Autocorrect can prevent embarrassing situations if you’re prone to frequent typos when texting your friends. It can also make things awkward by correcting names or changing the text to twist the meaning. You can deactivate autocorrect if it feels like an annoyance. This guide shows you how to turn off autocorrect on your favorite Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, or other Android phone. We also have tips for tweaking autocorrect features so that you can turn it back on for an improved typing experience.
How to turn autocorrect on or off
Most Android phones use Gboard by default. You can follow our instructions to turn autocorrect on or off on Google’s keyboard app. The steps to deactivate autocorrect may differ if you use a third-party app. However, the method is similar. Since the Samsung keyboard has different steps, we included detailed instructions on how to turn autocorrect on and off.
Turning off autocorrect on most Android phones
You’ll flip the toggle on or off to activate or deactivate autocorrect on Gboard from its Settings menu. The way you reach the keyboard settings depends on the phone. Here’s how to navigate to it from a Pixel phone:
- Open Settings.
- Tap System.
- Select Keyboard.
- Tap On-screen keyboard.
- Select Gboard.
Alternatively, navigate to the Gboard settings on any Android phone by opening the keyboard, holding the comma key, and tapping the settings icon.
Here’s how to turn autocorrect on or off after you reach Gboard’s settings:
- Tap Text correction.
- Scroll to the Corrections section.
- Turn off the Auto-correction toggle to deactivate it.
- Turn on the toggle to activate it.
Turning off autocorrect on Samsung phones
Samsung Galaxy phones come with the Samsung Keyboard by default, so turning off autocorrect is slightly different.
- Go to Settings.
- Tap General Management.
- Select Samsung Keyboard settings.
- Turn off the Predictive text toggle.
- Turn on the toggle to turn on autocorrect.
How to make autocorrect work better for you
Turning off autocorrect may not be the best option if you tend to make typos. But you may feel like deactivating it if autocorrect changes your text, resulting in misunderstandings or embarrassment. You can tweak your keyboard settings to refine the autocorrect feature and improve your typing experience. Although the following methods work with Gboard, similar solutions apply to other keyboard applications.
Undo autocorrect by pressing backspace
Autocorrect thinks you may have misspelled words if it finds unusual names or jargon. If you don’t want it to change the word, undo the correction by tapping the backspace key.
Here’s how to activate the feature:
- Open an app you can type with, like Gmail, Google Docs, or any messaging application.
- Open your keyboard.
- Press the comma key.
- Tap the settings icon.
- Select Text correction.
- Turn on Undo auto-correct on backspace.
Update your dictionary
Autocorrect doesn’t recognize obscure proper nouns, slang, and work-specific jargon. It gets annoying when you constantly press backspace to change the words it autocorrected. To make things easier, add words you often use to the dictionary.
- Open your keyboard on any app you can type with.
- Press the comma key.
- Select the settings icon.
- Tap Dictionary.
- Select Personal Dictionary.
- Choose the language.
- Tap the plus icon to add a new word.
Change your keyboard language
Using words from a language that isn’t the default forces autocorrect to change them to the nearest correct word. For instance, autocorrect changes bon appétit to bon appetite. If you regularly use some phrases from another language, add the keyboard. Autocorrect automatically recognizes the words.
- Open the keyboard.
- Press the comma key.
- Tap the settings icon.
- Select Languages.
- Tap Add keyboard.
- Choose a language.
- Tap Done.
To switch languages, tap the
globe key
on the keyboard.
Alternatives to using autocorrect
Use spell check if you deactivated autocorrect but want to ensure your texts are free of spelling mistakes. Voice typing is also feasible if you don’t want to use the on-screen keyboard.
How to turn on spell check
You can turn off autocorrect and activate spell check in the settings. It marks incorrectly spelled words with red underlines. You can also turn on grammar check, which underlines grammatical errors in blue.
- Open Gboard.
- Press the comma key.
- Tap the settings icon.
- Select Text correction.
- Turn on the Spell check toggle.
- You can also turn on the Grammar check toggle.
How to activate voice typing
You may be less likely to make errors while speaking instead of typing. You can use the voice typing feature on Gboard when you aren’t in a public space.
Here’s how to turn on voice typing:
- Open Gboard.
- Press the comma key.
- Tap the settings icon.
- Select Voice typing.
- Turn on the Use voice typing toggle.
- Tap the microphone icon at the top of the keyboard to use voice typing.
Reduce unwanted autocorrects on Android
Gboard makes texting easy with features like autocorrect, one-handed mode, and integrated Google Translate. You can use the tips in this guide to turn autocorrect off if it isn’t working for you.
If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, replace the default Samsung Keyboard with Gboard and set it as your primary keyboard. Although Gboard is one of the best Android keyboards, the Google Play Store has noteworthy competitors. Shake up your typing experience by exploring the top Android keyboard apps.
