How to Change or Turn Off Autocorrect on iPhone

Apr 24, 2026

iPhone autocorrect is one of those features that everyone has an opinion about. When it works, you barely notice it. When it does not, it turns a perfectly clear message into something embarrassing. The good news is that you have more control over it than most people realise — and if the built-in options are not enough, there are better alternatives.

How to Access iPhone Autocorrect Settings

All autocorrect settings live in the same place on your iPhone.

1. Open Settings
2. Tap General
3. Tap Keyboard

Here you will find the main autocorrect controls:

• Auto-Correction — turns autocorrect on or off entirely
• Auto-Capitalisation — automatically capitalises the first word of a sentence
• Check Spelling — underlines potentially misspelled words in red
• Predictive Text — shows word suggestions above the keyboard as you type
• Smart Punctuation — converts straight quotes and hyphens to typographic equivalents

Each of these can be toggled independently, so you can mix and match to find the combination that works best for how you type.

How to Turn Autocorrect Off Completely

If autocorrect causes more problems than it solves, you can disable it entirely by toggling Auto-Correction to off. Your typing will be uninterrupted, but you will also lose all corrections, so typos will stay exactly as you typed them.

For most people, this is not the right answer. Autocorrect catches genuine errors more often than it creates them — the memorable failures stick in the mind, but the constant quiet corrections go unnoticed.

How to Add Words Autocorrect Keeps Changing

One of the most common frustrations is autocorrect changing a name, technical term, or word it does not recognise. The fix is to add it to your personal dictionary.

1. Open Settings
2. Tap General → Keyboard → Text Replacement
3. Tap the + button in the top right
4. Leave the Shortcut field empty and type the word in the Phrase field
5. Save

Once a word is in your text replacement list, iOS will stop changing it. This works for names, industry-specific terms, or any word that autocorrect consistently gets wrong.

How to Reset the Autocorrect Dictionary

If autocorrect has learned bad habits over time — perhaps you confirmed a wrong correction and now it keeps suggesting the wrong word — you can reset the entire learned dictionary.

1. Open Settings
2. Tap General → Transfer or Reset iPhone
3. Tap Reset → Reset Keyboard Dictionary

This removes everything iOS has learned from your typing and starts fresh. It will not delete any of your text replacement shortcuts.

When Autocorrect Settings Are Not Enough

These settings give you control over how autocorrect behaves — but they do not change what autocorrect is capable of. And what it is capable of has a hard ceiling.

Apple’s autocorrect is a prediction engine. It looks at what you have typed and suggests what word probably comes next. It catches straightforward spelling errors. It does not:

• Correct grammatical mistakes
• Improve unclear or ambiguous phrasing
• Adjust your tone to match the context
• Translate your message
• Help you sound more professional

For casual messages, that is fine. For professional communication — emails, client messages, business replies — the gap becomes significant.

A Smarter Alternative: Replacing the Keyboard Entirely

iOS allows you to set a third-party keyboard as your default, replacing Apple’s keyboard across every app. If what you need is not just fewer typos but genuinely better writing, this is where the real improvement happens.

Omera is an AI keyboard for iPhone that goes beyond autocorrect. Write your message as you normally would. Tap once. Omera corrects grammar, improves phrasing, adjusts your tone, and can translate into other languages — all without leaving the app you are using.

How to set Omera as your default keyboard after downloading:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap General → Keyboard → Keyboards
3. Tap Add New Keyboard
4. Select Omera
5. Tap the keyboard you just added, then enable Allow Full Access

Once set, Omera is available in every app on your phone. The AI features are one tap away whenever you need them.

The Bottom Line

Tweaking autocorrect settings is worth doing — there are genuine improvements to be made, especially by adding words that keep getting changed and adjusting the settings that match how you type.

But if you write professionally on your iPhone and want a real upgrade rather than minor adjustments, the right move is to replace the keyboard with something that actively makes your writing better.

Download Omera free on the App Store and set it as your default keyboard today.