If you don't want abbreviations and shortcuts to trigger templates or autocorrects, you can disable Keystroke Detection.

To toggle keystroke detection

1.Right-click on the Tray Icon and click on Detect Typing.
 
or

2.In the PhraseExpander main window status bar, click on the Detect typing button .

NOTE: when Detect Typing is not active, you can still trigger a template by clicking on the Run Template button.