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How can I spellcheck using two languages simultaneously?

Elizabeth W 30 Reputation points
2023-09-19T15:24:53.4866667+00:00

I have 100s of documents where each document has 100s of sentence that alternate between Spanish and English. I want to spellcheck in English and Spanish without highlighting each sentence and specifying the applicable language for that text (extremely tedious). I don't want to turn spellcheck off.

Potential Solution #1) Install a combined Spanish-English word-database/dictionary so that words from both languages are simultaneous recognized (a merged dictionary with words from both the current Spanish and current English dictionaries) .

Potential Solution #2) Have the ability to simultaneous spellcheck against 2 different word-databases (eg, check against English and check against Spanish within the same document without having to highlight text and choose language for each section. (Perhaps this options is available but I can't activate it?)

Potential Solution #3) Have Word automatically recognize the language for text that "rapidly" alternates between languages. As it stands now, there is red underlined text all over the place. (This would be a Microsoft fix.)

None of these options seem to be available so I am left with the tedious task of manually specifying language (ie, hundreds of wasted hours). Please help.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows

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  1. Edge Cliff 75 Reputation points
    2026-03-13T09:22:22.12+00:00

    You can't. Microsoft Office developers are incapable of grasping the idea of a person writing in multiple languages, for them it's an overachievement, like if you're that smart why would you even to write anything in the first place, you're like a genius enlightened guru or something, I mean COME ON, speaking something else than english? I'll know it when I see it! It's a telltale IQ>300

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  1. Charles Kenyon 167.1K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-09-19T15:47:12.7233333+00:00

    You need to have the appropriate proofing language applied to your text. One of the simplest ways to do this is to use styles that have a language component.

    Using Styles for Proofing Language Settings

    You can assign keyboard shortcuts to styles, as well.

    Assigning Keyboard Shortcuts in Microsoft Word

    While Word does have a setting to automatically detect language, I do not recommend using it. Word often guesses wrong with this setting.

    Note: This is not the place to make suggestions to Microsoft. It is a user-to-user support forum. If you want Microsoft people who can make changes to see something, use the Feedback mechanisms.

    How to Give Feedback About Microsoft Products

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