Clear Custom Dictionary Words in Settings Privacy and Security Inking and Typing Personalization

How to Clear Custom Dictionary Words Using Windows Settings

The Settings app is where you clear the custom dictionary. Open Privacy & security, go to Inking & typing personalization, and use the option to clear your custom dictionary. Windows then forgets every word it learned from your typing, so your spelling suggestions start over. The steps below apply to Windows 11 Home and Pro alike, and no restart is needed.

1. Click the Start button on your taskbar🖥️.
2. Select the Settings app, the small gear icon. As a shortcut, press the Win plus I to open Settings⚙️ directly. The Settings window should now be open.
3. In the menu on the left, click Privacy & security. The privacy options appear in the main panel on the right.
4. Scroll down the right panel to the section labeled Windows permissions.
5. Click Inking & typing personalization. A page opens with the settings⚙️ for your typing and handwriting data.
6. Look for the setting named Custom dictionary.
7. Click Clear custom dictionary. If Windows asks you to confirm, accept the prompt.

That’s it. Windows has deleted the words it learned from your typing and handwriting history, and your typing profile starts from scratch.

This step only clears the dictionary Windows keeps. Apps with their own word lists, such as Microsoft Word or your web browser, keep those separately.

If you don’t want to wipe everything, current Windows 11 builds offer a gentler option. Open Settings › Time & language › Typing and look for the Personalization or Custom dictionary page. There you can view the words Windows has saved and remove them one at a time. Use this when only a few misspelled or private words bother you.

Microsoft Edge also keeps its own custom dictionary for spell check on web pages. You can review and delete words there from Edge’s Settings, under the Languages section. Menu names can vary a little between Edge versions. Clearing the Windows dictionary does not touch this list.

Managing General Typing Privacy and Data Sharing

Clearing the dictionary only removes what Windows has already learned. To stop Windows from learning new words, turn off the main personalization switch. Your PC then stops saving your typing habits and stops building a custom dictionary in the background.

To turn off typing data collection:

1. Press the Win plus I to open the Settings⚙️ app.
2. Click Privacy & security in the left-hand menu.
3. Scroll down to Windows permissions and select Inking & typing personalization.
4. At the top of the page, find the main toggle switch under the heading Inking & typing personalization. On some builds this switch is labeled Personalization or something close to it.
5. Click the switch to change it from On to Off. The switch should now show Off.

You should now have personalization turned off. Windows no longer learns from your typing, and no restart is needed.

Your touch keyboard and text suggestions rely on the standard built-in dictionary that ships with Windows. This is a sensible choice if you value privacy over predictive text. To undo it, return to the same page and switch it back on. Words you cleared earlier won’t come back, but Windows will start learning again.

How to Clear Diagnostic Data and Personalization History (Unique Angle)

Your local PC isn’t the only place this kind of data can live. If you sign in to Windows with a Microsoft account, some personalization and diagnostic data may also be stored online. You can review and delete it from your Microsoft account privacy dashboard. For that, you need an internet connection and your account sign-in details.

The dashboard layout changes from time to time, so the section names below may not match exactly. Follow these steps to look for and delete stored data:

1. Open your web browser and go to the Microsoft privacy dashboard at account.microsoft.com/privacy.
2. Sign in with your Microsoft account credentials (for example, user@example.com).
3. Look for the section dedicated to Search history or Other privacy settings.
4. Find any option related to Cortana data or Inking and typing data. Not every account shows both, and Microsoft has moved or renamed these entries over the years.
5. Click the button to clear or delete the stored data, and confirm if asked.

That’s it. The online data you selected is deleted from your Microsoft account, so it no longer sits in the cloud alongside what you cleared on the PC.

You can also remove diagnostic data on the PC itself. In Settings, go to Privacy & security, open Diagnostics & feedback, and use the Delete diagnostic data option.

Clearing the local dictionary, turning off personalization and deleting your online data together leaves very little of your typing history behind. If you use several PCs with the same Microsoft account, repeat the local steps on each one.

Summary

• Windows saves words you type to build a custom dictionary for better text suggestions.
• You can clear this dictionary in Windows Settings under Privacy & security and Inking & typing personalization.
• To remove only some words, view the list under Time & language › Typing and delete them one at a time. Microsoft Edge keeps its own separate dictionary.
• Turning off the main personalization switch stops Windows from learning new words in the future.
• Cloud-synced accounts may require clearing data through your online Microsoft account dashboard as well.

Windows saves words you type to build a custom dictionary for better text suggestions, but you can delete this data at any time. Clear the dictionary in Settings under Privacy & security and Inking & typing personalization. Turning off the main personalization switch stops Windows from learning new words in the future.