How to Delete Keyboard History on Any Device

Your keyboard remembers more than you might realize. Every word you've typed — searches, passwords accidentally entered in the wrong field, embarrassing autocorrects — can linger in your device's keyboard history. Whether you're troubleshooting autocomplete suggestions or simply want a clean slate, understanding how keyboard history works is the first step to clearing it effectively.

What Is Keyboard History, Exactly?

Keyboard history refers to the data your keyboard stores to improve typing predictions over time. This typically includes:

• Learned words — custom or unusual words your keyboard has added to its personal dictionary
• Autocorrect history — corrections and overrides you've accepted or rejected
• Autocomplete suggestions — phrases and word combinations inferred from your typing patterns
• Clipboard history (on some devices) — recent copied content accessible via the keyboard

This data lives locally on your device, within the keyboard app's storage. It's separate from your browser search history or app-specific history, which require their own clearing steps.

How to Delete Keyboard History on iPhone (iOS)

Apple's built-in keyboard stores your learned vocabulary in a dedicated system location. To reset it:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap General
3. Scroll to Transfer or Reset iPhone
4. Tap Reset
5. Select Reset Keyboard Dictionary

This wipes all custom learned words and autocorrect data without affecting anything else on your device. Your keyboard returns to its factory vocabulary state.

📱 If you use a third-party keyboard on iOS (like Gboard or SwiftKey), each app manages its own history. You'll need to clear that data within the individual app's settings, not through the iOS system menu.

How to Delete Keyboard History on Android

Android's process varies depending on your keyboard app and device manufacturer, but the general path is consistent.

For Gboard (Google's default keyboard on many Android devices):

1. Open the Gboard app or access it via Settings → General Management → Samsung Keyboard (on Samsung) or Settings → System → Language & Input
2. Select your keyboard
3. Tap Dictionary or Personal Dictionary
4. Manually delete individual learned words, or look for a Delete learned words / Reset personalization option

For Samsung Keyboard:

1. Go to Settings → General Management → Samsung Keyboard Settings
2. Tap Reset to default settings
3. Confirm to clear learned words and predictive text data

For SwiftKey:

1. Open SwiftKey in your app list or settings
2. Navigate to Rich Input → Clipboard to clear clipboard history
3. Go to Account → Personalization to clear or reset your typing data

The exact menu labels shift between Android versions and manufacturer skins (One UI, OxygenOS, MIUI, etc.), so the path may look slightly different on your device.

How to Delete Keyboard History on Windows

Windows 10 and 11 include a touch keyboard and hardware keyboard learning system tied to your typing behavior and autocorrect.

To clear the hardware keyboard's autocorrect and text suggestions:

1. Open Settings
2. Go to Time & Language → Typing
3. Toggle off Autocorrect misspelled words and Show text suggestions if you want to disable it entirely
4. For a full reset, use the search bar to find Personalization settings connected to your Microsoft account, where learned typing data may be stored

Clipboard history on Windows is separate:

• Press Windows key + V to open clipboard history
• Click Clear All to wipe stored clipboard entries

If you use a third-party keyboard manager or software (common with mechanical keyboard setups), check that application's own settings for stored macros or history.

How to Delete Keyboard History on Mac

macOS maintains a text replacement list and a learned vocabulary through its autocorrect engine.

1. Go to System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS)
2. Select Keyboard
3. Click Text Replacements to review and delete any saved shortcuts
4. For the deeper autocorrect dictionary, the data is stored in ~/Library/Spelling/ — deleting files in that folder resets your learned word list (this requires navigating to hidden folders via Finder → Go → Go to Folder)

💻 The process is more manual than on mobile, and touching Library files should be done carefully. If you're not comfortable in system directories, simply reviewing and disabling autocorrect features within Keyboard settings achieves a functional equivalent for most users.

Factors That Affect the Process

Not all keyboard history is the same, and how you clear it depends on several variables:

When Local Deletion Isn't Enough

If your keyboard app is connected to a Google, Microsoft, or SwiftKey account, deleting local data may not fully remove your typing history. Cloud-synced keyboards can restore learned words the next time you log in.

For Gboard, you can manage this at myaccount.google.com under Data & Privacy. For SwiftKey, the account settings within the app control what syncs. Clearing cloud data is a separate action from clearing the local keyboard cache.

The Variable That Changes Everything

The right steps depend heavily on which keyboard you're actually using, whether it's synced to an account, and what version of your operating system is running. Two people on the same phone model can have meaningfully different experiences if one uses a manufacturer keyboard and the other uses a cloud-synced third-party app.

Understanding your specific setup — which keyboard app is active, whether cloud sync is on, and what OS version you're running — is what determines which of these paths applies to you.