How to Delete a Word iPhone Has Learned

By Randall Blackburn

Reset your iPhone auto-correct dictionary to delete learned words.
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.

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