Autocorrect is the feature that changes words as you type — and you can turn it off entirely or just for specific apps
Autocorrect on iPhone automatically replaces words it thinks you misspelled with what it believes you meant to type. You can disable it completely in Settings, turn it back on for just some apps, or use a middle-ground approach where you keep autocorrect but disable the automatic acceptance of suggestions. Most people find one of these three paths solves the problem without losing the feature entirely.
The steps differ slightly depending on whether you want to disable autocorrect system-wide (across all apps) or just in the Messages app, Mail, or Notes — the places where most people notice it. We'll cover both.
Key Takeaways
- You can turn off autocorrect completely by opening Settings, tapping Keyboard, and toggling off "Auto-Correction".
- If you only want to disable it in one app like Messages or Mail, you may need to turn it off in that app's own settings rather than system-wide.
- Turning off autocorrect also removes the red underline that marks misspelled words, so you lose both features together.
- You can keep autocorrect but prevent it from automatically accepting suggestions by disabling "Predictive" in the same Keyboard settings menu.
Disable autocorrect system-wide in Settings
Open the Settings app on your home screen. Scroll down and tap Keyboard — it appears in the list alongside Mail, Messages, and other app settings, not at the very top.
Look for the toggle next to Auto-Correction. It will be green and switched to the right if autocorrect is currently on. Tap it once to turn it off. The toggle will turn gray and move to the left. This disables autocorrect across your entire phone — in Messages, Mail, Notes, Safari, and any other app that uses the system keyboard.
You can return to this same screen anytime to turn autocorrect back on by tapping the toggle again. The change takes effect when ready; you do not need to restart your phone.
Turn off autocorrect in a single app instead
If you only want to disable autocorrect in Messages or Mail but keep it everywhere else, check that app's own settings first. Open Settings, scroll down, and tap the name of the app — Messages or Mail.
Look for a Keyboard or Typing section within that app's settings. Not all apps have their own autocorrect toggle, so you may not find one. If the app does not have its own setting, disabling autocorrect system-wide is your only option — you cannot turn it off for just that app without affecting the whole phone.
Some third-party apps like Gmail or Slack have their own keyboard settings buried deeper in their menus. If you use one of these apps frequently, open it and look under Settings or Preferences for a Typing or Keyboard section.
Keep autocorrect but stop it from automatically accepting suggestions
If autocorrect itself is not the problem — if you like that it catches real typos — but you hate that it changes words without asking, you can keep autocorrect on and disable Predictive instead. This removes the suggestion bar that appears above your keyboard and stops autocorrect from automatically replacing words you did not ask it to replace.
Go to Settings > Keyboard and look for the toggle next to Predictive. Turn it off. You will still see the red underline under misspelled words, and autocorrect will still catch obvious typos, but it will not silently change words as you type. You keep more control over what gets corrected.
What happens when you turn autocorrect off
When you disable autocorrect, you also lose the red underline that marks words your phone does not recognize. This means misspelled words will no longer be flagged visually, and you will not see a list of suggested corrections when you tap a red-underlined word. The two features are linked and cannot be separated.
Turning off autocorrect does not affect spell-check in Mail or other apps that have their own spell-checking systems separate from the keyboard. Those continue to work independently.
Re-enable autocorrect if you change your mind
Return to Settings > Keyboard and tap the toggle next to Auto-Correction to turn it back on. The toggle will turn green again. If you disabled Predictive as well and want suggestions back, toggle Predictive on in the same menu.
Your phone will remember any custom words or corrections you taught it before you turned autocorrect off, so you do not lose that learning when you turn the feature back on.
Why autocorrect sometimes feels wrong
Autocorrect learns from words you type repeatedly and from the dictionary built into your phone's language. If you use slang, technical terms, or names that are not in Apple's standard dictionary, autocorrect will keep trying to "correct" them to real words. The more you type a word and reject the correction, the more your phone learns it — but this learning is slow.
If a word keeps getting autocorrected and you want to keep it, you can add it to your phone's dictionary. When you see the suggestion appear, tap the word you typed (not the suggestion) to reject it. After rejecting the same word several times, your phone will stop suggesting a correction for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does turning off autocorrect affect Siri or voice typing?
No. Autocorrect in Settings controls only the text keyboard. Voice typing and Siri have their own speech-to-text systems that work independently. Turning off keyboard autocorrect will not change how Siri or voice typing behaves.
Can I turn off autocorrect just for one contact or conversation?
No. Autocorrect is a system-wide or app-wide setting; you cannot disable it for a single conversation or contact. You can only turn it off across all of Messages or across your entire phone.
Why does autocorrect sometimes change words I did not misspell?
Autocorrect uses a dictionary and learns from your typing patterns. If a word is not in its dictionary or if you have not typed it often enough for your phone to recognize it as intentional, autocorrect may treat it as a typo. Adding words to your dictionary by rejecting corrections repeatedly helps train your phone.
If I turn off autocorrect, will my typing get slower?
Not noticeably. Without autocorrect, you type at your normal speed but must catch and fix your own typos manually. Some people find this slower; others find it faster because they are not fighting unwanted corrections.
Does autocorrect work the same way on iPad?
Yes. The steps are identical on iPad. Open Settings, tap Keyboard, and toggle Auto-Correction off. iPad uses the same autocorrect system as iPhone.