Pauhana658

Q: How to turn off auto-correct

Living overseas can be fun and exciting — except when auto-correct insists on "correcting" all of your overseas friends' names. Is there any way to turn off auto-correct in El Capitan? I tried turning off the "Correct spelling automatically" checkbox in preferences, but I'm still getting suggestions and, if I'm not watching carefully, automatic corrections.

 

Any way to globally turn this feature off in El Capitan?

 

Thanks!

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Apr 24, 2016 3:00 AM

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Q: How to turn off auto-correct

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Esquared,Helpful

    Esquared Esquared Apr 24, 2016 3:44 AM in response to Pauhana658
    Level 6 (8,518 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 24, 2016 3:44 AM in response to Pauhana658

    Various apps have an auto-correct setting too. E.g. Mail has one in Preferences -> New.

  • by Pauhana658,

    Pauhana658 Pauhana658 Apr 24, 2016 3:42 AM in response to Esquared
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 24, 2016 3:42 AM in response to Esquared

    Yes, I tried looking in Numbers (the app I'm using to create a list of First Names, Last Names, Student IDs for import into TeacherKit) for a preference that might control auto correct, but couldn't see one. Is there such a beast in Numbers?

  • by pinkstones,

    pinkstones pinkstones Apr 24, 2016 3:50 AM in response to Pauhana658
    Level 5 (4,209 points)
    Safari
    Apr 24, 2016 3:50 AM in response to Pauhana658

    Instead of turning off auto-correct, you can tell OS X to learn the spellings of words that it thinks are misspelled so you'll no longer get the auto-correct box.  To do so, type the word they way you want it to be spelled.  I'll use my friend Thyra's name as an example.  Highlight the word and select "Learn spelling."

     

    Screen Shot 2016-04-24 at 6.47.57 AM.png

     

    After this, Safari (and other OS X applications) will no longer suggest other spellings of the word.  Since you're just dealing with auto-correct on people's names, not huge chunks of your vocabulary, this would be the easier route to take.  Just type them all out, click the "x" to dismiss the auto-correct box, then go through and do the above.  You won't get bothered about it again. 

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Apr 24, 2016 3:57 AM in response to Pauhana658
    Level 5 (6,652 points)
    Mac App Store
    Apr 24, 2016 3:57 AM in response to Pauhana658

    Pauhana658 wrote:

     

    Yes, I tried looking in Numbers (the app I'm using to create a list of First Names, Last Names, Student IDs for import into TeacherKit) for a preference that might control auto correct, but couldn't see one. Is there such a beast in Numbers?

    Under the Numbers Edit Menu, Spelling and Grammar - Uncheck "Check Spelling While Typing"

  • by cmarkn,

    cmarkn cmarkn Sep 26, 2016 3:30 PM in response to Pauhana658
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 26, 2016 3:30 PM in response to Pauhana658

    Per-application

    This setting can be done on a per-application basis. To do this, you will need to find the “Spelling and Grammar” settings in the program, which in most cases are a submenu in the Edit menu. In this menu, you should see options for correcting spelling while you type, and automatically correcting spelling and grammar errors. A check will appear next to the options in this menu that are enabled, so just select the desired menu options to toggle this check.

    Uncheck this option to disable autocorrect system-wide (click for larger view).

    System-wide

    The spell-checking service in OS X can be adjusted system-wide. Just go to the Keyboard system preferences, and then click the “Text” tab. In here, you will see the settings for text substitutions, next to which you will see a checkbox for “Correct spelling automatically.” Unchecking this will disable auto-correct system-wide.

    Regardless of how you approach disabling autocorrect, when done, instead of the system changing your typed words, it will underline them in red to indicate a potential problem. You can then right-click the word to get a list of suggestions from Apple’s built-in dictionary, but can also choose options to learn or ignore the word.

    https://www.macissues.com/2014/03/29/turn-off-auto-correct-in-os-x/