Autocorrect Not Working on Mac: How to Fix It

If autocorrect is not working on your Mac, the most common cause is the setting being disabled in System Settings > Keyboard > Text Input > Edit. If it works in Apple Notes but not in Slack or VS Code, those apps are Electron-based and block macOS autocorrect entirely. Charm fixes both problems with a single $9.99 one-time install.

Check 1: Is autocorrect enabled in System Settings?

This is the most likely cause - roughly 60% of "autocorrect not working" reports trace back to this setting being off. It takes 30 seconds to verify.

Here is the exact path:

1. Open System Settings (the gear icon in your Dock or Apple menu)
2. Click Keyboard
3. Click Text Input
4. Click Edit... on the right
5. Look for "Correct spelling automatically" - make sure the checkbox is checked

If the checkbox is already checked and autocorrect still is not working, try toggling it off, clicking OK, then re-enabling it. This can clear a system-level glitch that sometimes persists across restarts.

While you are in that panel, also verify that "Show spelling and grammar" is not the only thing enabled - that setting adds red underlines but does not auto-fix your typos. "Correct spelling automatically" is the one you need.

Check 2: Is this an Electron app?

If autocorrect works in Notes and Mail but not in certain other apps, those apps are almost certainly built on Electron - a framework that wraps web technology inside a desktop window. Electron apps do not use Apple's native text-processing stack, which means they bypass NSSpellChecker, the API that macOS autocorrect depends on.

The most common Electron apps where autocorrect will never work through normal macOS settings:

• Slack
• Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
• Discord
• Notion
• Figma (desktop)
• Microsoft Teams
• WhatsApp Desktop

This is not a bug you can fix in System Settings. It is a fundamental limitation of how Electron is built. Apple's autocorrect cannot reach inside these apps through the standard route.

Charm bypasses this entirely. Instead of relying on NSSpellChecker, Charm uses macOS's Accessibility API to monitor and correct text across all applications - including every Electron app on the list above. When you type a misspelling in Slack, Charm catches it and corrects it the same way it would in Notes or Mail. One install, $9.99 once, and autocorrect works everywhere.

Check 3: Does Charm have Accessibility permission?

If you already have Charm installed but it is not correcting your text, the most common cause is a missing or revoked Accessibility permission. macOS requires this permission before any app can monitor and modify text in other applications.

How to verify and fix it:

1. Open System Settings
2. Go to Privacy and Security
3. Click Accessibility
4. Find Charm in the list - the toggle next to it must be on (green)
5. If Charm is not listed at all, open Charm from the menu bar - it will prompt you to grant permission

After enabling or re-enabling the permission, restart Charm by clicking its menu bar icon and selecting Quit Charm, then relaunch it. Give it a few seconds to initialise before testing.

Note: macOS occasionally revokes Accessibility permissions after a system update. If Charm stops working after updating macOS, this is the first place to check.

You can also check whether Charm has Spells enabled for the specific app you are using. Click the Charm icon in the menu bar while that app is active - if the Spells toggle for that app is off, corrections will not fire there.

Other fixes for autocorrect not working on Mac

If none of the above checks resolve the issue, these additional steps cover the remaining causes:

Restart Charm

Click the Charm menu bar icon, select Quit Charm, then reopen it from your Applications folder or Launchpad. Intermittent correction failures often clear after a full restart.

Check if you are in a secure input field

Password fields, 1Password prompts, and some banking or financial app inputs are classified as secure fields by macOS. Autocorrect is blocked in these contexts by design - this is expected behaviour, not a bug. If the field you are typing in is for a password or PIN, autocorrect will not fire.

Log out and log back in

A full user session reset can resolve stubborn system-level glitches. Go to Apple menu > Log Out, then log back in. This is faster than a restart and often fixes issues that a simple app quit does not.

Test in a new user account

Go to System Settings > Users and Groups and create a temporary test account. If autocorrect works correctly there, the issue is specific to your user profile - likely a corrupted preference file. The relevant file to delete and regenerate is ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.HIToolbox.plist, but log out and back in first before attempting this.

Safe mode test

Restart your Mac in Safe Mode (hold Shift during startup on Intel Macs; on Apple Silicon, hold the power button and select Safe Mode). If autocorrect works in Safe Mode but not normally, a third-party app or login item is interfering. Re-enable your login items one at a time to identify the conflict.

Frequently asked questions

Why did autocorrect stop working on my Mac?

The most likely causes are: the setting is off in System Settings > Keyboard > Text Input > Edit, or you are typing in an Electron app that blocks macOS autocorrect. Test in Apple Notes first. If it corrects there, the problem is specific to your app. If it does not correct anywhere, check the System Settings toggle.

Does autocorrect work in Slack and VS Code on Mac?

No - not through macOS alone. Slack, VS Code, Discord, and Notion are Electron apps that do not support NSSpellChecker, the API macOS autocorrect relies on. The only way to get real-time spelling correction in these apps is to use Charm, which corrects via the Accessibility API and works regardless of how the app is built.

How do I turn autocorrect back on in Mac?

Open System Settings, go to Keyboard, then click Text Input and select Edit. Enable the checkbox labelled "Correct spelling automatically". If it was already on, toggle it off and back on to reset it. Test in Apple Notes by typing a deliberate misspelling to confirm it is active.

Why does autocorrect work in Mail but not other apps?

Apple Mail is a native macOS app that uses the NSSpellChecker framework, so autocorrect reaches it normally. Apps built on Electron bypass Apple's text stack entirely, so standard autocorrect cannot reach them. This is why the behaviour varies app by app. Charm solves this by correcting at the Accessibility layer, which applies universally.