How to Disable the Google Docs ‘Dictionary’ Hover Popup

The Distracting Definitions

Google Docs includes a helpful “Dictionary” feature. When you are reading or editing a document and you double-click a word to select it, or simply leave your mouse cursor hovering over a complex word for a few seconds, Google Docs may automatically display a small popup window showing the dictionary definition, synonyms, or translation of that word.

While this is great for students learning new vocabulary, it is incredibly distracting for fast typists, editors, or anyone simply trying to highlight a paragraph. If the screen is constantly cluttering with unwanted definition popups every time you pause your mouse, it breaks your concentration and obscures the text you are trying to read. You can turn off this hover behavior.

How to Disable Dictionary Popups

You can stop the automatic dictionary definitions by adjusting your viewing preferences.

1. Open your web browser and navigate to any open document in Google Docs.
2. At the top of the screen, click on the Tools menu.
3. Click on Preferences at the bottom of the dropdown list.
4. A popup window will appear with two tabs: “General” and “Substitutions.” Make sure you are on the General tab.
5. Look down the list of checkboxes for the option labelled Show dictionary on hover (or “Show dictionary definitions”).
6. Uncheck this box.
7. Click the blue OK button to save your changes.

Google Docs will no longer interrupt your reading or editing with unsolicited definitions. If you ever genuinely need to know the meaning of a word, you can still manually highlight it, right-click, and select “Define” from the context menu.