How do I stop a certain word being autocorrected in Outlook? I've managed it in Word but it hasn't carried over to Outlook

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How do I stop a certain word being autocorrected in Outlook? I've managed it in Word but it hasn't carried over to Outlook

MARSHALL, Louise 0

The name "Greta" keeps being autocorrected to "Great"

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Hornblower409 14,815

You can Vote for and Comment on this Feature Request

There is a Feature Request that I think encompasses most of what we would all like to see fixed in New Outlook for Windows Autocorrect. (You must "Sign In" at the top right of the Feedback page before you can vote).

No fine-grained control over Autocorrect
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/844fef98-3428-f111-9730-7c1e52f15e53

While we can switch Autocorrect on or off, we CANNOT fine-tune what is autocorrected as we can in other Microsoft products. Words in Personal Dictionaries are ignored and there is no other functionality available to exclude some words from being autocorrected.

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3 additional answers

Answer 1

In Outlook for Windows, remove or override the AutoCorrect entry that changes “Greta” to “Great.” AutoCorrect is shared across Office apps, so adjusting it in Outlook will stop the change there (and in other Office apps that use the same list).

Follow these steps in Outlook for Windows:

Open Outlook.
Go to File > Options > Mail.
Select Editor Options > Proofing.
Select AutoCorrect Options.
On the AutoCorrect tab:
- In the Replace box, type Greta (or the exact text that is being changed).
- In the list, select the entry that replaces it with Great.
- Select Delete to remove that AutoCorrect rule.
Select OK to close all dialog boxes.

If there is no specific entry for “Greta” → “Great,” then the correction is coming from spelling suggestions rather than a custom AutoCorrect entry. In that case, add “Greta” as a custom AutoCorrect entry that maps to itself:

In the same AutoCorrect tab:
- In Replace, type Greta.
- In With, type Greta.
- Select Add.
Select OK to save.

This prevents Outlook from changing “Greta” to “Great.”

References:

Answer 2

Liora D 18,915 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear @MARSHALL, Louise,

I hope you’re having a good day and thank you for raising this.

In New Outlook for Windows, AutoCorrect and spelling are handled a bit differently, so the change you made in Word doesn’t always carry over. Based on testing on my side, the approach below has worked well to stop this behavior.

Here’s what I’d suggest trying:

First, create a new email in New Outlook.

In the message editor toolbar, select Editor. From there, open Editor settings.

User's image

Within Editor settings, disable Auto corect:

User's image

After updating these settings, it’s important to fully exit Outlook so the editor state is refreshed. Please make sure you:

Close all Outlook windows

Right‑click the Outlook icon in the system tray and choose Quit

Then reopen Outlook and test again by typing “Greta” in a new email

After doing this on my side, Outlook no longer automatically replaced the name during typing.

User's image

If you still see the same behavior after these steps, please let me know. That will help confirm whether this is a limitation of the current New Outlook editor in your environment, and I’ll be happy to look at further options with you.

Thanks again for reaching out, and I hope this helps improve the writing experience for you.

Warm regards,

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MARSHALL, Louise 0 Reputation points

2026-04-29T09:24:57.47+00:00

Hi, many thanks for your answer. I don't want to switch off auto correct as it's useful most of the time. I just want it to stop autocorrecting that word
Liora D 18,915 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-29T09:59:51.6533333+00:00

Hi @MARSHALL, Louise, thank you for getting back to me and for clarifying your need.

There is one other approach I’ve found that can be effective without turning AutoCorrect off entirely, although it does require a bit more manual effort. When Outlook changes “Greta” to “Great,” using Undo (Ctrl+Z) immediately after the correction happens usually prevents Microsoft Editor from repeatedly applying the same correction within that message.

I’ve spent time testing different options and behaviors in New Outlook, and based on what I’ve been able to verify, the two approaches we’ve discussed so far are currently the only ones that consistently work in this scenario. Unfortunately, New Outlook doesn’t yet provide a way to exclude a specific word from AutoCorrect while keeping the feature fully enabled.

I realize this isn’t an ideal solution, but I hope this workaround helps make the experience a bit more manageable for you. Thank you again for your patience and for taking the time to follow up.
MARSHALL, Louise 0 Reputation points

2026-04-29T10:03:01.02+00:00

Ok many thanks for your help
Liora D 18,915 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-29T10:40:07.1866667+00:00

Hi @MARSHALL, Louise, you’re very welcome, I’m glad the explanation was helpful.

Just to add one closing note: situations like this are actually quite common in New Outlook. Many users run into similar frustrations with language auto‑corrections, whether it’s names like “Greta” > “Great” or things like lowercase “i” being changed to “I” when it isn’t needed. Because of that, these kinds of threads often end up helping other people who are searching for an explanation or a workable approach.

If you feel the discussion has clarified what’s possible today, you may want to consider marking one of the replies as Accepted. It can really help other community members who run into the same issue find an answer more quickly.

Thank you again for taking the time to follow up, and I appreciate the thoughtful way you described your use case.
Hornblower409 14,815 Reputation points

2026-05-01T06:16:19.5066667+00:00

@Liora D said

When Outlook changes “Greta” to “Great,” using Undo (Ctrl+Z) immediately after the correction happens usually prevents Microsoft Editor from repeatedly applying the same correction within that message.

I can use Undo in New Outlook for Windows 1.2026.407.100 to stop changing an instance of "Greta" to "Great" but the next time I type "Greta" it's back to it's old tricks. Anyway that you know of that I can improve my chances of it remembering?

This is me typing Greta <space> in both places. The first time I used Undo.
Liora D 18,915 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-01T14:22:20.21+00:00

Hi Hornblower409,

Thanks for testing that so carefully, you’re absolutely right in what you’re seeing.

You’re correct that Undo only works for that single instance. It doesn’t “teach” Outlook to remember your preference, so the next time you type “Greta,” it gets corrected again.

I also want to acknowledge that my earlier message may have suggested it could behave a bit more persistently than that, thank you for calling it out and helping clarify the behavior.

At the moment, this is just a limitation of the New Outlook editor. It doesn’t support remembering per‑word exceptions or learning from Undo, so unfortunately there isn’t a way to make it stick across entries yet.

Appreciate you sharing the details, it helps make this much clearer for others running into the same thing.

Answer 3

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