iPhone Autocorrect: Fix Overzealous Corrections and Add Custom Words

Autocorrect on iPhone is designed to catch spelling mistakes as you type. Most of the time it works well — but it also has a reputation for changing words you typed correctly into something you did not mean, or stubbornly refusing to accept names, technical terms, or slang that you use regularly.

The good news is that iPhone gives you several ways to take back control.

Undoing a wrong autocorrect immediately

When autocorrect changes a word and you want the original back, tap the corrected word. A small bubble will appear showing the word you actually typed — tap it to switch back. If you miss this window, you can also shake your iPhone gently to undo the last change.

Teaching iPhone to accept a word

If autocorrect keeps changing a specific word, you can add it to your personal dictionary using Text Replacement. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. Tap the "+" button. In the "Phrase" field, type the exact word you want — for example, a name like "Grayson" or a word like "gonna." Leave the "Shortcut" field empty. Now the keyboard will recognize it as a legitimate word.

Turning off autocorrect for specific apps

Some apps let you turn off autocorrect inside them. In apps that use the standard iOS keyboard, you can turn off autocorrect by going to Settings > General > Keyboard and toggling off "Auto-Correction." Note that this turns it off everywhere — not for one specific app.

Predictive text and autocorrect are separate

The bar above the keyboard showing word suggestions is "Predictive text" — a different feature from autocorrect. You can turn it off separately in Settings > General > Keyboard > Predictive Text.

Quick Tip: If you reset your keyboard dictionary (Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Keyboard Dictionary), the iPhone forgets all the words it learned from your typing. This can fix repeated wrong autocorrections, but you will have to re-train it.