FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & SELF-HELP

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Everything you need to know about how .XPANDER works, system compatibility, troubleshooting, and privacy.

General & Performance

How much RAM and CPU does .XPANDER actually use?

.XPANDER uses approximately 4.6 MB of private committed RAM (~12 MB working set including shared Windows DLLs) and draws 0.0% CPU while idle. Because it is built on native Win32 event queues in Rust without a browser engine or garbage collector, it sleeps completely until a keystroke event occurs.

Does .XPANDER run natively on ARM64 / Copilot+ Snapdragon laptops?

Yes! We ship dedicated native binaries for both x86_64 (Intel/AMD) and ARM64 (Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite/Plus, Microsoft Surface). The ARM64 build runs 100% natively with zero x86 emulation overhead.

Does .XPANDER send any telemetry or require an internet connection?

Never. .XPANDER is 100% offline. It contains zero networking libraries, zero analytics, and zero telemetry. Furthermore, all diagnostic file logging is compiled out of release builds at the compiler level (#[cfg(debug_assertions)]).

Do I need Administrator rights (UAC) to install .XPANDER?

No. The Setup Wizard installs per-user into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\aiVOLUTION\dotXPANDER and requires no Administrator privileges or UAC prompt. You can also use the Portable ZIP version with zero installation.

Snippets, Rich Text, Images & Tokens

How do I paste formatted text or images into a snippet?

Copy formatted content from Word, Outlook, Teams, or a browser—or copy an image/screenshot to your clipboard—and press Ctrl + V inside the Replacement field in .XPANDER Settings. Paste-and-Lock automatically captures the rich formats (HTML, RTF, PNG, DIB), stores them in a compressed .xblob sidecar file, and badges the snippet with 🔒 Rich or 🖼 Image. Use Ctrl + Shift + V if you only want plain text.

What if I forget the trigger for a snippet?

Press your .XPANDER shortcut (default: Ctrl + Alt + X) when no trigger is typed. The Floating Snippet Search Palette opens centered on your active screen. Type any words from the trigger or replacement text, preview image thumbnails on hover, and press Enter to insert.

What is the difference between Immediate Mode and Hotkey Mode?

Immediate Mode expands a trigger the instant you finish typing its characters (ideal for distinct prefixes like .sig or .cal). Hotkey Mode waits until you type the trigger AND press your .XPANDER shortcut (default: Ctrl + Alt + X)—ideal for short common words you only want to expand intentionally.

Why did .XPANDER warn me about Buffer Size when saving a snippet?

.XPANDER keeps only the last 2 to 10 characters you typed in its ring buffer (default: 7). If you create an Immediate Mode trigger that is 9 characters long while your buffer is set to 7, .XPANDER prompts you to increase the buffer to 9 so the trigger can match—or offers to shrink the buffer if your longest trigger is shorter.

Troubleshooting & Windows Integration

Why does .XPANDER not expand text inside an Administrator / elevated window?

Windows User Account Control (UAC) User Interface Privilege Isolation (UIPI) prevents standard-user processes from injecting simulated keystrokes into elevated Administrator windows (such as an elevated PowerShell or Task Manager). If you frequently type into elevated apps, launch .XPANDER as Administrator ("Run as administrator").

What if another hotkey or macro utility conflicts with .XPANDER?

.XPANDER uses a standard Windows low-level keyboard hook (WH_KEYBOARD_LL). If multiple tools (such as PowerToys Keyboard Manager, AutoHotkey, or gaming macro suites) intercept keystrokes simultaneously, hook chaining delays can occur. Temporarily exit competing utilities to isolate any shortcut conflict.

Where are my settings and snippets stored on disk?

In Installed Mode, they default to %APPDATA%\aiVOLUTION\dotXPANDER\config.toml (plus the blobs/ subfolder), or your custom cloud-synced folder configured in Settings → General. In Portable Mode, config.toml and blobs/ live directly alongside dotxpander.exe.

What happens if Windows Explorer restarts or crashes?

.XPANDER includes an automatic Win32 tray watchdog that probes Shell_NotifyIconW and seamlessly re-registers the .XPANDER system tray icon from embedded PE resources if explorer.exe restarts.

Support Encryption

VERIFIED DISTRIBUTION · GITHUB RELEASES · WINGET · MS STORE v0.3.24

Windows 10 (1809+) & Windows 11 · No Admin/UAC Required

Download & Install .XPANDER

Choose your preferred deployment channel. Every binary is compiled natively for both x86_64 (Intel/AMD) and ARM64 (Qualcomm Snapdragon / Surface) and verified with SHA-256 checksums.

RECOMMENDED · NO ADMIN / UAC REQUIRED ✓ SHA-256 Verified

Per-User Setup Wizard

Installs cleanly to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\aiVOLUTION\dotXPANDER without requiring Administrator elevation. Includes a custom cloud-sync folder wizard, optional Windows sign-in autostart, automatic running-instance upgrade detection, and downgrade protection.

Download Setup (x64)

dotXPANDER-x64-Setup.exe · Intel & AMD CPUs 6.38 MB

Download Setup (ARM64)

dotXPANDER-arm64-Setup.exe · Snapdragon & Surface Copilot+ 6.29 MB

View full release notes & assets on GitHub ↗

WINDOWS PACKAGE MANAGER

One-Line Terminal Installation

Winget automatically detects your CPU architecture and installs the matching native binary. To explicitly force the native ARM64 build on Snapdragon laptops, append the --architecture arm64 flag.

Standard installation (auto-detects x64 / ARM64):

winget install aiVOLUTION.dotXPANDER

Explicitly target native ARM64:

winget install --id aiVOLUTION.dotXPANDER --architecture arm64

Direct package identifier: aiVOLUTION.dotXPANDER. Ideal for developers, repeatable workstation setups, and automated provisioning scripts.

ZERO-REGISTRY PORTABLE & ENTERPRISE MDM

Portable ZIP Archive & Silent Deployment

Extract anywhere (including a USB drive or local tools folder). When launched without an installer registry key, .XPANDER automatically runs in Portable Mode, storing config.toml and blobs/ directly alongside dotxpander.exe with zero registry writes.

Download Portable ZIP (x64) dotXPANDER-x64-v0.3.24.zip Download Portable ZIP (ARM64) dotXPANDER-arm64-v0.3.24.zip

Enterprise / Silent Inno Setup Flags (MDM, Intune, Group Policy):

# Fully silent per-user install (no UI, no UAC prompt)
dotXPANDER-x64-Setup.exe /VERYSILENT /NORESTART /ALLUSERS=0

# Silent uninstall
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\aiVOLUTION\dotXPANDER\unins000.exe" /VERYSILENT /NORESTART

Note: /ALLUSERS=0 installs per-user to %LOCALAPPDATA% with zero UAC prompts.

🔒 Verify SHA-256 Cryptographic Checksums (checksums.txt)

Every GitHub Release automatically publishes SHA-256 hashes generated in CI. Verify your download in PowerShell with: Get-FileHash .\dotXPANDER-x64-Setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256

Asset Filename	SHA-256 Hash
dotXPANDER-arm64-v0.3.24.zip	ae88321d9c0cddf1bc92c2f3e4cd34df9ab3b3a93a81780c20fce678f00c36a6
dotXPANDER-x64-v0.3.24.zip	fd469796aa8378d2655558b9610f48f253fd120cf74e8a546d0de7874440c543
dotXPANDER-arm64-Setup.exe	8ac8629da3b763b7e8a1d82baae1a891504c9328cb7bb828b4797d8586acf8fe
dotXPANDER-arm64.exe	844ce831f4ce45f29012fd6dbc11d6cfac6c500caf1ff6a2da420697c1e16bc0
dotXPANDER-x64-Setup.exe	faf06d1e70684ffcf90ba4df80c853c5b75ae20475e033fb22ec922143170a97
dotXPANDER-x64.exe	9b0216c7652b9a78b4c0ee55ce847230a2efe802cbb95a2280e6d12dfc83cf64

Open raw checksums.txt on GitHub Releases ↗