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Disable Auto-Correction and Auto-Capitalization System-Wide on macOS

Turn off spelling autocorrect, auto-capitalization and double-space-to-period via NSGlobalDomain defaults keys.

macOSmacosdefaultskeyboardMedium risk
Run `defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool false && defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticCapitalizationEnabled -bool false && defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticPeriodSubstitutionEnabled -bool false`.

01Command

Command
$ defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool false && defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticCapitalizationEnabled -bool false && defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticPeriodSubstitutionEnabled -bool false

02What it does

These NSAutomatic* keys are the same settings behind System Settings > Keyboard > Text Input; writing them to the global domain changes the default for every app that honors them, including apps where you could never find the per-app checkbox. Apps read the value at launch, so restart the ones you are typing in. This is a favorite tweak for developers whose code and URLs get 'corrected' into nonsense.

03Risk

RiskMedium risk

04Undo

Undo
$ defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool true && defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticCapitalizationEnabled -bool true && defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticPeriodSubstitutionEnabled -bool true

05Sources

  • macOS defaults - read, write and delete macOS user defaults
    SS64 · technical · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: Documents `defaults write NSGlobalDomain key -bool value` for boolean global preference keys, the mechanism used by apps that read NSAutomatic* flags.
  • macOS setup dotfiles (.macos)
    mathiasbynens/dotfiles (GitHub) · community · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: Contains 'defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool false' and adjacent NSAutomaticCapitalizationEnabled / NSAutomaticPeriodSubstitutionEnabled / NSAutomaticDashSubstitutionEnabled lines to disable smart text features globally.

Last verified: 2026-09-19 · Category: System & Settings

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