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How to add new words to the iPhone autocorrect dictionary
In This Article
If your iPhone keeps annoyingly over-correcting your text input, here’s how to solve the problem by adding new words to your dictionary.
Let’s say you’re sending your friend a text using an abbreviation or slang term. It might seem normal enough to you, but if your iPhone’s dictionary doesn’t recognise the word, then it might replace your friendly jargon with an official word that often doesn’t have the same meaning. This is frustrating, but fortunately you can change this state of affairs by adding a new word to the iPhone dictionary; this article explains how, in just a few simple steps.
What you’ll need:
The Short Version
How to add new words to the iPhone autocorrect dictionary: Step-by-step
Step1
Open the Settings app
To start with, tap on your phone’s Settings app. This is the one with a mechanical cog as its icon.
Step2
Scroll down to General
In the Settings menu, scroll down to ‘General’ and tap on it
Step3
Tap on Keyboard
Now tap on the option reading ‘Keyboard’
Step4
Select Text Replacement
In the Keyboard menu, tap on ‘Text Replacement’
Step5
Tap the + symbol at the top right
Now tap on the + symbol that’s at the top-right corner of the screen
Step6
Enter your word
Type your new word, and save it by tapping the ‘Save’ button at the top right
Step7
Your new word is now in your iPhone’s dictionary
Once it’s been saved, your new word is in the dictionary and will no longer be auto-corrected to something else when typing on your iPhone
Troubleshooting
The most frequent reason would be that you use a slang word or an idiosyncratic spelling which is not recognised by the dictionary and is auto-corrected to something else. This is a way to get round that problem.
We used an iPhone 13, running iOS 16.
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Peter is a mobile tech writer, covering the latest smartphones, tablets, and wearables in news stories, reviews, and features. Previously he worked as a business researcher for Which?, analysing the m…
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
