How to Turn Off Autocorrect on an Android

Lee Stanton April 12, 2022

Although autocorrect was envisioned as a useful feature, many people would say it’s quite the opposite. Almost everyone has a funny (or not so funny) autocorrect story where the option made a conversation much more complicated or awkward. No matter how advanced, no algorithm can predict what you’re thinking at a given moment. For this reason, many people want autocorrect gone.

If you want to learn how to turn off autocorrect on an Android, you’ve come to the right place. This article will show you how to do it in a few simple steps.

How to Turn Off Autocorrect on an Android

Autocorrect forces its suggestions and changes your text without asking. While this can be helpful in some situations, it usually makes suggestions that aren’t even close to what you were trying to say. So, instead of helping you type out a text faster, autocorrect makes your job harder. Fortunately, it’s easy to turn it off on your Android.

Since many phone brands use the Android operating system, not all Android keyboards and settings are the same. We’ll discuss the steps for the default Android menu and Samsung Galaxy. The differences between the two are minor, so even if you have a different menu, you’ll be able to find the right settings by following these steps.

Here’s how to turn off autocorrect on an Android phone with a default menu:

Open your menu and go to “Settings.”
Scroll down and choose “System.”
Tap “Language & input.”
Press “Virtual keyboard.”
Select your keyboard. Since Gboard is the default keyboard on most Android devices, you’ll likely need to select that.
Tap “Text correction.”
Scroll down and switch the toggle button next to “Auto-correction.”

Now you’ve deactivated the autocorrect option on your Android phone. Keep in mind that by turning off this option, you’re also disabling predictive text.

If you have a Samsung phone, turning off autocorrect looks slightly different:

Launch your menu and open the settings.
Scroll down and select “General management.”
Tap “Language and input.”
Choose “On-screen keyboard.”
Press “Samsung Keyboard” or another keyboard you’re using.
Select “Smart typing.”
Switch the toggle button next to “Predictive text.”

You can also try this way:

Open a messaging app of your choice to launch the keyboard.
Press the gear icon to access settings.
Choose “Smart typing.”
Turn off “Predictive text.”

How to Delete Learned Words on an Android

Your keyboard is trained to remember the words you often use to give you the best experience and adapt to your writing style. Although this can be very convenient and time-saving, the keyboard can sometimes remember misspelled words and correct your texts.

Before you give up on autocorrect, try to delete your keyboard’s learned words and start fresh. You may be surprised by how much more efficient autocorrect will be. Here’s how to delete learned words on your Android device:

Open the menu and tap “Settings.”
Press “System.”
Select “Language & input.”
Choose “Virtual keyboard” and select the keyboard you’re using. In most cases, it’s Gboard.
Tap “Dictionary.”
Select “Personal dictionary.”
Press “All languages” if you want to review all learned words. You can also select a specific language.
Tap and hold the word you want to remove and press the trash can icon at the top-right corner.

Tip: This is where you can add words to your keyboard’s vocabulary. If you’re often typing out certain words, you can save yourself time by adding them here.

If you don’t want to end up with a library of misspelled and strange words, you can be proactive and remove a suggestion while typing. Whenever your keyboard suggests a word, tap and hold it and press “Remove suggestion.”

Troubleshooting

Many users complain that their phones still alter words even when they’ve turned off autocorrect. Several factors can cause this, so if you want to turn off autocorrect successfully, here’s what you can try:

Ensure It’s the Right Keyboard

Many people have numerous keyboards installed on their Android devices. If you’re often switching between keyboards, you may have forgotten to turn off autocorrect for that specific keyboard. Remember, if you don’t want autocorrect at all, you need to turn it off for every keyboard you have installed.

Restart Your Phone

Your phone may be experiencing a temporary glitch. In that case, it may have ignored your command to turn off autocorrect. Before restarting your phone, review the keyboard settings one more time to ensure the toggle button is switched off. If it is, press and hold the power button to restart your phone.

Update the App

Built-in keyboard apps should update on their own. But, if you’re using a third-party keyboard app, you may need to update it manually. Using outdated keyboards can cause glitches and malfunctions.

Here’s how to update your keyboard app:

Go to the Play Store and search the app’s name. If you don’t know the app’s name, press your initial or profile picture at the top-right corner, press “Manage apps & device,” and go to “Manage.”
Once you’ve found the app in question, press “Update.”

Update Your Device

If you’re using a built-in keyboard app, you may experience unusual issues if your system isn’t updated. One of those issues could be the inability to disable autocorrect or other keyboard malfunctions. Here’s how to update your Android device:

Launch your menu and go to settings.
Scroll down and select “Software update.”
Press “Download and install.” If there are updates available, you’ll see them here.

Install Another App

If you’ve tried everything and you still can’t turn off autocorrect, try installing a different keyboard app. Popular choices are Gboard and SwiftKey.

Don’t Let Autocorrect Change Your Words

Most autocorrect fails are funny and cute. But, when you’re writing a work email, you don’t want autocorrect to twist your words and write something inappropriate or illogical. For this reason, many Android users decide to turn off their autocorrect. Although it may take longer to type some words, it’s a minimal effort from your side, especially compared to the potential damage the wrong words can cause.

We hope this article explained everything about turning off autocorrect on your Android device and that you’re now typing error-free.

Do you use autocorrect or spelling checkers in different programs? Do you find them efficient? Tell us in the comments section below.