Spell Checker in MS Word Doesn't Work

Teresa Piper Dodge 25 Reputation points
2025-08-04T16:19:15.01+00:00

Spell and Grammar Checker in MS Word stopped working. I tried turning it off/on in Options, check all the automated answers except editing the registry. All suggestions welcome.

Thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows
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John Jefferson Doyon 88,720 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2025-08-04T16:54:49.5866667+00:00

Hi, I'm John! I will help you with this.

Could you let me know what specific steps you've tried so far (aside from the registry edit)? For example, have you already checked the proofing language settings or made sure the correct language is applied to your text?

In the meantime, here are a couple of quick things you can try:

  • Open your document, press Ctrl + A to select all, then go to Review > Language > Set Proofing Language and make sure "Do not check spelling or grammar" is unchecked.
  • Also, go to File > Options > Proofing and double-check that both "Check spelling as you type" and "Mark grammar errors as you type" are enabled.

Let me know how it goes or if anything changes, happy to help you troubleshoot further.

Click "Add comment" to let me know.

Regards,

John J.D.

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  1. Stefan Blom 353.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-08-04T17:20:38.2366667+00:00

    In Word, checking spelling and grammar is based on the language format assigned to text in a document. Language is an attribute of text in much the same way as bold or underline. This also means that fixing one document won't fix them all. Existing documents must be dealt with one by one.

    In a problem document, select a small range, for example a single word, and then check in the Review > Language > Set Proofing Language dialog box which language Word has assigned to the range.

    As John suggested, you can select all the text in the main body of the document and (re-)apply the correct language. In the process, turn off "Do not check spelling or grammar"; you may have to click the option more than once to clear it completely.

    You should also clear the option to "Detect language automatically" if it is currently selected. The option is global in the sense that it applies to all future edits in Word (all documents). However, simply clearing it won't fix any incorrect language settings that already exist.

    In addition, you should modify the language of the Normal style. In the Apply Styles pane (Ctrl+Shift+S), type in Normal (if that style name isn't already shown) and click Modify. Click Format > Language to access the language options mentioned above.

    For even more on the spellchecker in Word, have a look at Suzanne S. Barnhill's article http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/MasterSpellCheck.htm.

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  2. Teresa Piper Dodge 25 Reputation points
    2025-08-04T16:20:22.85+00:00

    The AI generated answers didn't work.

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