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This issue affects all native text apps (Notes, TextEdit and Mail). It does NOT affect Safari. Nor does it affect Notes and Mail on iPadOS (17.1) (that's still in the UK)

I can't recall when I first noticed it, but it's doing my head in now. Like I said, I'm in the UK; everywhere in Settings which needs to be set to British/UK English is set to British/UK English.

So words we spell with an 's' it autocompletes with the 'z' spelling; words which end -our in UK English. autocomplete will complete with the '-or' American suffix. I have to spellcheck them back to the correct spelling and this is getting a little old now (autocorrect is still using the correct version of English). When you're as active in political circles as I am, having to constantly recorrect the spelling of 'Labour', for example, is somewhat tedious (I'm not in Australia - but I often wish I was).

I've not, wittingly, done anything that would cause this - it's just too bizarre. I have screenshots if people have problems understanding what I mean. I can't post to Apple's forum as I had the phone I used for 2FA stolen. Apple support is useless; wants me to call them - even if I did have a phone, I only ever used it for texts/WhatsApp as I struggle with speaking and Apple has no means, apparently, to escalate a chat-box 'call'. If I want any further assistance, I have to speak).

I'm on the verge of reinstalling macOS, but that seems like a sledgehammer. I have tried creating a new account and using that account in safe mode but, obviously, it's still broken.

Is this a bug...? I'm just trying to recall if I had an issue with autocomplete prior to 14.1. It seems so bizarre, that I can only think that it is.

Can anyone suggest any workarounds...? I would rather NOT have to turn autocomplete off.

If you're in a country which uses UK/Commonwealth English (which, as far as I know, are (virtually) identical) or have a Mac which you're using with UK English - are you having a similar issue...?

As you can see, autocorrect is still using UK English...

...the problem is autocomplete

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  • Please don't cross-post to multiple SE sites. Pick one & stick to it, or flag for migration. Is cross-posting a question on multiple Stack Exchange sites permitted if the question is on-topic for each site? - apple.stackexchange.com/questions/466145/…
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 15:55
  • From what I glean from that it intimates that crossposting is permitted provided the post isn't identical (which it isn't). Seems entirely nonsensical to me - and contrary to the main premise of SE (which I had thought was the collaboration on and dissemination of ideas). If there is a specific reason why crossposting to two Stacks with similar topics is prohibited, please explain and I will remove my post.
    – AtheneNoctua
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 16:10
  • I'm not sure what's unclear in the first two answers from the main meta QA I linked, but the founder Jeff Attwod closes with "Just to be 100% clear, copy-pasting a question across sites with no changes is considered abusive behavior."
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 16:16
  • Yes, the salient part is "with no changes". I made changes. My second post IS NOT a carbon copy of my first. I'm not trying to be obstructive, or difficult or obnoxious, the fact remains that my posts were different. I read the QA, and I adhered to it. My posts aren't identical, so I have not transgressed. They're not SIGNIFICANTLY different, I'll grant you that, but they ARE different. I would also argue that two isn't "multiple"; from the OED: Having or involving SEVERAL parts, elements or members. 'Several' is defined as 'MORE THAN TWO, but not many".
    – AtheneNoctua
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 16:28
  • I have nothing further to add - the community or a site moderator will decide.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 16:30

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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To reset your system to English UK:

  • Go to "System Preferences."
  • Click on "Language & Region."
  • In the "Preferred languages" list, make sure "English - United Kingdom" is at the top of the list. If it's not there, you can add it.
  • Click on "Region" and set it to "United Kingdom."

Now before doing this next part, make sure you back up your mac and any important data.

  • Open the terminal app and run the following commands:

Reset Keyboard Preferences:

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.HIToolbox.plist

Reset Spelling and Grammar:

rm -r ~/Library/Spelling
rm -r ~/Library/SpellingChecker
  • Now restart your Mac

Hopefully after doing the above, you should find that your mac has defaulted all lanuguage and keyboard preferences to UK English. Test this by typing into the TextEdit application that comes pre-installed with Mac OS.

If you find the problem is now fixed but other third party applications still have the problem, then you may need to manually set those applications to English UK within their own specific language settings.

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