Edit and use your Japanese user dictionaries on Mac
You can add words, lists of words, or symbols to any of the Japanese dictionaries. You can also export your dictionary as a backup or to share it, and import dictionaries.
Add words
On your Mac, set up and switch to a Japanese input source.
Click the Input menu in the menu bar, then choose Edit Text Substitutions.
In the Text pane of Keyboard preferences, click the Add button
.In the Replace field, type the hiragana reading of the word (up to 32 characters).
If you add an adjective, enter the reading in its dictionary form. The ending must be 〜い (~i). For example, あたらしい (atarashii) or たかい (takai).
If you add an adverb, don’t include inflective endings, such as 〜な (-na) or 〜だ (-da).
Click the With column, then type the replacement word (up to 64 characters).
Delete words
You can delete words from your Japanese user dictionary (but not the basic dictionary). You can’t undo this action.
On your Mac, set up and switch to a Japanese input source.
Click the Input menu in the menu bar, then choose Edit Text Substitutions.
In the Text pane of Keyboard preferences, select the word to remove, then click the Remove button
.
Add frequently used symbols
On your Mac, set up and switch to a Japanese input source.
Click the Input menu in the menu bar, then choose Edit Text Substitutions.
In the Text pane of Keyboard preferences, click the Add button
.In the Replace field, type the hiragana reading for the symbol.
Click the With column, click the Input menu in the menu bar, then choose Show Emoji & Symbols.
If you don’t see Show Emoji & Symbols, choose Apple menu
> System Preferences, click Keyboard, click Keyboard, then select “Show keyboard and emoji viewers in menu bar.”Find the symbol you want, then click it.
Export or import user dictionaries
On your Mac, set up and switch to a Japanese input source.
Click the Input menu in the menu bar, then choose Edit Text Substitutions.
In the Text pane of Keyboard preferences, Command-click each word you want to export, or press Command-A to select all of the words.
Drag the selected words from the Text pane to the desktop or to any folder in the Finder.
The backup file Text Substitutions.plist is created. You can edit the file using TextEdit.
To import a Text Substitutions.plist file, drag the file into the Text pane of Keyboard preferences while using the Japanese input source.
When you’re signed in with the same Apple ID on your Mac and other devices, your user dictionaries are automatically updated and available on all your devices. To see your dictionaries on your iOS devices or iPadOS devices, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.