Outlook 2016 - disable auto correct across the board

[donmontalvo]

Been getting requests for a quick way to disable all auto-correct in Outlook 2016.

Tried this but it doesn't work:

#!/bin/sh

over500=`dscl . list /Users UniqueID | awk '$2 > 500 { print $1 }'`

# Outlook
for u in $over500 ;
do
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Correct_capitalization_for_first_two_letters_of_a_word -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Capitalize_first_letter_of_first_word_in_sentence -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Capitalize_weekdays -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Automatically_create_bulleted_lists -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Automatically_create_numbered_lists -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Convert_dashes_into_mdash_and_ndashes -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Apply_bold_and_italics_using_asterisk_and_underline -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Automatically_create_URLs -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Automatically_create_ellipses -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Replace_3_or_more_asterisks_or_underlines_with_horizontal_line -bool false
    /usr/sbin/chown -R "$u" /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist
    /bin/chmod -R 700 /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist
    /usr/bin/killall -u "$u" cfprefsd
done

exit 0

On a side note, my TextEdit script to do the same is working fine:

#!/bin/sh

over500=`dscl . list /Users UniqueID | awk '$2 > 500 { print $1 }'`

# TextEdit
for u in $over500 ;
do
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist SmartQuotes -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist SmartDashes -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist SmartLinks -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist AutosaveDelay -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist CheckGrammarWithSpelling -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist CorrectSpellingAutomatically -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist DataDetectors -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist CheckSpellingWhileTyping -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist ShowRuler -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist SmartCopyPaste -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist TextReplacement -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist RichText -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist AddExtensionToNewPlainTextFiles -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist PreserveWhitespace -bool false
    /usr/sbin/chown -R "$u" /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist
    /bin/chmod -R 700 /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist
    /usr/bin/killall -u "$u" cfprefsd
done

exit 0

Thoughts?

TIA,
Don

[talkingmoose]

I've looked at Outlook's plist file and I don't find any of those keys you're referencing in it.

Where'd you get these? Are they possibly lifted from an Outlook 2011 plist file?

[donmontalvo]

Disabling all the auto-this-and-that results in:

$ defaults read /Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook | grep Correct
    "Correct_capitalization_for_first_two_letters_of_a_word" = 0;
$ defaults read /Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook | grep Capitalize
    "Capitalize_first_letter_of_first_word_in_sentence" = 0;
    "Capitalize_weekdays" = 0;
$ defaults read /Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook | grep Automatically_create
    "Automatically_create_URLs" = 0;
    "Automatically_create_bulleted_lists" = 0;
    "Automatically_create_ellipses" = 0;
    "Automatically_create_numbered_lists" = 0;
$ defaults read /Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook | grep Convert
    "Convert_dashes_into_mdash_and_ndashes" = 0;
$ defaults read /Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook | grep Apply
    "Apply_bold_and_italics_using_asterisk_and_underline" = 0;
$ defaults read /Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook | grep Replace
    "Replace_3_or_more_asterisks_or_underlines_with_horizontal_line" = 0;
$

[donmontalvo]

Got a request to combine into one, so...

#!/bin/sh
# Disable auto correct wherever possible.

over500=`dscl . list /Users UniqueID | awk '$2 > 500 { print $1 }'`

# Outlook
for u in $over500 ;
do
    /bin/echo "Disabling Microsoft Outlook 2016 auto-correct settings for "$u"..."
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Correct_capitalization_for_first_two_letters_of_a_word -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Capitalize_first_letter_of_first_word_in_sentence -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Capitalize_weekdays -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Automatically_create_bulleted_lists -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Automatically_create_numbered_lists -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Convert_dashes_into_mdash_and_ndashes -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Apply_bold_and_italics_using_asterisk_and_underline -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Automatically_create_URLs -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Automatically_create_ellipses -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist Replace_3_or_more_asterisks_or_underlines_with_horizontal_line -bool false
    /usr/sbin/chown -R "$u" /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist
    /bin/chmod -R 700 /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Outlook.plist
    /usr/bin/killall -u "$u" cfprefsd
done

# TextEdit
for u in $over500 ;
do
    /bin/echo "Disabling TextEdit auto-correct settings for "$u"..."
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist SmartQuotes -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist SmartDashes -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist SmartLinks -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist AutosaveDelay -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist CheckGrammarWithSpelling -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist CorrectSpellingAutomatically -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist DataDetectors -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist CheckSpellingWhileTyping -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist ShowRuler -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist SmartCopyPaste -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist TextReplacement -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist RichText -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist AddExtensionToNewPlainTextFiles -bool false
    /usr/bin/defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist PreserveWhitespace -bool false
    /usr/sbin/chown -R "$u" /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist
    /bin/chmod -R 700 /Users/"$u"/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist
    /usr/bin/killall -u "$u" cfprefsd
done

# System
/bin/echo "Disabling OS X auto-correct settings..."
/usr/bin/defaults write -g NSAutomaticQuoteSubstitutionEnabled -bool false
/usr/bin/defaults write -g NSAutomaticDashSubstitutionEnabled -bool false

# Finish
echo "Speelchucking disebbbled."

exit 0

[talkingmoose]

Not sure what's happening here. You're pointing to the correct location for Outlook's plist. However, when I go to Outlook menu > Preferences > AutoCorrect and make all those changes (enabling as well as disabling), I never see those keys getting created in the plist.

I've made sure to quit Outlook between changes. I've made sure to verify the plist is updating when I quit by checking its timestamp. I just simply don't see those keys getting created.

Can you test a couple of things for me?

1. Currently, your defaults read command is returning zero ( 0 ) for all those AutoCorrect options, which should mean they are all disabled. If you enable every option and re-read your plist, do the values change to one ( 1 )?
2. Can you verify a plist from another machine (or a fresh OS X user account) shows those keys?

[mm2270]

These keys and values in the plist are showing up for me as well when I disable or enable those options. Just like Don listed. I haven't tried running a script similar to the one he posted to see if it actually does what its supposed to, but I will give that a shot when I have a moment and report back.

[jaharmi]

I haven’t tried any of this with Outlook — but I did make a device-level configuration profile for the TextEdit settings. That successfully set the options — at least the ones I checked — for new TextEdit documents.

Caveat: I found that I could override and change the settings for a given document, so the YMMV if you want enforcement. The configuration profile settings were still selected as the defaults for each new document I created.

Clarification: the TextEdit settings were in the “com.apple.TextEdit” preference domain. I created a property list for that and converted it with MCXToProfile, then imported the configuration profile.

[donmontalvo]

Thanks @jaharmi, there was mention on some admin forums of using Configuration Profiles to manage this, will try to give this a look when we come up for air.