How to Remove Misspelled Words from Firefox Dictionary

Firefox 2′s inline spell checker has indeed made the web more readable by eliminating those reluctant spelling mistakes. Sometimes, if you’ve got a sluggish mouse, you may accidentally add misspelled words into Firefox’s dictionary. Fortunately, there is a way to remove misspelled words from dictionary, but it ain’t as easy as adding the word. Here’s how:

  1. Open the run dialogue (shortcut: windows key + R) and paste %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles. If Mac, navigate to ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles
  2. Choose your profile folder which looks something like xxxxxxxx.default
  3. Inside that folder, you’ll find a file called persdict.dat.
  4. Open the file using your favorite text editor, find the misspelled word and delete it.

You can also add multiple words in a single shot using the same persdict.dat file.

This post was published by on September 22, 2007

About the Author: Thilak Rao works as a Social Media Expert. He is one of the first professional bloggers from India, and he loves to write, travel and click photos. Follow him on Twitter @thilak

  • http://tan-com.com/jake Jake

    On Linux the folder is ~/.mozilla/firefox/profiles. For n00bs, ~ is your home folder.

  • http://tech-buzz.net Thilak

    Thanks for the quick tip Jake!

  • http://www.sizzledcore.com Haris

    Interesting… Thanks for the tip! Can come in handy anytime :)

  • http://technojuice.blogspot.com/ Technojuice

    persdict.dat is not found !

    You can add or correct words just by editing the dictionary at C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\dictionaries

    This also makes the changes globally !

  • http://hotmail.com jennifer

    okay well idk how dis really wurks…..lol consider me da blonde of technology no offensie…………………..=]

    okay well how do u do this 4rm 1 computer 2 anotha

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  • http://firefoxisbetter.com/firefox Editor

    Another example of why Firefox is superior to IE

  • UJJWAL SETHI

    hey man as i come to new pages of this blog i ckeep coming to know that this blog is really a useful thing

    i also saved the page on my handy usb ……..to use anywhere
    good work people……..

    keep it up

  • Leona D

    Thanks so much for this quick “How To”! I accidentally added a word to this dictionary today, so I did a quick Google search and this was the first link to pop up. Very easy to follow and simply solved my problem. Thanks again!

  • http://www.room237origins.com Jack

    Thank you. I accidentally added a word earlier, and spent a good 5 minutes trying to find my way into the dictionary through the firefox menu. Heh. Appreciate the help!

  • Random_comment_guy

    Wow! Thanks. I searched, found your site, described my exact problem (e.g., I’m an idiot) and provided a perfect solution. Less than a minute from problem created to problem solved.

  • Diana

    Brilliant. Thank you *very* much!