Editor autocomplete for placeholders
New
- Type [$ in the editor to search your placeholders by name and insert them, without remembering the exact spelling.
Changelog
Every shipped build, in reverse chronological order.
Makro ships often - typically weekly - with a public changelog entry for every release. If something in a recent build changed behaviour you were relying on, this is where to look first. Contact us if a release broke a workflow.
Clipboard clearing fixed, plus editor refinements
Fixed
- Clearing your clipboard history now removes every entry, including items captured moments earlier, instead of leaving some to reappear.
- Some beta features could navigate your current tab unexpectedly; they no longer do.
Improved
- Editor refinements: a soft-wrap-aware line-number gutter, restyled OCR helpers, and a corrected layout in narrow windows.
- A frequently-used placeholder row in the editor, plus wrapping a text selection directly into link, image, and AI-prompt placeholders.
Recover your license key yourself
New
- Lost your license key? A new "Lost your key?" link in the popup lets you recover it: enter your account email and we email you a link to your customer portal, where your license key is shown.
Full translations in six languages, and free Team Pack import
New
- The entire popup is now translated in German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese (previously some panels fell back to English).
Improved
- Importing a shared Team Pack is now free on every plan.
Fixed
- Placeholder examples (like [$DATE]) and plan prices now display correctly in the editor.
- The placeholder chip grid no longer overflows the advanced editor.
Redact sensitive text, and calmer macro suggestions
New
- New [$REDACT:[$SELECTION]] placeholder masks emails and phone numbers in the selected text while keeping a verifiable hint (for example j****@gmail.com or ***-***-1234), so you can share screenshots or confirm contact details without exposing them.
Improved
- The macro suggestion box is calmer: it no longer covers the text you are typing, dismisses when you press Enter to send, fades out on its own, and a new match-strength slider lets you control how often it appears.
Fixed
- "Extract Text" (OCR) works again on images hosted anywhere on the web.
- The macro editor now flags an unclosed or unknown [$...] placeholder as you type.
Shortcuts that work anywhere
New
- Smart Actions: give a macro a keyboard shortcut and it works even when you are not clicked into a text box. Press it anywhere to copy the result, ready to paste or send. Add [$OPENURL:...] to open a link in a new tab instead.
- New [$SELECTION_OR_CLIPBOARD] placeholder uses your highlighted text, or the clipboard when nothing is highlighted.
Fixed
- Quick-search now inserts a macro at your cursor in rich editors like Zendesk, instead of at the top of the field.
- Manage billing now opens your billing portal (it previously hit a 404).
- "Suggest variants with AI" no longer errors out.
- Auto-backup now shows the correct next and last backup dates.
Polish
- Time saved on the Stats screen is labeled all-time, so it is no longer mistaken for the monthly figure.
- Clearer OCR crosshair and detected-text overlay.
- Data & Sync now has an info button explaining what end-to-end encryption means.
Report a site that needs a hand
New
- Report this site: when expansion runs into trouble on a page, the troubleshooting notice now has a one-click button that sends us only the site name and editor type so we can add support for it faster.
Polish
- First-run setup now reminds you to refresh tabs you already had open, so Makro starts working on them right away.
Faster Smart Rewrite
New
- In-page Smart Rewrite hotkey (default Ctrl+Shift+;). Trigger Smart Rewrite on any selected text without reaching for the mouse. The shortcut is fully configurable in Settings > Shortcuts.
Polish
- Shortcut binding now blocks OS-reserved and browser-reserved key combos (e.g. Cmd+Tab, Ctrl+W) so you cannot accidentally bind a chord that will never fire.
- Shortcut conflict detection now flags silent collisions across every Save action in the popup, not just some.
Privacy
- Tier-targeted announcements (Pro / Premium) now route only to subscribers whose plan matches the target tier.
Submit a pack to the public library
New
- Export Pack now has a Submit to Library option for Pro users. Send any pack (3 or more macros) to makroexpander.com/packs. Reviewed by Makro before publishing so other users can find and install it.
Polish
- Account upgrade card now shows the monthly cost when annual billing is selected, so the savings are visible at a glance.
- Fixed: "You've saved" header on the account upgrade card was missing the time-saved value across all 7 languages.
Share your favorite macros with one link
New
- Export Pack now has a Share Link option. Send a single short link to a teammate instead of a JSON file - they open it, click Install, and your pack lands in their Makro in one step.
- Sensitive packs can be password-protected: turn on Encrypt with password and only people with the password can open the link. Makro servers never see the password or the pack contents.
Browser tabs now show the Makro icon
Polish
- When you open Makro in a browser tab or pinned window, the tab now shows the Makro icon instead of a generic browser globe - easier to spot in a row of tabs.
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; [$0] sets where the cursor lands.
Smart Variants, redesigned onboarding, and tab mode
New (Pro)
- Smart Variants (Pro + beta): one hotword can expand into different text depending on the site you are on, the time of day, your browser language, or other conditions. Get early access at makroexpander.com/beta.
- Suggest with AI (beta): let Smart Rewrite propose variant bodies for an existing macro, sanitized to your tier and conditions.
New
- Redesigned onboarding: a faster first-run experience with three paths - import from another tool, start with a pack, or skip and explore.
- Tab mode: open Makro as a pinnable browser tab alongside the floating window. Pick your default in Settings > Preferences. New installs start in tab mode; existing users keep their current setup.
- Telemetry transparency: every privacy toggle has an (i) button next to it that shows the exact data payload before you opt in.
- Help FAQ in Settings: built-in answers to the most common questions about expansion, sync, encryption, and tiers.
- Refreshed popup typography and themes (default / workbench / nord / light) with full WCAG AA contrast across every theme. Save (Ctrl+Enter) and Close (Esc) keyboard shortcuts are now visible on the editor buttons.
Improved
- Importing macros from TextExpander, Espanso, and Alfred now preserves more placeholder syntax automatically. Date and time tokens, fillable fields, dropdowns, and form fields convert to Makro [$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.
Category hide-from-smart-menus checkbox now saves
Fixed
- The category-level "Hide from Top 10 / Last 5 / Similar" checkbox in Manage Categories now stays checked after saving. Previously the setting was silently dropped on every save.
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.
Smoother first-macro experience
Fixed
- Saving your very first macro now prompts you to name your first category, then saves straight away - no more getting stuck on a fresh install.
[$CHOICE] dropdown + translate submenu + Smart Vision fix
New
- [$CHOICE:a|b|c] placeholder: shows a dropdown of predetermined options when the macro expands. Pipe-separated so options can include commas. Example: [$CHOICE:Hi, there|Hello|Hey].
- Right-click "Translate Selection to..." submenu: pick the target language explicitly instead of always translating to the last-used language. Avoids wasted AI usage on the wrong language.
Fixed
- Smart Vision now extracts text from images instead of describing them. The extraction rider is now always applied, including when a preset is selected.
[$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.
Onboarding tip fix
Fixed
- The onboarding "Press [shortcut] to search" tip now shows your actual configured shortcut instead of "null".
Reliability improvements
What's new
- Behind-the-scenes reliability and stability improvements. No changes to features or settings.
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.
Trial flow update + reliability fixes
Trial flow
- "Start Trial" now opens a checkout page in a new tab. A payment method is required. You will not be charged during the 30-day trial period, and you can cancel anytime from your Polar account.
- Trials auto-convert to paid at day 30 unless you cancel. No more remembering to come back and subscribe.
Reliability
- OCR quota tracking is more accurate, especially when multiple OCR attempts fire in quick succession.
- Subscription state sync with Polar has been improved so resubscriptions restore Pro access promptly.
- The "Out of Smart Rewrite credits" prompt now opens checkout in a new tab, matching the other Start Trial buttons.
Security: tighter per-tab quota throttle
Security
- Per-tab AI quota throttle introduced in v1.2.7 now verifies the bypass origin against a real extension URL instead of absence-of-tab. An external security review flagged the original bypass as over-broadly trusting any future context without a tab. Legitimate popup/extension pages continue to work unchanged.
- Regression check 13l (rate-limit ordering on worker endpoints) now fails closed when the target function cannot be located, instead of silently passing on a refactor.
Hotfix: AI Vision consent Accept
Fixed
- AI Vision consent dialog: clicking "Enable AI Vision" no longer fails with a content-script permission error (regression introduced in v1.2.7 and caught before any store submission).
Security hardening + lockout protection
Security
- Closed a tamper-detection downgrade where an attacker with the sync key could craft macros that bypass the AAD integrity check.
- Locked down 5 message handlers that were callable from any webpage - no malicious site can rename your categories, decrypt backups, or silently grant AI Vision consent.
- Added per-tab rate limit on AI features so a malicious site cannot drain your AI Smart Rewrite quota in the background.
- License management now clears all subscription/trial flags when you switch keys and cannot accidentally overwrite a paid license with a trial.
Worker
- Rate-limit lockout protection on /api/install, /api/event, /beta, /contact - bots can no longer spam empty requests to lock out real users from behind a shared IP.
- Diagnostic logs scrub upstream error bodies and use HMAC-derived hash prefixes for correlation.
Defense-in-depth
- Clipboard history source label now derived from the real sender tab URL - a malicious iframe cannot claim a fake source domain.
- Toggling semantic suggestions off in popup takes effect immediately (previously required a service-worker restart).
Subscription fixes + editor robustness
Subscription fixes
- Cancelled-but-not-yet-ended subscriptions retain Pro access until the billing period ends. Previously Polar's "canceled" and "past_due" states wrongly locked users out of Smart Rewrite, Smart Translate, and cloud sync mid-period.
- A stale "trial expired" flag from a previous trial no longer locks paying users out of AI features or shows the "sync paused" badge.
Editor robustness
- Pressing Esc on a [$PROMPT] dialog inside a textarea or input now restores the hotword you typed instead of destroying it.
- Macro expansion in editors that reconcile their DOM (Slate, ProseMirror, Lexical, Zendesk) is more reliable. Insertion point is verified before text placement, preventing wrong-location inserts.
- Floating popup window no longer grows a few pixels each time it is reopened on Firefox.
Reliability polish
Fixes
- Smart Rewrite and Smart Translate now work on editors built with web components and open shadow DOM. Selections that span multiple nodes inside a shadow root are recognized correctly.
- Checkout page now collects your email up front and pre-fills it on the Polar checkout, so receipts and license keys actually reach you if you close the tab and come back.
- Checkout page Proceed button waits for the embedded checkout script to finish loading before it lights up, so a fast click no longer bounces you to Polar's hosted page.
Under the hood
- Ghost Expansion placeholder parser consolidated to a single source of truth. Tests now exercise the exact code the browser runs, closing a drift gap.
Try Pro in one click
Proactive trial surfaces
- Quota exhaustion CTA: hitting the 25 free Smart Rewrite credits cap now offers a one-click 30-day Pro trial instead of a dead-end error. Peak willingness-to-convert moment.
- Macro milestone banner: free users crossing 10 saved macros see a single, dismissible nudge with a one-click Start Trial button. Fires once, ever.
- Update banner now tracks the canonical latest version via the worker heartbeat, so v1.1.9 users who never saw a nudge finally get one.
Reliability
- Worker sync push endpoint: null-safe body parsing prevents rare 500s when the client omits optional fields.
- Popup: createNewMacro no longer drops a freshly-saved macro if the user switches category mid-save.
- Locales: restored missing diacritics in es, fr, and three more language files.
Smart Translate + AI Prompts pack
Smart Translate
- New Smart Rewrite action that translates selected text between 12 languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese Brazil, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese Simplified, Arabic).
- Auto-detect source language option.
- Runs fully offline with Ollama or LM Studio. Cloud route via Makro Cloud for Pro and Premium.
- Compact popover with swap button. Remembers your last-used source and target languages.
- Available in both the popup AI Rewrite menu and the on-page inline rewrite overlay.
AI Prompts starter pack (Pro)
- 18 curated prompts for writing, coding, research, and business workflows.
- Works with any AI chat interface (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity).
- Uses Makro placeholders for customizable fields.
Stats panel
- "Month" view now uses calendar month boundaries so totals match the header banner.
- Time Saved calculated from real macro body length at 200 CPM instead of a flat 5 second estimate.
- Minute and hour formatting no longer produces "1h 60m" edge cases at rounding boundaries.
Onboarding
- Skipping the pack selection step now continues to the AI demo and tips instead of exiting.
- Skip flag clears on re-entry so returning users get a clean flow.
- Back button from step 7 correctly returns to step 4 when the user skipped.
Polish
- Pinned popup dimensions to 780x580 to prevent size drift when reopening.
- Added data-i18n-title, data-i18n-aria-label, and data-i18n-placeholder support for better screen reader coverage.
- Localized Chrome Web Store and Firefox AMO titles for French, German, Japanese, and Korean.
- Corrected Magical comparison page to reflect their "600/month cap" rather than "free tier removed".
Popup sizing + stats alignment
Fixes
- Pinned popup dimensions so the window no longer grows a few pixels each time it is reopened.
- Stats panel "Month" period now aligned with the header banner monthly counter.
- Time Saved metric now uses the real body-length-based calculation (200 CPM) instead of the legacy flat 5 second estimate.
- Skipping the onboarding pack selection now continues to the AI demo and tips instead of closing the wizard.
Makro Credits rebrand + security hardening
Rebrand
- "AI Smart Rewrite" normalized to "Smart Rewrite" across all 7 locales, store listings, and SSR pages.
- "Makro Credits" established as the universal AI quota unit (25 free, 500 Pro, 10,000 Premium per month).
Imports
- New Magical importer with DevTools extraction instructions.
- Text Blaze converter now handles 14 placeholder types including formmenu with default, if/else/endif, nested repeat.
- Converter quick wins across 6 more tools: TextExpander filltext defaults, Espanso date/time, AutoHotkey Tab/Enter, Alfred time, PhraseExpress if/else, Typinator datetime.
Security
- Content scripts can no longer call saveMacro, deleteMacro, or installPack (POPUP_ONLY guard expansion).
- Sync push now type-guards all macro and category string fields before D1 bind.
- License key activation eliminates the plaintext storage window via on-demand encryption init.
- Clipboard history capped at 200 entries per CLAUDE.md storage quota guidance.