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Autocorrect not working on Android: fixes for Gboard, Samsung Keyboard and SwiftKey

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Autocorrect on Android usually stops for one of four reasons. The switch got turned off or reset, the text box you're in forbids it, the keyboard is working from a damaged or cluttered dictionary, or a different keyboard or language is active than you think. Work through them in that order, cheapest first.

Lexo is my keyboard, and it gets one short section near the end. Thirty days free with everything unlocked, then $9.99 once. Get it on Google Play

Menu paths below are as the keyboard makers' own support pages describe them, read on 2026-10-04, and I link each page. Phone makers and Android versions rename things, so if a label differs on your phone, look for its nearest neighbour. I did not re-drive every menu on every phone, and where a vendor's page doesn't name a setting I say so instead of guessing.

Step 0: rule out the text box

Before you touch any settings, check whether anything is broken at all. An app can tell the keyboard not to correct a particular field. Android's developer documentation says it plainly: without the auto-correct flag on a field, "the IME will not try to correct typos," and developers should leave the flag off only when users are expected to type non-words, such as a character name in a game. The app decides per field, which is why correction can work in one app and be missing in another.

  1. Open a plain notes or messaging app and type a word you know you misspell, such as "teh".
  2. If it corrects there, your keyboard is fine and the field in the other app is the cause. No setting on your side changes that.
  3. If it doesn't correct there either, carry on.

Step 1: make sure the keyboard you think you're using is the one active

  1. With the keyboard open, check which one it is. On Gboard, touch and hold the globe key and pick Gboard, as Google describes.
  2. If Gboard has gone missing after an update, Google's fix is Settings > System > Keyboard > On-screen keyboard, then turn Gboard on.
  3. On a Samsung phone, set the default under Settings > General management > Keyboard list and default > Default keyboard, per Samsung.

Gboard

These steps follow Google's Fix problems with Gboard and Get word suggestions and fix mistakes pages.

  1. In any text field, touch and hold the comma key and slide to the gear to open Gboard settings. (Google's other route is the features menu at the top left of the keyboard, then More > Settings.)
  2. Tap Text correction. Google's pages list Smart Compose, Auto-capitalization and Show suggestion strip on this screen. They don't name an autocorrect switch, so I can't quote its label; look for the one about correcting words as you type.
  3. Turn on Show suggestion strip. Google says that's how you see predictive text and word suggestions.
  4. If a correction was wrong, tap Backspace straight away to undo it, and for a word you use that Gboard keeps marking, tap the red-underlined word and choose Add to dictionary.
  5. If it is correcting everything badly, clear what it learned: Gboard settings > Dictionary > Delete learned words, then enter the number it shows. This empties your saved words, so names and slang you taught it are gone.
  6. Cut the active languages to one or two. Google's advice for smoother typing is to stick to one or two.
  7. Still stuck? Settings > Apps > Gboard > Storage & cache > Clear cache. If that doesn't help, Clear storage resets Gboard to its default state.
  8. If it broke right after an update: Settings > Apps > Gboard > the three-dot menu at the top right > Uninstall updates.

Samsung Keyboard

Samsung's keyboard support page and its predictive text page (updated June 2026) describe the current One UI layout.

  1. Go to Settings > General management > Samsung Keyboard settings.
  2. Under Smart typing, turn on Predictive text and Auto replace. Samsung says Auto replace swaps the word you're typing for the likeliest one when you tap space or Enter.
  3. Check Suggest text corrections too. That is the grammar-and-phrasing pass, marked with green underlines, and Manage apps lets you choose which apps get it.
  4. Open More typing options for Auto capitalize and Auto spacing, in case it's capitalization or spacing you're missing rather than word correction.
  5. If it's still wrong, scroll to the bottom and tap Reset to default settings. Reset keyboard settings keeps your downloaded languages. Erase personalized predictions removes learned words. Clear cache clears the keyboard's cached data.

Microsoft SwiftKey

Microsoft's page on how the spacebar works with autocorrect is the source here.

  1. Open the SwiftKey app and tap Typing.
  2. Make sure the Auto-correct option is on. With it on, the spacebar completes the current word with the middle prediction.
  3. Check that Quick prediction insert isn't what you turned on instead. That makes the spacebar always insert the middle prediction, including next words, and it never enters a bare space.
  4. Don't expect the prediction bar to vanish when you switch autocorrect off. Microsoft says turning autocorrect off leaves the bar in place, and that it doesn't offer a way to hide the bar.
  5. To reset, Microsoft's troubleshooting page says go to Settings > Apps > Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard > Storage and clear cache and data. If you're signed in to a SwiftKey account, saved data comes back from it.

If it's one language that fails

Autocorrect needs a dictionary for the language you're typing. If you write in two languages and only one corrects, the other probably isn't enabled as a keyboard language. In Gboard that is Settings > Languages, and Samsung has its own Languages and types screen where you download languages. Add it, then try the notes-app test from Step 0 in that language.

Where Lexo fits

If you've done all this and would rather switch, Lexo (com.lexo.keyboard) is the keyboard I make. Its corrections come from a language model that runs on the phone, so they work with the network off once setup is done. The honest part is the price: autocorrect is part of the paid unlock. You get 30 days with everything on, then it's $9.99 once, no subscription and no ads. Without the unlock, after the trial, the keyboard still types but has no suggestion strip, autocorrect, glide typing or dictation. It also can't fix Step 0, because a field that forbids correction forbids it for every keyboard. How the pieces work is in the on-device language model writeup, and the privacy side is on the safety page.

Questions

Why does autocorrect work in one app and not another?

The app decides. Android lets each text field tell the keyboard whether to correct typos, and a field that leaves the flag off gets no correction from any keyboard. Run the notes-app test in Step 0 to confirm.

Will clearing storage delete my learned words?

Yes, on all three. Gboard's Clear storage resets it to its default state, Samsung's Erase personalized predictions removes learned words, and SwiftKey's clear cache and data wipes the app's data, though a signed-in SwiftKey account restores saved data.

Is turning off autocorrect the same as hiding the suggestions?

Not on SwiftKey, where Microsoft says switching autocorrect off leaves the prediction bar in place. Gboard lists a separate Show suggestion strip switch under Text correction.

Autocorrect broke after an update. What now?

On Gboard, check it is still enabled under Settings > System > Keyboard > On-screen keyboard, since Google says an update can drop it from the list, then try Uninstall updates under Settings > Apps > Gboard. Clearing the cache is the next step.

Lexo is the keyboard this section is about. Thirty days free, then $9.99 once, no subscription and no ads. Get it on Google Play

More: all the writeups, six Android keyboards compared, what each keyboard collects, offline dictation options, and fixing voice typing without internet.