How to turn off autocorrect on Mac

macOS autocorrect is useful when you're dashing off an email, but it quietly rewrites the things you type with intention: variable names, command-line flags, product names, URLs, and words that aren't in the system dictionary. Here's how to turn it off — globally, or just for specific apps.

Why autocorrect causes real problems

Autocorrect operates on the fly inside most native text fields. It makes a judgment call the moment you press Space, Return, or a punctuation key — and it doesn't ask first. That leads to a few recurring headaches:

• Code and shell commands. A class name like parseURL becomes ParseURL. A flag like --no-verify loses its hyphen. By the time you notice, the error message is cryptic.
• Proper nouns and brand names. macOS doesn't know your client's company name, your colleague's unusual spelling, or niche technical terms. It replaces them with the nearest dictionary word.
• Terminal and text editors. Even though Xcode and some third-party editors disable system autocorrect internally, Notes, TextEdit, Messages, Mail, and any app that uses a standard NSTextField will all autocorrect unless you tell macOS to stop.
• Passwords and usernames. If you type a password into an unmasked field, autocorrect can silently alter it before it's submitted.

Turn it off in System Settings (macOS 13 Ventura and later)

This is the most reliable method for most people. The setting lives a few levels deep in Keyboard preferences:

1. Open System Settings (Apple menu → System Settings).
2. Click Keyboard in the sidebar.
3. Next to "Text Input", click Edit…
4. In the panel that opens, uncheck "Correct spelling automatically".
5. Click Done.

The change takes effect immediately in most apps without a restart. A few older or sandboxed apps may need to be quit and reopened.

On macOS 12 Monterey and earlier the path is System Preferences → Keyboard → Text, and the checkbox is in the same list without the Edit button.

Turn it off with a Terminal command

If you prefer the command line — or you're scripting a fresh Mac setup — one defaults write handles it:

# disable autocorrect system-wide
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool false

Log out and log back in, or at minimum quit and reopen the app you're working in. Some apps read this preference only at launch.

To re-enable autocorrect:

# turn autocorrect back on
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool true

Or delete the key entirely to return to the macOS default (which is on):

# remove the override and restore macOS default
defaults delete NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled

How to re-enable autocorrect

Reverse either method above. In System Settings, go back to Keyboard → Text Input → Edit and check "Correct spelling automatically" again. On the command line, run the -bool true command shown above and relaunch the relevant app.

Per-app exceptions

You don't have to go all-or-nothing. A handful of apps let you override the global setting just for that context:

• Xcode disables autocorrect on its own in code editors. You don't need to change anything system-wide for Xcode.
• VS Code, Nova, and most Electron apps handle their own text input and ignore the macOS autocorrect preference entirely.
• Pages and Word each have their own autocorrect settings in their Preferences menus, so they can be tuned independently.
• Notes and Mail respect the global macOS setting — if you turn it off there, it's off in those apps too.

If you write code and prose in roughly equal amounts, the cleaner approach is to disable the macOS global setting and re-enable autocorrect only inside your writing app (Pages, Word) through that app's own preferences.

What about spell-check underlines?

Autocorrect and spell-check are separate switches. Disabling "Correct spelling automatically" stops macOS from rewriting what you type, but red underlines under unrecognised words stay on until you also uncheck "Check spelling while typing" in the same Keyboard → Text Input → Edit panel. Most people find the underlines useful even without the correction — so leave that one alone unless the red lines bother you too.