Autocorrect changes words as you type — here's how to stop it

Autocorrect is the feature that automatically replaces the words you type with what your iPhone thinks you meant to write. When you type "teh," it becomes "the." When you type "helo," it becomes "hello." Most of the time this saves time. Sometimes it changes what you actually wanted to say into something embarrassing or wrong.

You can turn autocorrect off entirely, turn it off for specific apps, or keep it on but reject individual suggestions as you type. The method you choose depends on whether you want to disable it everywhere on your phone or just in certain situations.

Key Takeaways

  • Autocorrect lives in Settings under Keyboard, and you can turn it completely off in about 30 seconds.
  • When autocorrect is on, you can reject a suggestion by tapping the X that appears above the word, and your iPhone will learn not to change that word again.
  • Some apps like Notes and Mail have their own autocorrect settings separate from your main keyboard settings.
  • Turning autocorrect off means you will catch your own typos — it does not prevent you from making them.

Turn off autocorrect for your entire phone

Open the Settings app on your home screen. Scroll down and tap Keyboard. You will see a list of keyboard options. Find the toggle next to Auto-Correction and tap it once. The toggle will turn gray, which means autocorrect is now off.

From this moment forward, your iPhone will not automatically change words as you type, across all apps. You will see red underlines under words your phone does not recognize, but it will not fix them without you asking. If you change your mind later, come back to this same screen and tap the toggle again to turn autocorrect back on.

Reject autocorrect suggestions one at a time

If you want to keep autocorrect on but stop it from changing a specific word, you do not have to turn the whole feature off. When you type a word and autocorrect suggests a replacement, a gray box appears above your keyboard showing the suggestion. Tap the X on the right side of that box to reject it.

Your iPhone remembers that you rejected this word. The next time you type the same word, autocorrect will not change it. This method is useful if autocorrect usually helps you but occasionally makes mistakes with words you use often — like a name, a place, or slang you prefer to keep.

Turn off autocorrect in specific apps

Some apps do not use your keyboard settings and have their own autocorrect controls. Mail and Notes are the most common examples. To turn off autocorrect in Mail, open Settings, scroll down to Mail, tap it, then look for a Keyboard or Compose section. The exact location varies depending on your iPhone model and iOS version, so scroll through the Mail settings until you find autocorrect options.

For Notes, the process is similar: open Settings, find Notes, and look for keyboard or typing options. Not every app has its own autocorrect setting — many apps straightforward use whatever you set in your main keyboard settings. If you do not see an autocorrect option in an app's settings, that app is using your phone-wide setting.

Add words to your dictionary so autocorrect stops changing them

If you type a word regularly and autocorrect keeps changing it, you can teach your iPhone to recognize it. Open Settings, tap Keyboard, then tap Text Replacement. Tap the + button in the top right corner. In the Phrase field, type the word exactly as you want to write it. Leave the Shortcut field empty and tap Save.

Now when you type that word, autocorrect will recognize it and leave it alone. This method works well for names, technical terms, or words in other languages that your iPhone does not know. You can add as many words as you need, and you can delete them later by going back to Text Replacement, swiping left on the word, and tapping Delete.

Understand what happens when you turn autocorrect off

Turning off autocorrect does not make your iPhone stop checking your spelling. You will still see red underlines under words it does not recognize. What changes is that your phone will no longer fix those words without asking you first. You have to tap the underlined word and choose a correction from the menu that appears, or leave it as is.

This means you will catch more of your own typos because you have to look at them. Some people find this annoying. Others prefer it because they type faster and do not want their phone second-guessing them. There is no right answer — it depends on how you work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does autocorrect keep changing a word I use all the time?

Your iPhone does not have that word in its dictionary, so it assumes you are making a typo. The fastest fix is to reject the suggestion each time by tapping the X, or add the word to your dictionary through Text Replacement so your phone learns it.

Can I turn autocorrect off just when I am texting?

Not selectively — autocorrect is a keyboard setting that applies everywhere. However, you can reject suggestions one at a time in Messages the same way you do in other apps, by tapping the X above the suggestion.

Does turning off autocorrect affect spell check?

No. Spell check (the red underlines) stays on even when autocorrect is off. The difference is that autocorrect fixes words automatically, while spell check just marks them and lets you decide what to do.

What is the difference between autocorrect and predictive text?

Autocorrect changes words you have already typed. Predictive text suggests words as you type, appearing in a bar above your keyboard. You can turn off predictive text separately in Keyboard settings if you want to disable suggestions without disabling autocorrect.