Where apps hide your files

Your learned words file on macOS

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

When you choose Learn Spelling, macOS adds the word to one small text file in your Library. You can open it, prune it and copy it to another Mac.

The file

~/Library/Spelling/LocalDictionary

It is a plain text file with one learned word per line, and on a Mac you rarely use for jargon it may be only a few bytes. In Finder, press ⇧⌘G, paste ~/Library/Spelling and press Return. Or from Terminal:

open ~/Library/Spelling

The file has no extension, so Finder may show it as a generic document.

What else is in the Spelling folder

File	What it is
LocalDictionary	The words you have chosen to learn
dynamic-counts.dat	A small binary property list the spelling service maintains; not meant to be edited
.aff and .dic pairs	Extra spelling dictionaries you added; the Spelling and Grammar panel itself says to copy such files into this folder

On the Mac checked for this page, the whole folder was under a kilobyte. If you are missing LocalDictionary, you have not learned a word system-wide yet, or you reset it. Learning a word should create it.

Some apps keep a list of their own. Chrome on a Mac checks spelling with the macOS spell checker, and its source code shows that its add-to-dictionary command records the word twice: in the system's learned words and in a Custom Dictionary.txt file in the Chrome profile folder (for example ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/). Firefox keeps its own personal dictionary in its profile folder, and Microsoft Office apps can use their own custom dictionaries as well. If a word keeps showing as misspelled in one app but not in others, that app is using its own list.

Adding and removing words the supported way

To teach macOS a word, right-click it in a text field and choose Learn Spelling. To un-teach it, right-click the word and choose Unlearn Spelling, or remove its line from the file. The Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Show Spelling and Grammar panel offers the same Learn action for the word it is checking. These are the standard Mac text menus, so apps with their own spell checker may differ; Notes and TextEdit both have them.

Editing the file by hand also works:

1. Quit apps you are typing in, or at least save your work.
2. Open LocalDictionary in TextEdit and set it to plain text if it offers a choice.
3. Add or delete lines, one word each, and save.
4. Log out and back in, or restart, so the spelling service reloads it.

Keep a copy before you edit. A mistake in the file only affects the words list, but a backup takes seconds.

Backing up or moving it

The file is small enough to attach to an email. To move your words to a new Mac, copy LocalDictionary into ~/Library/Spelling on the new Mac. If the folder is missing there, create it first. Merge by pasting the lines into the new Mac's existing file rather than overwriting, if it already has words in it.

Whether your learned words sync through iCloud is a question Apple does not answer in its public documentation, so do not depend on it. A manual copy is the dependable route. Text replacements are different: they sync, and have their own location, covered in our guide to text replacements.

Time Machine includes ~/Library/Spelling in normal backups, so a restored user folder brings your words back.

Resetting your learned words

To start clean, quit the apps you use, move LocalDictionary to the Trash in Finder (or rename it to LocalDictionary.old, which is safer) and restart. macOS should create a fresh file the next time you learn a word. Leave dynamic-counts.dat where it is; it is not your word list.

If you only want to drop a handful of words, edit the lines instead of resetting.

What the file does not cover

Learned words are only one part of how macOS checks and corrects text. Removing a word from LocalDictionary brings back the red underline for it. Replacements you set up in Keyboard settings sit in their own database. The built-in dictionaries for each language are part of macOS and cannot be edited, so a word they already accept never needs learning.

Why you cannot find it by searching

The folder sits in your hidden ~/Library, and a file with no extension and a name like LocalDictionary does not look like anything to a normal search. Spotlight does not show results from ~/Library at all.

Everywhere does list it. Type LocalDictionary to jump straight to the file, or Custom Dictionary to find Chrome's copies in every profile, and ⌘↵ reveals the match in Finder. Because it searches names only, it cannot tell you which words a file holds. Open it in TextEdit for that.

Common questions

Where does a Mac store the words I teach it?

In ~/Library/Spelling/LocalDictionary, a plain text file with one word per line.

How do I remove a learned word on a Mac?

Right-click the word in a Mac app and choose Unlearn Spelling, or quit apps and delete that word's line from ~/Library/Spelling/LocalDictionary in TextEdit.

Does the custom dictionary sync between Macs?

Apple does not document that it does, so assume not. Copy the LocalDictionary file to the other Mac to move your words.

Why does an app still flag a word I taught macOS?

Some apps use their own spell checker and keep a separate list in their own folder, as Firefox and Microsoft Office do. Chrome on a Mac uses the macOS spell checker, so a learned word should be accepted there too.