Charm Not Correcting Spelling: Troubleshooting Guide

If Charm is not correcting your spelling, the most likely causes are a missing Accessibility permission, the Spells feature being disabled, or a per-app toggle being switched off. Run through this checklist: check Accessibility permission in System Settings, verify Spells is enabled in Charm's menu bar icon, then test with a known misspelling like "teh" in Notes. Most issues resolve at step one.

Checklist: why Charm might not be correcting spelling

Work through these in order. Each one takes under a minute to check.

1. Accessibility permission is missing or toggled off. This is the most common cause. Without it, Charm cannot read or modify text in any app. Fix: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility > toggle Charm ON.
2. Spells is disabled in Charm's settings. You may have turned it off without realising. Fix: click the Charm menu bar icon and verify Spells is enabled.
3. Spells is disabled for this specific app. Charm lets you toggle features per app. Fix: bring the problem app to the front, click the Charm menu bar icon, and re-enable Spells for that app.
4. The word is in your personal dictionary. If you previously added a misspelling as a correct word, Charm treats it as valid. Fix: edit the macOS LocalDictionary file manually to remove the entry (there is no in-app interface for this).
5. The app uses a secure input field. Password fields and certain banking apps use secure input that macOS prevents any third-party tool from accessing. This is correct behaviour, not a Charm bug.
6. Charm is not running. Check your menu bar for the Charm icon. If it is not there, open Applications and relaunch Charm.
7. The word is a proper noun or technical term. Charm will not flag words it recognises as valid - including names, domain-specific terms, and acronyms. If it looks intentional, Charm leaves it alone.

Check 1: Accessibility permission

Accessibility permission is what allows Charm to monitor your keystrokes and modify text across all apps. Without it, Spells, Polish, and every other Charm feature are completely silent. It is the single most common reason users report that Charm has stopped working.

To verify and fix the permission:

1. Open System Settings (Apple menu, top left).
2. Navigate to Privacy & Security.
3. Scroll down and click Accessibility.
4. Find Charm in the list. The toggle next to it should be blue (on).
5. If it is grey (off), click the toggle to enable it. macOS may ask for your password.

Once the toggle is on, switch back to the app where spelling correction was missing and type a word. Charm should start correcting immediately - no restart required.

Check 2: Is Spells enabled in Charm?

Even with Accessibility permission granted, Spells can be toggled off independently. This sometimes happens if you experimented with Charm's settings early on.

To check whether Spells is active:

1. Click the Charm icon in your Mac menu bar (top right of screen).
2. The Charm menu will appear. Look for Spells in the list of features.
3. If it is toggled off or appears inactive, click it to enable it.

Once Spells is enabled, corrections resume instantly. You do not need to restart Charm or your Mac.

To confirm it is working, open Apple Notes and type "recieve" - a common misspelling of "receive". Charm should correct it to "receive" within 200ms of you completing the word at a word boundary (pressing space or a punctuation key). If it corrects, Spells is active and functioning correctly.

Check 3: Is Spells disabled for this specific app?

Charm supports per-app settings. If you previously disabled Spells while a particular app was in focus - say, a code editor where you did not want automatic corrections - that setting persists. Charm will correct in every other app but stay silent in the one where it was turned off.

This is the most likely cause if Charm corrects in Notes or Mail but not in one specific application.

To re-enable Spells for a specific app:

1. Make the problem app the active window (click on it so it is in focus).
2. With that app in focus, click the Charm menu bar icon.
3. The menu will now show settings for that specific app. Check whether Spells is enabled here.
4. If it is off, toggle it on.

Charm will now correct spelling in that app going forward. The change takes effect immediately.

One exception worth knowing: some apps built with Electron (a cross-platform web technology) handle text input differently. In rare cases, Charm's ability to correct text in Electron-based apps is limited by how the app itself manages keystrokes - not by Charm's settings.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Charm not correcting my spelling?

The most common causes are: Accessibility permission is off (System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility), Spells is disabled in Charm's menu bar settings, or Spells is toggled off for the specific app you are using. Work through the checklist above in order - most users find the fix at step one.

How do I check if Spells is enabled in Charm?

Click the Charm icon in your Mac menu bar. In the dropdown, find Spells and confirm it is enabled. If it is off, click it to turn it back on. You can also check per-app status by making the relevant app active before clicking the menu bar icon.

Why does Charm correct in some apps but not others?

Two possible reasons. First, Charm's per-app settings may have Spells disabled for that particular app - bring the app into focus, open the Charm menu, and check. Second, some apps (particularly those with secure input fields, like password managers) prevent any third-party tool from accessing their text fields. This is a macOS security restriction, not a Charm limitation.

How do I test if Charm's spelling correction is working?

Open Apple Notes and type "teh" (a transposition of "the"). If Charm is working, it will correct to "the" within 200ms of you finishing the word. You can also try "recieve" for "receive". If corrections appear, Spells is active. If nothing happens, run through the checklist starting with Accessibility permission.