How do I turn off autocorrect on Android?

It depends on your keyboard. On Gboard (most Pixel and Motorola phones), open the keyboard, tap the settings gear, then Text correction, and turn off Auto-correction. On a Samsung phone, go to Settings → General management → Samsung Keyboard settings and turn off Auto replace. Your typing stays exactly as you type it.

Steps to check

1. Find out which keyboard you use

   Samsung phones come with the Samsung Keyboard. Pixel and Motorola phones come with Gboard, Google's keyboard. If you installed a different keyboard yourself, its settings will look different, but most have a similar autocorrect switch.

2. Turn off Auto-correction in Gboard

   Open any app you can type in and tap a text box so the keyboard appears. In the top row of the keyboard, tap the settings gear. If you don't see it, tap the features menu (four small squares), then Settings (you may need to tap More first). You can also touch and hold the comma key and slide to the gear. Tap Text correction, then turn off Auto-correction. Gboard will stop changing words as you type.

   • Motorola You can also go to Settings → System → Languages & input → On-screen keyboard → Gboard → Text correction.

3. Turn off Auto replace on a Samsung Keyboard

   On the Samsung Keyboard, autocorrect is called Auto replace. Samsung says it completes or replaces the word you are typing with the one it thinks is most likely, shown highlighted in the bar above the keys.

   • Samsung Settings → General management → Samsung Keyboard settings → Auto replace, then turn the switch off. Or tap the Settings gear on the keyboard itself. On older models it may be under Settings → Language and input → On-screen keyboard → Samsung Keyboard → Smart typing.

4. Optional: hide the word suggestions too

   Turning off autocorrect still leaves suggested words above the keys. That is often handy, since you can tap one when you want it. If you would rather not see them, in Gboard's Text correction turn off Show suggestion strip. On Samsung, turn off Predictive text in Samsung Keyboard settings.

5. Or keep autocorrect and teach it your words

   If autocorrect mostly helps but keeps changing a name or a word you use often, you can fix just that. In Gboard, right after it changes a word, tap Backspace to undo the change. To keep a word, tap it when it is underlined in red, then tap Add to dictionary. To stop a word being suggested, touch and hold it in the suggestions, then drag it to the trash. On Samsung, touch and hold a suggested word and tap Remove.

6. Start fresh if it learned bad habits

   Keyboards learn from what you type, including mistakes. On Samsung, go to Samsung Keyboard settings → Reset to default settings → Erase personalized predictions. This clears learned words but keeps your other settings. If your keyboard disappears or won't open at all, see fixing a keyboard that won't show.

Normal vs. not

Common questions

Will turning off autocorrect turn off spell check?

Not always. Misspelled words can still be underlined in red so you can fix them yourself. On Samsung, that is a separate setting called Auto spell check.

Can I turn autocorrect back on later?

Yes. Go back to the same setting (Auto-correction in Gboard, Auto replace on Samsung) and turn it on again. Nothing is lost.

Why does autocorrect change a real word into a different word?

It guesses the most likely word for the sentence, and sometimes guesses wrong. Removing that suggestion, or turning autocorrect off, stops it.

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