Language settings - US English to UK English

If you type into Word from the keyboard into a new blank document, the proofing language is that defined in Windows as the default input language. If that isn't happening you don't have UK English set as your default input language.

If you copy text from elsewhere, especially the internet or from other people's documents, or create documents from other people's templates, then the proofing language applied to the source text will be copied with it, or as defined by the paragraph styles of that template.

Every character in a document can have its own separate proofing language. 

The language button, optionally available in the Word status bar, will indicate the language at the cursor. Click that language button and ensure Detect Language Automatically is unchecked.

If necessary, you can select the whole document (CTRL+A) and apply the required language to the selection using the aforementioned language button.

It doesn't matter what language pack you have installed (and note that an English language pack will include all "flavors" of English) or what language you have selected as the default. What matters is the language actually applied to the text; this is a character property just like bold or italic and can vary from word to word. For more, see http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/MasterSpellCheck.htm

An easy way to check the language of selected text or at the insertion point is to add the Language item to Word's status bar; it will then reflect the language in use at any point.

Suzanna

Thanks for that but it should matter when the flavour of English selected is "English UK" and there are no other language packs installed. 

Frankly I don't want to have to keep changing/checking the language Word is using. I want it to use the language I have selected as default

Anna

sorry this should be the continuation of the previous reply. 

So I went into control panel right clicked on the Office application and then followed through on your process. The "Repair" changes nothing

I should add that if you are in a document and it is spell checking a word using English United States - Even if you change the language at the bottom of the spell check panel, it flips straight back to English US for the next word. Nuts!!

Hi Mike,

For us to properly identify what is causing the issue, we just need to clarify some information. Please answer the following:

• When did you first encounter this issue?
• Any changes that took place in your computer before this issue occurred?

Meanwhile, we suggest that you Repair your Office application to refresh your Microsoft Office Word. Please refer to the instructions below:

1. Right-click the Start button (lower-left corner), and select Programs and Features on the pop-up menu.
2. Right-click the Microsoft Office product you want to repair, and select Change.
3. From the How would you like to repair your Office Programs screen, select Online Repair to make sure everything gets fixed, and then select Repair. The Quick Repair option is also available, which runs faster but only detects and then replaces corrupted files.
4. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete.

Once done, please check again your Word language settings if it is set to UK - English. Try to change your computer's language settings as well.

Let us know the outcome of the suggested steps.

Thank you.