Misspellings have become harder and harder over the last twenty years. Not only have our apps gotten smarter, but our spelling dictionaries have gotten larger too. In many cases, they encompass common words from other languages too, so you can slip in a common Spanish or Japanese word into your text message or email without a glitch. Where this can be most helpful is with names; seems like we’re encountering a lot more unusual spellings for people’s names than were around fifty years ago. Having those names flagged as misspelled every time you use them can be tedious, so it’s a perfect use for your personal dictionary.
What’s great is that every operating system has some sort of built-in spell checking capability too, you don’t need to be on the latest version of Android to customize your text input experience. Of course, the way Android flags your misspellings can be quite subtle, so many people just ignore it in their zeal to communicate quickly and effectively. But why not use these tools to help your prose, whether it’s a comment you’re adding on social media or an SMS text message you’re poised to share?
HOW TO ADD A WORD TO THE ANDROID DICTIONARY
To start out, I’ll utilize my Google Pixel running Android 13 to send a quick text message to my mate Harry Potter. You know, the guy who graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…
The red underline indicates that the word hasn’t been found in the spelling dictionary. It’s flagged both “Garetth” and “Quiddich” as being incorrectly spelled. Indeed it’s “Gareth” with a single T, but we’ll come back to that. For now, let’s fix Quiddich. That’s easily done by tapping on the word:
Android offers three suggested correct spellings, along with a tiny book and “+” button to add this misspelling to the dictionary. Harry’s a fairly particular chap, so it’s better to fix the spelling by adding the missing ‘t’. Easily done by tapping on the suggested word “Quidditch”.
Notice that the red underline has turned black to denote that the word’s been replaced. Garetth, however, remains flagged as a misspelling. I’ll again tap on the misspelled word…
There are, again, suggested spellings, along with that “add to dictionary” button. My rather noisy friends insist that Gareth does spell his name with two ‘t’s as a sort of hipster variant, so I’ll add it to my dictionary. A tap on the book and “+” icon and…
Again, the underline turns black and, presumably, this text message is ready to send. Except my friends were messing with me: Gareth does not, in fact, prefer a hipster double-t spelling. Now, however, it won’t be flagged as a misspelling because I just added it to my dictionary. No worries, it’s fixable…
DELETE WORDS FROM YOUR PERSONAL ANDROID DICTIONARY
There’s no convenient shortcut to reach your personal dictionary in Android, so it’s time to crack open the “Settings” app. Search for “dictionary”:
“Gboard” is the name for the app that lets you type in information on your Android device, if you haven’t bumped into that before. Tap on “Personal dictionary” to proceed.
Tap again on “Personal dictionary”.
If you have more than one language installed on your device, you might need to choose the specific language, but odds are good that “All languages” will show you all the words you’ve added to your personal dictionary. When I do, here’s what I see:
It’s a pretty bare-bones display, no question. This isn’t an area that people spend a lot of time tweaking in Android, so it’s functional enough for the task. Tap on the word in the dictionary and there’s a bit more shown:
You can create shortcuts if you want – common misspellings that should be corrected to the word in question – or you can delete the entry by tapping on the trashcan icon on the top right. A tap and it vanishes. Dictionary entry removed, and you’re back to square one!
Now, back to planning our Quidditch practice…
Power Tip: I’ve been writing about Android for many years and have an extensive Android help library here. Please check it out while you’re visiting. Thanks!
