The Aggressive Editor
Google Docs features an Autocorrect system designed to fix common typos on the fly. If you accidentally type “teh,” Docs will instantly and automatically replace it with “the” the moment you press the spacebar. While this saves time for standard writing, it can be infuriating if you are writing highly technical documentation containing obscure commands, phonetic spellings in a creative writing piece, or brand names that intentionally use non-standard spelling. In these scenarios, the automatic correction silently alters your text, forcing you to constantly hit Ctrl+Z to undo its “helpful” edits.
Disabling Automatic Spelling Correction
To ensure your text remains exactly as you type it and stop Google Docs from automatically correcting your spelling, you must disable the primary Autocorrect toggle within the application’s preferences.
Open the Google Docs document you are working on. Navigate to the top menu bar and click on Tools. From the drop-down menu, select Preferences. A dialogue box will appear in the center of the screen. Ensure you are looking at the General tab. Look down the list of checkbox options for the one labelled Automatically correct spelling. Click the checkbox to remove the checkmark. (Note: You can also selectively remove specific words from the “Substitutions” tab in this same window if you only want to stop it from correcting one particular acronym, rather than turning the whole system off). Click the blue OK button to save your changes. Docs will now leave your unique spellings entirely alone.