Outlook AutoCorrect: Enable and disable Outlook AutoCorrect options
IONOS editorial team6 mins
Outlook’s AutoCorrect is a helpful tool that automatically corrects typos and inserts useful formatting suggestions. Sometimes this can be annoying, for example, when AutoCorrect doesn’t recognize words or spellings and incorrectly modifies them. Another weakness of the function is the spontaneous addition of unwanted lists and hyperlinks, which you will need to remove manually.
In this article, we’ll show you how to activate and deactivate Outlook AutoCorrect and adapt its options to more optimally suit your needs on Windows and macOS devices.
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Outlook correct functions: AutoCorrect and AutoFormat
Outlook’s automatic correction options have two main functions: correcting typos and adjusting the text format.
AutoCorrect adjusts misspelled words and typos, for example, replacing “woring” with “working”. Using Outlook AutoCorrect, you can also convert character strings to symbols and special characters, for example (c) to © or (r) to ®. The function further simplifies the use of smileys and emojis in Outlook emails.
AutoFormat automatically adds text formatting. When you enter the URL of a website, for example, the function adds the appropriate link. If you start a list with “1.”, the list will be continued “2.” When you click enter to start the next line.
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Deactivate Outlook AutoCorrect: here’s why it’s useful
Outlook AutoCorrect isn’t always helpful or desirable. For example, when you use abbreviations that end with a period, you’ll need to correct automatic capitalization initiated by AutoCorrect. You may also find the automatic addition of hyperlinks to website addresses to be disruptive.
AutoCorrect can be a nuisance when writing in a different language because the function automatically converts a foreign language into English. Often, you may not even be aware that AutoCorrect corrected the text in an email. Prepare to be embarrassed because it’s difficult to retrieve sent Outlook emails.
The good news is that Outlook AutoCorrect can be disabled at any time or customized to suit your needs.
Once you turn off AutoCorrect, you don’t need to worry about email typos. The Outlook spellcheck scans your texts for errors during or after you’ve written them.
Enable, disable, and customize Outlook AutoCorrect on Windows devices
Outlook AutoCorrect options in Windows are extensive and can be fully customized to suit your needs. For one, you can add new rules to AutoCorrect. Follow our step-by-step instructions to enable and disable Outlook AutoCorrect on Windows and adjust individual settings.
The following instructions apply to Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, and Outlook for Microsoft 365.
Step 1: Click “Home” in the Outlook menu bar to launch the quick menu for accessing general information and options.
Step 2: Select “Options” from the “Account Information” window.
Step 3: In Options, switch to the “Mail” section and select “Spelling and AutoCorrect”.
Step 4: If it doesn’t automatically launch, select “Proofing” from the Editor Option and tick the “Check spelling as you type” box.
Step 5: Outlook AutoCorrect options will now launch in a new window. Here, you can activate or deactivate options by checking the box or removing a checkmark.
Below the “AutoCorrect” tab you can, for example, adjust whether you want to start new sentences or table rows using uppercase letters. A list of strings and misspellings of common words autocorrected by Outlook can be viewed in this section. You can add words and common misspellings to the list. To do this, simply add your own entries in the “Replace” and “With” section.
Step 6: If you click on “Exceptions” in “AutoCorrect”, you can define individual rules for exceptions from automatic corrections. Here, you’ll also find a long list of abbreviations that are not capitalized, and which can be amended as required. Since Microsoft Outlook uses the Microsoft Word settings and dictionaries, the Outlook options are similar to those in AutoCorrect and Spellchecker in Word.
Step 7: Tend to use a lot of mathematical formulas in your emails? You’ll be able to adjust the Math AutoCorrect tab options which include a long list of character combinations and arithmetic symbols that you can activate for AutoCorrect.
Step 8: Enable and disable desired options for auto-formatting from the “AutoFormat as you type” and “AutoFormat” tabs. You could, for example, enable insertion of fractions and internet links, auto-bullets and numbering, and specify how quotation marks should be formatted.
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Enable, disable, and customize Outlook AutoCorrect on macOS devices
Outlook AutoCorrect on macOS devices can be toggled on or off and customized in a few simple steps. Find out how Mac users can customize Outlook AutoCorrect below.
Step 1: Click on “Outlook” in the Outlook menu bar and select “Preferences...”.
Step 2: Click on “Auto-correct” in the Outlook Preferences.
Step 3: You now have two options: “Auto-correct” and “Auto-format”. With “Auto-correct”, you can specify whether Outlook should automatically correct typos and errors of symbol entries such as capitalization of letters following a full stop. You can add commands to the Outlook AutoCorrect list by clicking the plus sign (+) and making a new entry.
Step 4: Select “Exceptions ...” to view which abbreviations should not be followed by automatic capitalization. Add further exceptions as required.
Step 5: When you click on “Auto-format”, you can view automatic formatting options that can be customized in Outlook. Active and deactivate them as you wish, for example, by adding automatic numbered lists, inserting hyperlinks or formatting quotation marks.
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