions. Get early access at makroexpander.com/beta.
Suggest with AI (beta): let Smart Rewrite propose variant bodies for an existing macro, sanitized to your tier and conditions.
Redesigned onboarding: a faster first-run experience with three paths - import from another tool, start with a pack, or skip and explore.
Tab mode: open Makro as a pinnable browser tab alongside the floating window. Pick your default in Settings > Preferences. New installs start in tab mode; existing users keep their current setup.
Telemetry transparency: every privacy toggle has an (i) button next to it that shows the exact data payload before you opt in.
Help FAQ in Settings: built-in answers to the most common questions about expansion, sync, encryption, and tiers.
Refreshed popup typography and themes (default / workbench / nord / light) with full WCAG AA contrast across every theme. Save (Ctrl+Enter) and Close (Esc) keyboard shortcuts are now visible on the editor buttons.

Improved:
Importing macros from TextExpander, Espanso, and Alfred now preserves more placeholder syntax automatically. Date and time tokens, fillable fields, dropdowns, and form fields convert to Makro [$Placeholder] format on import. Headerless CSV exports are detected and imported correctly.
Smart Rewrite handles slow responses and stuck sessions more gracefully, with a "Reset AI session" option if a request hangs. LM Studio is detected reliably when set as your AI provider.
Privacy Policy updated (May 11, 2026): clearer disclosure of opt-in telemetry fields and a new "Beta Features" section. Makro Cloud is explicitly opt-in; local AI providers (Ollama, LM Studio) remain the default. Read the full policy at /privacy.
Esc closes the macro editor from any field, not just the body text. Switching between tab mode and floating window keeps each surface's geometry independent.

v1.4.8 - Hide an entire category from Top 10 / Last 5 / Similar
New

Hide a whole category - and everything inside it - from Top 10 / Last 5 / Similar / Stats in one click. Open Manage Categories and tick the 🚫 box next to any category.


Fixed

The per-macro "Hide from Top 10 / Last 5 / Similar" checkbox now stays checked after saving. Previously the setting was silently dropped on every save.


v1.4.6
2026-04-19
v1.4.6 - [$CHOICE] dropdown + translate submenu + Smart Vision fix
New

[$CHOICE:a|b|c] placeholder: shows a dropdown of predetermined options when the macro expands. Pipe-separated so options can include commas. Example: [$CHOICE:Hi, there|Hello|Hey].
Right-click "Translate Selection to..." submenu: pick the target language explicitly instead of always translating to the last-used language. Avoids wasted AI usage on the wrong language.


Fixed

Smart Vision now extracts text from images instead of describing them. The extraction rider is now always applied, including when a preset is selected.


v1.4.5
2026-04-19
v1.4.5 - [$PROMPT] + [$RANDOM] improvements
Fixed

Zendesk and other CKEditor-based sites: [$PROMPT] placeholders no longer insert the expanded text twice, including when the prompt comes from a nested [$MACRO] reference.


New

[$RANDOM] now accepts | (pipe) or ; (semicolon) as separators, letting you include commas inside options. Example: [$RANDOM:Hi, there|Hello|Hey, friend]. Existing comma-separated macros continue to work unchanged.


v1.4.2
2026-04-18
v1.4.2 - Onboarding tip fix
Fixed

The onboarding "Press [shortcut] to search" tip now shows your actual configured shortcut instead of "null".


v1.4.1
2026-04-18
v1.4.1 - Reliability improvements
What's new

Behind-the-scenes reliability and stability improvements. No changes to features or settings.


v1.3.5
2026-04-18
v1.3.5 - Sparkle animation on by default
What's new

A subtle sparkle appears on the text field when a macro expands, making it clearer that the expansion happened. You can toggle this off in Settings > Privacy if you’d prefer.


Smart Copy in beta (apply at makroexpander.com)
Fixed bugs
Free users now get 25 free Smart rewrites per month!

[1.1.2] - 2026-03-24

Added

• Smart Copy context-aware presets - AI cleanup now auto-detects content type (receipt, business card, code, document, whiteboard, screenshot, handwritten) and tailors OCR correction accordingly. Preset chips in the toolbar let you override the auto-detection
• Select All / Deselect All toggle - Quickly toggle all text blocks in the Smart Copy overlay
• Smart Rewrite "Support reply" tone - New rewrite action for crafting professional support responses
• Grammatical person preservation - Smart Rewrite now maintains your original perspective (first/third person) instead of rewriting everything in third person
• Cloud sync auto-push - Macros now automatically sync to the cloud after edits (5-second debounce) when Cloud Sync is enabled. No more manual "Sync Now" needed
• Code preset preserves source - OCR AI cleanup for code snippets no longer strips HTML/XML/JSX tags

Fixed

• Cloud sync push-back loop - Pulling from cloud no longer triggers an immediate push back, which could overwrite the just-pulled data
• Firefox notifications crash - Fixed crash on Firefox when extension notifications API was unavailable
• Zendesk compatibility - Fixed hotword detection stopping, cursor position issues, and double text insertion in Zendesk's CKEditor
• Macro save failures - Fixed edge case where saving a macro could fail if the category path was invalid (now auto-corrects)
• Context menu "Add as Macro" - Fixed empty category when adding a macro from the right-click menu
• Search overlay editing - Clicking "Edit" on a search result now correctly navigates to the macro
• Smart Rewrite "Unknown action" - Fixed error when using the Support reply action
• Version history - Fixed version history not recording changes due to missing crypto allowlist fields
• Stale semantic search results - Embeddings are now cleared when all recomputation attempts fail
• Smart Copy preset detection - Receipts are now correctly identified over business cards when both patterns match
• Locale quality - Fixed missing accents/diacritics in German, French, Spanish, and Portuguese translations

Makro 1.0.1 - more privacy controls and bug fixes.

Privacy
- New installs now default to Local AI Only - AI rewrite works on your device out of the box(Ollama required), no cloud requests unless you opt in
- New privacy step during first-run setup so you choose your analytics preferences upfront
- Analytics split into two levels you control independently in Settings > Privacy Controls:
- Basic: anonymous aggregate counts (how many macros, how often you expand)
- Detailed (off by default): which features you use (theme, AI provider, clipboard history, etc.)
- Updated privacy policy with full transparency on what each level includes

Fixes
- Encryption diagram now readable on dark backgrounds
- Search overlay closes properly after deleting a macro
- Security improvements

Makro 1.0 - the free, private text expander with AI rewrite and encrypted sync.

After an extensive beta, Makro 1.0 brings together everything you need to stop retyping the same text:

Smart Macros
- Conditional placeholders: show different text based on website, time of day, language, or OS
- Macro variants: one hotword, multiple bodies - automatically selected by context rules
- Tab stops: press Tab to jump between editable fields after expansion
- Enhanced prompts: dropdowns, number inputs, and multi-line prompts batched into a single form

AI Smart Rewrite (free for everyone)
- 25 cloud rewrites/month - no account required
- Rewrite selected text directly on the page with the inline overlay
- Choose from formal, casual, grammar fix, shorten, expand, or bullets
- Runs on Makro's own infrastructure (Cloudflare Workers AI) - your text is never sent to third-party AI providers
- Or use Ollama for fully local, offline AI processing

25+ Dynamic Placeholders
- Dates, math expressions, auto-incrementing counters, regex transforms
- Form filling: Tab, Enter, and auto-fill from clipboard
- Cursor positioning, prompted input, nested macros, and more

Encrypted Cloud Sync (Pro/Premium)
- AES-256-GCM encryption - your macros are encrypted on your device before transmission
- Multi-device sync with automatic conflict resolution
- Zero-knowledge architecture - even Makro's servers cannot read your data

Works Everywhere
- Reliable expansion in Zendesk, Gmail, Notion, Google Docs, Freshdesk, and all major web editors
- Firefox and Chrome/Edge/Brave/Arc support
- Search overlay (Ctrl+Shift+Space) to find and insert macros from any page
- Right-click context menu with folder structure, favorites, and recent macros

Security and Privacy
- Independent security audit completed with all findings resolved
- No ads, no third-party analytics, no behavioral tracking
- Local AI Only mode keeps all AI processing on your device
- Auto-clear clipboard wipes sensitive entries after a configurable delay

Quality of Life
- Fuzzy search with relevance ranking across all categories
- Clipboard history with source tracking
- Usage statistics with heatmap
- Bulk select, move, and delete
- Import from TextExpander, Espanso, aText, AutoHotkey, PhraseExpress, Alfred, Typinator, ProKeys, Text Blaze, Auto Text Expander, and Beeftext
- Available in English, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese

Free to use with unlimited macros. No account required.
Pro ($2.99/mo) and Premium ($5.99/mo) plans available for cloud sync, more AI rewrites, semantic search, and shareable packs.

New Advanced Placeholder available for beta testers

Bug fixes

Makro v0.9.15 — March 9, 2026
New: Smart Search
Search now finds macros even with partial or fuzzy matches and ranks results by relevance. Titles and hotwords are weighted higher so the best match appears first.

Bug Fixes
Fixed: Inserting macros from search overwrites content in rich editors — Using the search overlay to insert a macro in editors like Zendesk or CKEditor no longer replaces your existing text.
Fixed: Inline AI rewrite replaces wrong text in Firefox — The rewrite feature in CKEditor5 on Firefox now correctly replaces only the selected text.
Fixed: Untitled macros appearing too high in search results
Makro v0.9.14 — March 4, 2026
Bug Fixes
Fixed: AI rewrite quota showing incorrect count across devices — Monthly usage is now tracked consistently, so your remaining rewrites display the correct number on all devices.
Fixed: AI quota counter not updating after a rewrite — The counter now refreshes immediately instead of requiring you to reopen the popup.
Fixed: Embedding generation failing for large macro libraries — Users with 600+ macros can now generate search embeddings without the process stalling or erroring out.

Modal fixes

Single line fix for ZD

Bug fixes

3RD time was not a charm update

Zendesk/ckeditor fix. 3rd time's a charm?

Minor Zendesk fix