How To Delete Word Prediction On Iphone

How to Delete a Word iPhone Has Learned

By Randall Blackburn

i Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images

If you have misspelled a word so many times that now your iPhone attempts to auto-correct the correctly spelled version to the "learned" word each time you type it, you are probably searching for a way to delete the misspelling from your dictionary. Unlike Android devices, the iPhone lacks the option to delete just one word from your auto-correct dictionary. You must reset the entire dictionary to delete misspelled words. You can, however, add individual words and phrases to the dictionary as word "shortcuts." These word shortcuts are simply words or phrases that you manually add to your dictionary.

Reset Dictionary

Step 1

Tap the "Settings" icon in the iPhone home screen to launch the Settings app.

Step 2

Tap the "General" option, and then tap "Reset" to open the Reset Settings screen.

Step 3

Tap the "Reset Keyboard Dictionary" option. The Reset Dictionary dialog box displays.

Step 4

Tap the red "Reset Dictionary" option. All "learned" words are deleted from the dictionary.

Add Word/Phrase Shortcut

Step 1

Tap the "Settings" icon in the iPhone home screen to launch the Settings app.

Step 2

Tap the "General" option, and then tap the "Keyboard" option to open the Keyboard Settings screen.

Step 3

Tap the "Add New Shortcut..." option at the bottom of the Keyboard Settings screen. The Add New Shortcut screen displays.

Step 4

Type the word or phrase to add in the Phrase field. Type a description, if desired, in the Shortcut field.

Step 5

Tap the "Save" option to save the word or phrase.

Step 6

Exit the Settings app. The changes are now in effect.

References

Tips

Close the "Settings" app by pressing the "Home" key to minimize running apps, and then double-tapping the "Home" key to launch the multi-tasking bar. Tap the red "-" on the Settings icon to close the running Settings app.
Shortcuts you have added can be deleted without resetting the entire dictionary.
When a misspelled word is added to your dictionary, the misspelled word does not replace the correct spelling. However, if you consistently misspell the same word, and the word is added to your dictionary, the misspelled word will become the word most frequently suggested by the dictionary rather than the correctly spelled word.

Warnings

Information provided in this article applies to the iPhone 5 running iOS 6.0 and higher. Instructions may vary for other versions of iOS or models of the iPhone.

Writer Bio

Randall Blackburn has worked for several Fortune 1000 companies as a technical writer over the past seven years. He has produced a wide variety of technical documentation, including detailed programming specifications and research papers. Randall has also acquired several years' experience writing web content. Randall lives and works in Austin, TX.