Turn off Spell Checking permanently

Question

Turn off Spell Checking permanently

I would like to turn off spell checking permanently. The red underlines disturbs me extremely much.

In Mail my setting for this seems to be accepted, but for other applications (eg Stickies and Text Editor), it turns back to default as soon as I restart the app. This is very annoying, and also very unlogical.

Is there a solution?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Sep 11, 2010 12:49 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

octothorpe

Level 1

29 points

Aug 11, 2012 3:20 PM in response to Andreas Carlsson

Here's a method which I think seems to work system-wide and kills red underlining, overriding the way many apps annoyingly default back to "Check Spelling While Typing".

1. Open "Language & Text" in System Preferences

2. Under the "Text" tab, select Spelling... (which is probably set to "Automatic" by default), and scroll down to the bottom where it says Set Up...

3. in the box that comes up, uncheck every language. It seems to require that at least ONE remain checked, though, so I just left "Polski" (Polish?) checked. I don't think it matters at all which one you leave check as long as the English ones are unchecked? Anyway, I left Polish checked and this all is working great.

4. Click Done to apply the settings, and that main Text tab, leave Spelling set to "Automatic by language"

Once you do this, from what I can tell you can type anywhere in any app, even with Check Spelling While Typing set to on, and the red underlines won't appear. This is working for me, anyhow. I can type some gibberish like "lkjsfdkljhf" and it will not be underlined. If I go back in and check those language boxes again, type the same gibberish, it will come up underlined in the same app.

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Answer 2

Jan 6, 2011 8:33 AM in response to Andreas Carlsson

Hello Andreas and everyone

I just succeeded in switching off the dreaded spell check red dots by following the advice provided here:

http://www.chromescreen.com/disable-spell-checker-in-mac-osx-system-wide/

It also explains how to switch the function on again should you want to for any reason. It also allows the Dictionary app to run without a hitch. Hope this helps you too.

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Answer 3

ADV3

Level 1

4 points

May 10, 2017 3:56 AM in response to Andreas Carlsson

Here is the CORRECT SOLUTION to permanently disable spell check in the STICKIES application...

First, make sure spell checking is disabled for the current note, using Edit » Spelling and Grammar » Check Spelling While Typing. Then, mark that note's settings as the default, using Note » Use as Default. (This will also set the note's color and font as the default.)

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Answer 4

baltwo

Level 9

62,374 points

Sep 11, 2010 12:55 PM in response to Andreas Carlsson

AFAIK, there's no global setting. Each app has its own settings. For TextEdit, you need to disable all check options and text replacement. Additionally, give Restore All Defaults a try. For Stickies, ensure all Spelling & Grammar and Substitutions are disabled.

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Answer 5

sig

Level 8

35,862 points

Sep 11, 2010 2:00 PM in response to Andreas Carlsson

"The red underlines disturbs me extremely much."

I guess your spelling leaves a lot to be desired. 🙂

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Answer 6

Sep 11, 2010 2:15 PM in response to sig

Wise-***. 😉

As you probably know there are a lot of words that no dictionary understand. Especially if you mix swedish and english in the same documents, and also mix a lot of programming language.

Eg, some words that are underlined in my Stickies now:
Textwrangler, annoying, default, Omnifocus, Omnifocus-inställningar (which means Omnifocus-preferences), hibernatemode, Flash, and so on...

All my life I've never had any problems with spelling and I don't think I need the computer to tell me when I'm wrong, when I know I'm not (I'm not that good with english grammar though, as you may notice).

Bottom line: If I want to turn off a preference on my computer, I want it to be turned off.

There is a solution from 2008, I was hoping that Apple had fixed this...
http://myrkur.de/thoughts/2008/09/25/disable-spell-checking-os-x/

/my $0.02

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Answer 7

baltwo

Level 9

62,374 points

Sep 11, 2010 2:41 PM in response to Andreas Carlsson

So there's a solution, but not from Apple. If you want to report this issue to Apple's engineering, send a bug report or an enhancement request via its Bug Reporter system. To do this, join the Mac Developer Program—it's free and available for all Mac users and gets you a look at some development software. Since you already have an Apple username/ID, use that. Once a member, go to Apple BugReporter and file your bug report or enhancement request. The nice thing with this procedure is that you get a response and a follow-up number; thus, starting a dialog with engineering.

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Answer 8

toys4t

Level 1

8 points

Dec 10, 2010 4:06 PM in response to Andreas Carlsson

I couldn't agree with you more. I have several passcode list - namely about 26 pages of passcodes and none of them are in the spelling dictionary; I hate all that red underlining & it too is driving me nuts!!! Is there a method to turn off spelling (auto) in PAGES '09???
If theres a way please advise.

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Answer 9

andylow

Level 1

5 points

Mar 28, 2011 7:54 AM in response to Andreas Carlsson

It is extremely annoying when snotty Apple enthusiasts retort with some asinine comment about needing to learn to spell whenever someone is going through the horrible process of figuring out how to disable spell checker with TextEdit.

People are not always using proper text in a text program. What if someone is pasting debug information? What if someone is pasting someone else's text? What if someone is drawing ascii art? What if someone is doing any one of a million other things that would make turning off spell checker desirable?

Grow up.

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Answer 10

CT

Level 7

24,113 points

Mar 28, 2011 7:58 AM in response to andylow

Dude. Relax.

To get rid of the red lines, usually all you have to do in a given app is to uncheck "Check Spelling While Typing" in the Edit-Spelling and Grammar menu.

charlie

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Answer 11

Apr 8, 2011 11:09 PM in response to CT

"Dude",

If if the setting would stick it wouldn't be an issue, but the problem is that the grammarpolice keep popping up, and it's persistence is intolerable. I've had to create a global keybind to toggle it, but I shouldn't have to. Nor should I have to resort to a hack like altering the contents of system level bundles to fix it.

What I don't get is why they removed the option to configure spell checking globally at all.
If they were unhappy with the way it was implemented, they ought to come up with a better solution rather than just removing the option.

Removal of functionality seems to have become the the way to fix design-issues lately, and the effect can be seen in an increasing number of applications.

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Answer 12

Rodre

Level 1

9 points

Nov 24, 2011 4:11 PM in response to Andreas Carlsson

I have the same requirement. I use Stickies quite a lot during my daily work tasks, I'm a software developer. I combine english, spanish, and technical stuff, so the text gets full of absolutely no necesary spelling suggestions. It's annoying that unchecking the "spelling and grammar" feature won't make it to an application restart, nor that there isn't a system wide set up option.

Best,

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Answer 13

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

118,322 points

Nov 24, 2011 4:45 PM in response to Rodre

This thread ended 7 months ago, and of course since then Lion has been released. Would upgrading solve your problem?

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Answer 14

tokiyu

Level 1

0 points

Feb 22, 2012 8:21 AM in response to Andreas Carlsson

To anyone saying that this is not a problem and that people should just learn to spell: OSX has a very limited selection of languages to spell check. My native language (Finnish) is not one of them and I use it to write 90% of all my text. Because of this OSX is constantly telling me to fix my spelling and there seems to be no easy way to switch this off permanently. Upgrading to Lion did not help.

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Answer 15

ljubinho

Level 1

0 points

Mar 8, 2012 3:13 PM in response to Andreas Carlsson

I think this should help you. Try it: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20091127084855131

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