Autocorrect is meant to save you from typos, but when it keeps rewriting names, slang or technical terms it can do more harm than good. Switching it off is quick on any modern phone, though the exact menu depends on whether you are on an iPhone, an Android phone, or using a downloaded keyboard. Below are the accurate paths for each.
Turn off autocorrect on iPhone
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap General.
- Tap Keyboard.
- Find Auto-Correction and tap the toggle so it turns grey (off).
That stops the iPhone automatically replacing words as you type. You will notice two related switches on the same screen. Check Spelling is what draws the red dotted underline beneath words it thinks are misspelled; turn it off too if the underlines bother you. Predictive (or the predictive bar) suggests words above the keyboard without forcing them in, so you can leave that on for gentle help without the automatic rewrites.
The change applies everywhere you type on the iPhone, from Messages to email to third-party apps that use the standard Apple keyboard. There is no need to restart the phone; the new behaviour takes effect immediately.
Turn off autocorrect on Android (Gboard)
Most Android phones ship with Google’s Gboard keyboard, though Samsung and a few other brands use their own. The wording varies slightly between manufacturers and Android versions, but the Gboard route is the most common:
- Open Settings, then go to System > Keyboard (on some phones this is under General management > Keyboard list and default).
- Choose On-screen keyboard, then tap Gboard.
- Tap Text correction.
- Scroll to the Corrections section and turn off Auto-correction. You can also turn off Show suggestion strip and Next-word suggestions if you want a completely plain keyboard.
There is a faster shortcut if you are already typing. Press and hold the comma key on the Gboard keyboard, then drag up to the small gear or settings icon that appears. That opens Gboard’s preferences directly, so you can jump to Text correction without digging through the system menus.
Samsung Keyboard
If your Samsung phone uses the built-in Samsung Keyboard rather than Gboard, open Settings > General management > Samsung Keyboard settings, then look for Predictive text or Auto replace and switch it off. Samsung labels the automatic rewriting as Auto replace, so that is the toggle to target.
Third-party keyboards
If you have installed a keyboard such as SwiftKey, the system autocorrect switch no longer controls your typing, because the downloaded app handles corrections itself. Open that keyboard’s own app from your app list and look inside its typing or correction settings. In SwiftKey, for example, the relevant options sit under Typing. The principle is the same on any keyboard app: the toggle lives with the keyboard that is actually doing the correcting, not in the phone’s main settings.
Keep autocorrect but teach it your words
Turning the feature off completely is not always the best fix. If autocorrect only trips over a handful of names, brands or slang terms, you can leave it on and simply add those words to your personal dictionary so they stop being flagged.
- On iPhone: go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement, tap the plus sign, and enter the word in the Phrase field. Once saved, it will no longer be corrected.
- On Android (Gboard): open Gboard settings > Dictionary > Personal dictionary, choose your language, and add the word with the plus sign.
This middle path keeps the safety net for genuine typos while stopping the frustrating repeat corrections on the words you use most.
Why your menu might look different
Apple and Google both reshuffle their settings between releases, and Android phones from different makers rename menus freely. If the exact labels above do not match your screen, the reliable trick is to open your keyboard or keyboard settings and search for the words Auto-Correction or Text correction. The toggle will be nearby whatever the surrounding menu is called.
Does turning it off remove spell-check too?
Not automatically. Autocorrect changes words for you; spell-check only marks them. On iPhone they are separate switches, so turning off Auto-Correction leaves the red underlines until you also turn off Check Spelling. On Gboard the spell-check option sits in the same Text correction menu, so you can decide independently whether you want the underlines to stay.
What else lives in the same menu
While you are in the keyboard settings, it is worth knowing what the neighbouring switches do, because people often blame autocorrect for behaviour that actually comes from another feature. On iPhone, the Keyboard screen also controls Auto-Capitalization, which puts a capital letter at the start of sentences, and the double-space shortcut that inserts a full stop. If your phone keeps capitalising words or adding stray periods after you turn off Auto-Correction, those separate toggles are the cause. On Gboard the Text correction menu similarly holds auto-capitalisation, automatic spacing after punctuation, and double-space for a period. Turning each off individually lets you build exactly the typing experience you want rather than disabling everything and losing the parts you liked.
If corrections come back after an update
Operating-system updates occasionally reset keyboard preferences, or a new feature switches itself on by default. If you notice autocorrect has returned after updating your phone, simply walk back through the steps above and confirm the toggle is off. On iPhone you can also reset the keyboard dictionary from Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Keyboard Dictionary if autocorrect has learned a wrong spelling and keeps suggesting it; this clears the words the keyboard has picked up from you without touching your other settings. After a reset the keyboard starts learning again from scratch, so give it a little time to adapt to how you type.
Does this change autocorrect on your computer too?
No. The settings above only affect the phone you change them on. Autocorrect on a Mac, a Windows PC or an iPad is controlled separately, so if the same wrong corrections bother you while typing on a computer you will need to adjust it there as well. On a Mac the switch is in System Settings > Keyboard > Text Input > Edit, and on an iPad it mirrors the iPhone under Settings > General > Keyboard. If you use the same account across devices, turning the feature off on one does not carry over to the others.
In short
For the standard keyboards it is one toggle: Settings > General > Keyboard > Auto-Correction on iPhone, and Text correction > Auto-correction in Gboard on Android. Downloaded keyboards keep the switch in their own app, and each device is set separately. And if full-on silence is too much, adding your problem words to the dictionary often solves the annoyance without giving up the help entirely.
