The software keyboard on your Apple iPad is incredibly intelligent. As you type emails, messages, and notes, the operating system’s predictive text engine constantly learns your vocabulary. If you frequently type slang, unique company names, or unusual abbreviations, the iPad adds these words to its hidden internal dictionary so it stops autocorrecting them. However, over time, this dictionary can become polluted. If you have accidentally saved a few embarrassing typos, and your iPad keeps aggressively “autocorrecting” perfectly spelled words into those typos, the fastest way to fix the problem is to wipe the keyboard history clean.
What Happens When You Reset the Dictionary?
Resetting the keyboard dictionary does not delete your passwords, your saved text replacements (shortcuts), or any of your personal files. It strictly erases the list of custom words the predictive text engine has learned from your typing habits over the months or years. After a reset, the iPad will revert to its factory-default, standard dictionary.
How to Clear Your Keyboard History on iPadOS
You can execute a dictionary wipe directly from the main Settings app in just a few seconds.
- Unlock your iPad and open the Settings app from the Home Screen.
- Look at the left-hand navigation menu and tap on General.
- Scroll down to the very bottom of the right-hand panel and tap on Transfer or Reset iPad.
- At the bottom of the screen, tap the Reset button (do not tap “Erase All Content and Settings”).
- A small menu will pop up with several targeted reset options. Tap on Reset Keyboard Dictionary.
- For security purposes, the iPad will immediately prompt you to enter your device passcode (the same PIN you use to unlock the screen). Type it in.
- A final red confirmation warning will appear at the bottom of the screen, advising you that this action will delete all custom words you have typed. Tap Reset Dictionary to finalize the wipe.
The process is instantaneous. The next time you open an app and begin typing, your iPad’s predictive text will behave exactly as it did the day you took it out of the box. You will need to “teach” it your unique names and slang words all over again by forcing it to accept them a few times.