Turn Off Text Suggestions in Windows 11

Windows 11’s text suggestions feature shows word predictions as you type, which can be helpful for touchscreens or fast typists, but it can also be distracting, slow you down, or clutter your screen with unwanted pop-ups. This guide shows you exactly how to turn off text suggestions in Windows 11, or change how they work, using the built-in Settings app. You can disable the feature entirely for the whole system, or just for the password and login screens. No special tools or admin rights are needed; this works on all editions of Windows 11.

What You’ll Need

A Windows 11 computer or tablet with the Settings app accessible.
A user account with permission to change system settings (standard user accounts can usually change these settings, but if you’re on a managed school or work device, group policy may override them).
About 2 minutes of your time.

Step-by-Step

Open the Settings app. Click the Start button (Windows logo) on the taskbar, then click the gear icon labeled “Settings.” Alternatively, press Win + I on your keyboard to open Settings directly.
Go to Time & Language. In the left-hand sidebar of the Settings window, click Time & language. If you don’t see the sidebar, the window might be too narrow; widen it or click the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) at the top left.
Select Typing. In the Time & Language section, click Typing in the right-hand pane. This is where all keyboard-related settings live.
Find “Show text suggestions when typing on the physical keyboard.” Scroll down in the Typing settings until you see a toggle switch labeled “Show text suggestions when typing on the physical keyboard.” This is the master switch for the feature on laptops and desktops with a physical keyboard.
Toggle it off. Click the switch so it turns gray (off). That’s it—text suggestions are now disabled for your normal typing. If you want to re-enable them later, just click the same switch again to turn it back on.
Turn off suggestions for the login screen (optional). If you also want to hide text suggestions on the Windows login/password screen, scroll up in the Typing settings to find the section labeled “Show text suggestions when typing on the physical keyboard” again, but this time look for a second toggle below it: “Show text suggestions when typing on the touch keyboard.” Wait—that’s for touch keyboards. For the login screen, you need a separate setting. Scroll down to the bottom of the Typing page and click “Advanced keyboard settings.” In the Advanced keyboard settings page, under the “Input method” section, you’ll see a checkbox for “Use the previous version of Microsoft IME” (only if you use a Chinese/Japanese IME) and below that, a toggle for “Show text suggestions as I type on the login screen.” Toggle that off. Note: this option only appears if you have a password or PIN set up; if you use Windows Hello face or fingerprint, the login screen may not show a keyboard at all.
Turn off suggestions for the touch keyboard (optional). If you use a tablet or a touchscreen, you’ll also want to disable the touch keyboard suggestions. Go back to the main Typing page (Settings > Time & language > Typing). Look for the toggle labeled “Show text suggestions when typing on the touch keyboard.” Turn it off. This works for the on-screen keyboard that appears when you tap a text field.
Check if the feature is actually off. Open any text editor (like Notepad or WordPad), click into the text area, and start typing. The gray pop-up box with word predictions should no longer appear above your cursor. If it still does, you might have a third-party keyboard or input method that has its own suggestions; see the Troubleshooting section below.

Common Mistakes

Turning off the wrong toggle. There are two separate toggles: one for the physical keyboard and one for the touch keyboard. If you only turn off the touch keyboard one, your physical keyboard will still show suggestions, and vice versa. Make sure you toggle the one that matches how you type.
Forgetting the login screen. Many people disable text suggestions but still see them on the Windows login screen when entering their password. The login screen has its own separate setting (Step 6).
Assuming the setting applies to all apps. The Windows setting only controls Windows’ own text suggestions. Some apps (like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or your web browser) have their own built-in autocomplete or spell-check suggestions that are not affected by this setting. You’ll need to disable those within each app’s own settings.
Using a third-party keyboard. If you’ve installed a third-party keyboard app (like SwiftKey or Gboard) from the Microsoft Store, those apps have their own suggestion engines. The Windows Settings page won’t disable their suggestions; you’ll need to open the keyboard app’s own settings.
Not restarting the app. Some apps (especially older ones) may cache the setting and continue showing suggestions until you close and reopen them. If you toggle the setting and don’t see a change, try restarting the app you’re typing in.

Tips

Use the registry if you need to disable it for all users. If you’re an IT administrator or want to apply this setting to multiple accounts on the same PC, you can use the Registry Editor. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Input\Settings and set the DWORD value IsTypingSuggestionEnabled to 0. This is a more advanced method and should be done with caution—always back up the registry before editing.
Keep suggestions on but make them less intrusive. If you like the feature but find the pop-up annoying, you can’t change how it looks, but you can simply press Esc to dismiss the suggestion box instantly. It will reappear the next time you type a word, though.
Use the touch keyboard toggle for hybrid devices. If you have a 2-in-1 laptop, you might want to disable suggestions only for the touch keyboard (when in tablet mode) and keep them on for the physical keyboard. That’s exactly what the two separate toggles are for.
Check for a “Text suggestions” setting in individual apps. For example, in Microsoft Word, go to File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options to disable word completion. In Google Docs, go to Tools > Preferences and uncheck “Show word suggestions.” This covers the apps that Windows can’t control.
If you’re using a non-English keyboard layout, the setting still works the same way, but the suggestions will be in the language of your active keyboard layout.

Troubleshooting

Text suggestions still appear after turning them off. First, double-check that you toggled the correct switch (physical vs. touch). Then, check if the app you’re typing in has its own suggestion feature. For example, Microsoft Word’s autocorrect and Google Docs’ smart compose are separate from Windows’ text suggestions. If you’re using a web browser, the browser itself may have a spell-check or autofill feature that looks similar. If none of these apply, try restarting your computer—some background processes may not pick up the setting change immediately.

The login screen toggle is missing. The “Show text suggestions as I type on the login screen” option only appears if you have a password or PIN set up. If you use Windows Hello (face, fingerprint, or PIN), the login screen may not display a keyboard at all, so the setting is hidden. If you use a Microsoft account with a password, the setting should be there. If it’s still missing, you may be on a managed device where the administrator has disabled it via Group Policy.

Suggestions reappear after a Windows update. Windows updates occasionally reset some settings to their defaults. If you notice text suggestions coming back after a feature update, simply go back to Settings > Time & language > Typing and toggle the switches off again. This is rare, but it happens.

I can’t find the Typing page at all. If you’re on an older version of Windows 11 (before the 22H2 update), the path might be slightly different. Try Settings > Devices > Typing instead. In recent versions, it’s under Time & language > Typing. If you still can’t find it, use the search bar in Settings (top left) and type “typing”—it should show the correct page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does turning off text suggestions improve performance?

Not noticeably. The feature is lightweight and runs in the background, so disabling it won’t speed up your system. However, it can reduce visual clutter and make typing feel less interrupted.

Will this also disable autocorrect?

No. Text suggestions (word predictions) and autocorrect (automatic correction of misspelled words) are separate features. Turning off suggestions only stops the pop-up predictions; autocorrect will still fix your typos if it’s enabled. In Windows 11, autocorrect is also in the Typing settings page, with its own toggle.

Can I turn off text suggestions for only one app?

No. Windows’ text suggestions are a system-wide setting—you can’t enable them for Word but disable them for Notepad. However, many individual apps have their own suggestion features that you can disable independently, so you can effectively achieve per-app control by using the app’s own settings.

Does this affect the on-screen touch keyboard?

Yes, but only if you turn off the “Show text suggestions when typing on the touch keyboard” toggle. The physical keyboard toggle is separate. If you use both a physical keyboard and a touchscreen, you’ll need to turn off both toggles to eliminate suggestions completely.

Why do I still see suggestions in Microsoft Word?

Microsoft Word has its own “Predictive Text” and “Autocorrect” features that are independent of Windows’ text suggestions. To disable them in Word, go to File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options, and uncheck the options you don’t want. Similarly, Outlook, OneNote, and other Office apps have their own settings.

Will this setting sync across my devices?

No. This is a local setting stored on each device. If you have multiple Windows 11 PCs, you’ll need to turn off text suggestions on each one individually. It doesn’t sync through your Microsoft account.

General steps for current mainstream versions; menus can differ by device and version. See the disclaimer or report an error.

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