How to Manage Your Google Docs Personal Dictionary: Adding and Removing Words

How to Manage Your Google Docs Personal Dictionary: Adding and Removing Words

Adding Words to Your Personal Dictionary

Google Docs offers two ways to add words to your personal dictionary: using a shortcut for flagged words or manually through the personal dictionary settings. Any words you add will be available across all your existing and future Google Docs.

Adding a Word with a Shortcut

When Google Docs detects a word it thinks is misspelled, it highlights it with a red squiggly line. To add the word to your dictionary:

1. Click on the underlined word.
2. In the pop-up box, review any suggestions (if available).
3. Click the three dots (…) and select Add to Dictionary.

This instantly saves the word to your personal dictionary, preventing it from being flagged again.

Alternatively, right-click the word and choose “Add to Dictionary.”

Manually Adding Words

You can also add words manually by opening your personal dictionary:

1. Go to Tools > Spelling and Grammar, then select Personal Dictionary from the pop-out menu.
2. Type the word into the text box at the top.
3. Click Add to include it in your dictionary.
4. When finished, click OK to save your changes.

The words you’ve added will appear in the list at the bottom of the window, allowing you to review or manage them later.

Removing Words from Your Personal Dictionary

To view or delete words from your personal dictionary:

1. Open the menu and go to Tools > Spelling and Grammar > Personal Dictionary.
2. Locate the word you want to remove in the list.
3. Click the trash can icon next to the word to delete it. Note: Google Docs does not ask for confirmation before removing the word.
4. Click OK to save changes.

If you delete a word, it may be flagged as a misspelling again in your documents.