Delete misspelled words from user dictionary in macOS
I have a misspelled word - initiaitializatyion - on my MacBook running macOS Mojave 10.14.5. I have checked all the following files for its existence:
/Users/me/Library/Spelling/LocalDictionary/Applications/me/Library/Spelling/LocalDictionary/Users/me/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Custom Dictionary.txt
but couldn't find it.
If I right-click on this word in Slack, TextEdit, etc. I do not get the Unlearn spelling option that many websites I've looked up have suggested. However, I do have Microsoft Word for Mac (16.26), and in that app the word is recognized as being misspelled.
Where can I find this word and remove it from my dictionary? And remove any other words which may be in that dictionary, as there may be other misspelled words in it?
Microsoft Office Word adds all changes to its own Speelling and Grammer database.
For apps that are using the built-in macOS dictionary you can simply remove it like this:
- Open Textedit
- Paste initiaitializatyion
- Select initiaitializatyion
- Hold down Command (CMD/Rightclick) and select Unlearn Spelling
If you do not get the Unlearn spelling option, 'initiaitializatyion' has not been added (learn option) to the Spelling Dictionary.
Open finder and search for your misspelled word. If the custom dictionary is stored in a text file, it will come up. Open the file in TextEdit, remove the word, and save.
Using this technique I discovered that Slack has a custom dictionary in addition to using the OS dictionary.
~/Library/Application Support/Slack/Custom Dictionary.txt