microsoft word spell check not working well, not recognising many words

The most common cause is that the document contains text which carries an incorrect Language attribute [e.g., a French word which carries an English attribute]. This often happens if the document was edited using Word for Windows [which supports a wider assortment of Languages] or when content is copied from other sources, such as web sites.

If you're certain that all content should carry a specific Language attribute:

1. Select All
2. go to Tools> Language to select the correct Language.
3. Click OK [not Default] to exit the dialog window.
4. Use Undo if necessary.

Note, however, that if the document is from another source it may intentionally contain pasages which carry a Language attribute not supported on a Mac. In that case each passage needs to be addressed individually That may not be a desirable solution if the document has to travel to other systems or other users.

When you say it is not correcting words, do you mean that it is not flagging them as misspelled at all?

If so, it is likely that the words have been set to not check spelling or grammar. This is a setting applied at the character level, not in Word as a whole or in the document. It is like Bold or Italic formatting.

Select an obviously misspelled Word and check its language setting. In Word for Windows you can do this by clicking on the language in the status bar at the bottom of the page. This may be the case on the Mac. Otherwise you can go to the Review tab and under Language, checking the proofing language. If "Do not check spelling or grammar" is checked, try going back into the document and selecting all, then go back to this setting and clear it so that it is completely empty. Then try running spell check again.

Thanks for letting me know. Are you using the desktop version of Word for Mac or the web version?

On a Mac, if spell check isn’t working, open Word, go to Word on the top menu, then Preferences, and select Spelling & Grammar. Make sure “Check spelling as you type” and “Check grammar with spelling” are turned on. Next, go to Tools, Language, and confirm the correct proofing language is selected and “Do not check spelling or grammar” is unchecked. If Grammarly was removed, restart Word to refresh the Editor. If the issue continues, reinstall the Microsoft Editor proofing tools from Microsoft Auto Update, which often restores missing spell check files.

Hi, thanks for reaching out. Can you confirm which version of Word and Windows you’re using?

Sometimes the spell check stops working if the proofing language or Microsoft Editor settings are changed after an update or an add-in removal like Grammarly. Open Word, go to File, Options, then Language, and make sure your preferred language is set and proofing tools are installed. Then go to File, Options, Proofing, and check that “Check spelling as you type” is turned on. If that doesn’t help, try repairing Office from Settings, Apps, Installed apps, select Microsoft 365, choose Modify, then Quick Repair.