Wish you could tell auto-correction to leave a word alone, once and for all? You can: Find out here how to exclude a word from autocorrect on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
First, Might Be the Pinkie Finger’s Whisking
Red, sometimes a pale red, sunny yellow, healthy orange or an unfortunate green maybe, if it rained more than the sun shone. Who would argue, though, that tomatoes are pink?
Anybody who has ever made tomato sauce, of course.
The current best guess seems to be the tomatoes’ red pigments breaking down with the help of oxygen that you whisk into a tomato purée unwittingly as you stir and blend. So, to have the tomatoes’ burgundy red untampered, stir very gently; to have it auto-correct to pink, whisk away!
Speaking of preserving wordy colors and colorful words—
How to Exclude a Word from Autocorrect on iPhone and iPad
Time needed: 2 minutes
To exclude a word from iPhone autocorrect and not have it touched when you type it:
- Open the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad.
- Go to General.
- Now select Keyboard.
- Open Text Replacement.
- Tap + on top.
- Type the word you do not want iPhone autocorrect to touch under Phrase.
- Tap Save.
Empty “Shortcut”: Do leave Shortcut empty.
Explicit shortcut: You can also enter the word again under Shortcut.
From now on, type the word without having autocorrect meddle with it on iPhone and iPad.
Exclude everything: How to Turn Off Auto-Correction on iPhone
Exclude a Word from Autocorrect on a Mac
To put a word on the list of autocorrect exclusions on a Mac using macOS:
- Open System Settings (or System Preferences) on the Mac.
- Go to the Keyboard category.
- Click Text Replacement….
macOS Monterey 12 and earlier: Go to the Text tab instead. - Now click +.
- Write the word to be excluded from automatic corrections under Replace.
- Enter the word again under With.
- Click Add.
Monterey and earlier: Press Enter instead.
- Close System Settings (or Preferences).
How to Exclude a Word from Autocorrect: FAQ
Can I exclude entire phrases from auto-correction?
Yes.
You can set up an empty text replacement for an entire phrase, idiom or alphanumeric string as well as for individual words.
Will the exclusion synchronize to other devices?
Yes.
The text replacement protecting the word from autocorrection automatically synchronizes to other devices and computers connected to the same iCloud account.
(How to exclude a word from autocorrected on iPhone and Mac tested with iOS 16–17 and macOS Somona 14.3 and Ventura 13.3; first published June 2023, last updated August 2024)