Unlearn Spelling

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Level 4

2,949 points

Unlearn Spelling

I mistakenly added a word to my Mac's dictionary (running Sierra). Because I was playing around, it wasn't added with the 'Learn Spelling' menu command - I added it directly to ~Library/Spelling/LocalDictionary. That worked, insofar as TextEdit and Pages recognized it as correctly spelled (and it's an utter nonsense word that was previously indicated as misspelled). I tried to unlearn it from TextEdit, but the option wasn't provided in the dropdown menu. I tried manually removing it from the dictionary, but it was still accepted as a correct spelling with no option to unlearn. This has survived a restart of my system. Is there any way to tell the Mac that this word isn't correctly spelled?

Thanks

srb

Mac mini, macOS Sierra (10.12.5)

Posted on Jun 19, 2017 9:52 AM

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Answer 1

Steven Blunk Author

Level 4

2,949 points

Jun 19, 2017 5:43 PM in response to John Galt

Restart your Mac in "Safe Mode" and determine if the contextual menu appears while running in that mode. Then, restart normally.

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support

Nope; the contextual menu did not include Unlearn Spelling.

I think I'm just going to give up on the idea of transferring my Office user dictionary to the Mac's native facility and move on from here. Luckily, xlm isn't a misspelling I'm likely to make.

Thanks for helping me.

srb

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

156,056 points

Jun 19, 2017 2:28 PM in response to Steven Blunk

To unlearn spelling, select the word, then control-click (or two finger tap) > Unlearn Spelling.

Excerpted from macOS Sierra: Check spelling and grammar:

Add words to the spelling dictionary: Control-click a word, then choose Learn Spelling. The word won’t be flagged as misspelled in any document. To have the word flagged as misspelled again, Control-click it in a document, then choose Unlearn Spelling.

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Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

156,056 points

Jun 19, 2017 3:38 PM in response to Steven Blunk

I was wondering if that was what you were describing. It may have been a consequence of manually adding words to the LocalDictionary file, without using the Learn Spelling menu. In that case I suggest dragging the contents of ~/Library/Spelling to the Desktop. A new LocalDictionary file will be generated next time you add a word to it. Try that.

If it works, edit its contents to include the words in the LocalDictionary file you dragged to the Desktop.

If it doesn't work, you can always restore the contents of ~/Library/Spelling and you will be no worse off than you were before.

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Answer 4

Steven Blunk Author

Level 4

2,949 points

Jun 19, 2017 4:01 PM in response to John Galt

In that case I suggest dragging the contents of ~/Library/Spelling to the Desktop. A new LocalDictionary file will be generated next time you add a word to it. Try that.

Did that. Added a new word (using Learn Spelling). The old word is still accepted as correct and Unlearn Spelling doesn't appear in the dropdown menu.

If it doesn't work, you can always restore the contents of ~/Library/Spelling and you will be no worse off than you were before.

I don't know why I hadn't tried this before, but I restored LocalDictionary with Time Machine. The version that's in my Library now predates today's experiment - by a lot (it has an October 2015 date). When I type the "word" (xlm) into TextEdit (or, now, Safari) it's accepted as correct. The dropdown menu after selecting it, etc. doesn't offer the choice to Unlearn Spelling.

Thanks

srb

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Answer 5

Steven Blunk Author

Level 4

2,949 points

Jun 19, 2017 4:42 PM in response to John Galt

John Galt wrote:

Try restoring the entire contents of ~/Library/Spelling, not just the LocalDictionary file. There are three files in addition to it on the Mac I am using at the moment.

I had three .DAT files as well as LocalDictionary. I restored all of them from a Time Machine backup from last night. It didn't work; sorry.

\Thanks

srb

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Answer 6

Steven Blunk Author

Level 4

2,949 points

Jun 20, 2017 11:25 AM in response to John Galt

John, I have absolutely no idea what this is about. I appreciate your efforts to try to solve this, but at this point I'd suggest just dropping it. It appears to be insoluble, and I just need to remember not to edit LocalDictionary directly.

srb

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Answer 7

John Galt

Level 10

156,056 points

Jun 20, 2017 11:39 AM in response to Steven Blunk

I appreciate your efforts as well Steven. I question whether editing the LocalDictionary was a factor at all, because I've done the same thing with no ill effect.

At this point, if I had to guess, something is preventing the contextual menu choice from appearing. What that is remains a mystery.

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Answer 8

John Galt

Level 10

156,056 points

Jun 20, 2017 11:02 AM in response to Steven Blunk

Please let me know if that works. I'll continue to find a solution.

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Answer 9

John Galt

Level 10

156,056 points

Jun 19, 2017 4:46 PM in response to Steven Blunk

Restart your Mac in "Safe Mode" and determine if the contextual menu appears while running in that mode. Then, restart normally.

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 10

Steven Blunk Author

Level 4

2,949 points

Jun 19, 2017 3:21 PM in response to John Galt

I'm sorry, John, I probably wasn't clear enough. When I two-finger tap or CTRL-CLICK the word, Unlearn Spelling does not appear in the dropdown menu.

Thanks

srb

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Answer 11

John Galt

Level 10

156,056 points

Jun 19, 2017 4:29 PM in response to Steven Blunk

Try restoring the entire contents of ~/Library/Spelling, not just the LocalDictionary file. There are three files in addition to it on the Mac I am using at the moment.

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