How to Stop Autocorrect From Changing Your Words
Autocorrect is helpful until it changes a name, a technical term, or a word in another language into something you never meant. You do not have to live with it: a few keyboard settings put you back in control.
Follow these steps
- Turn off auto-correction, or just the parts that annoy you. On iPhone, go to Settings, then General, then Keyboard, and switch off Auto-Correction. You can also switch off Auto-Capitalization and Check Spelling separately if those are the real annoyance. On Android, open Settings, then System, then Keyboard, then your keyboard app, then Text correction, and switch off Auto-correction.
- Keep predictive text if you like suggestions but not changes. Predictive text suggests words above the keyboard without changing what you type, while auto-correction changes words on its own. If you like the suggestions, leave predictive text on and only switch off auto-correction. You get the help without the surprises.
- Add text replacements for words it keeps getting wrong. On iPhone, go to Settings, then General, then Keyboard, then Text Replacement, and add the correct word with a shortcut. On Android, look for Personal dictionary in your keyboard settings and add the word there. Once added, the keyboard stops correcting that word.
- Teach it names and terms you use often. When the keyboard suggests a wrong correction, tap the word you actually typed to reject it, or add it to the dictionary when your keyboard offers that option. Repeating this a few times teaches the keyboard your vocabulary, including names and specialist terms.
- Reset the dictionary if it has learned bad habits. If the keyboard keeps suggesting the same wrong words, reset what it has learned. On iPhone, go to Settings, then General, then Transfer or Reset iPhone, then Reset, then Reset Keyboard Dictionary. On Android, clear the keyboard app's learned data in its settings or reinstall the keyboard app. You will need to re-teach it your words afterwards, but the bad habits go with it.
What NOT to do
- Do not switch off the keyboard entirely or install an unknown keyboard app to escape autocorrect. The built-in setting solves it.
- Do not reset the dictionary as your first step. Add the problem words first, and reset only if the bad suggestions persist.
- Do not ignore a keyboard that changes passwords or addresses. Turn auto-correction off for sensitive typing and check every field before submitting.
If autocorrect still changes a particular word after you added it to the dictionary, check that you added the exact spelling, including capital letters. One corrected word at a time is how the keyboard learns your way of writing.