Spellcheck Not Working and Frustrating

Anonymous
2024-11-26T08:57:06+00:00

Somehow we have a MS Word document that is not spell checking, either automatically recognizing misspelled words (squiggly red line underneath) OR when running spell check. Multiple users of the same file have the same results, not spell checking. Even when I pull a section of text out that has misspelled word and drop into a document that is properly spell checking, the misspelled words don't get recognized. For instance, the error of this text is not recognized: "mitigate delays attributtable"

Looking at our settings of the document look similar to other docs that are properly checking spelling.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Suzanne S Barnhill 279.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2024-11-26T12:49:27+00:00

Press Ctrl+A to select the entire document. Open the Language dialog (Review | Language | Language | Set Proofing Language) and make sure that the "Do not check spelling or grammar" box is not checked. If it is filled, you will need to click twice to clear it. I also advise clearing the option to "Detect language automatically," which generally causes more problems than it solves.

Was this answer helpful?

7 people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

4 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Stefan Blom 353.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2024-11-26T11:09:26+00:00

    "Do not check spelling or grammar" could be selected for the affected text (Language dialog box). For this and more, see Suzanne S. Barnhill's article at http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/MasterSpellCheck.htm.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2024-11-26T13:26:51+00:00

    OMG!!!!! that worked

    many thanks

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2024-11-26T11:25:41+00:00

    did some tests...

    1. when I copied the same text from this message board to a new word doc, it properly spell checks
    2. when I typed the same text mispelled into a new word doc, it properly spell checks
    3. when I copy the same text from the offending doc to a new word doc, it does NOT properly spell check

    Normally I would move on except this is part of a larger template/doc that I don't want to completely retype.

    Microsoft 365 App

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2024-11-26T10:36:43+00:00

    Dear Danny in the Desert,

    Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. I am happy to help you.

    From your description, it seems that this phenomenon is occurring in a specific document, and I have also noticed this phenomenon for multiple users.

    If other documents recognize the spelling correctly, I recommend that you try creating a new document and then manually copy and paste the offending text into the new document to see if the new document avoids this problem.

    I did a test with the text you provided and you can see that I can check the spelling in my documentation here:

    So if you still can't check your spelling after creating a new document, I'd like to confirm the following:

    • The version of Word you are using.
    • If you use a web-based Word application and copy text into Web-based Word, can you check spelling?

    I look forward to your reply. Thanks for your cooperation.

    Sincerely,

    Tin | Microsoft Community Moderator

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments