word grammar checker doesn't work

Question

word grammar checker doesn't work

Sheila.P 0

Word spell and grammar checker doesn’t work in my computer. It only takes the foreign words and names in the text. I’ve done everything in the settings, fixed microsoft office online, took out the foreign languages that were set up, nothing works. It’s in my original language (Portuguese/Brazil). But it doesn’t check grammar, punctuation or spelling (only spelling when I type). I don’t know what else to do. I use word for academic papers and it’s not helping me because of this problem. Does anyone have any idea what else to do?

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Answer 1

I've already done this. Doesn't work. I've just tested some documents. Well, the issue occurs in not all of them. I was thinking, maybe it's because of the bibliographic references from the internet (the link) I put into the document? But even if I do not copy them to a new blank document, the issue occurs. It's frustrating because now I can't rewrite 15 pages again in a new blank document, you see

The quickest way to investigate this is that you share a document in which you observe the problem. Obviously, you shouldn't share anything that contains personal or sensitive information. Make a copy of a problem document and remove most of the content, leaving just what you need to illustrate the problem. Upload the document to (say) OneDrive or Dropbox and post a download link here.

Answer 2

Stefan Blom 354.6K MVP Volunteer Moderator

Word spell and grammar checker doesn’t work in my computer. It only takes the foreign words and names in the text. I’ve done everything in the settings, fixed microsoft office online, took out the foreign languages that were set up, nothing works. It’s in my original language (Portuguese/Brazil). But it doesn’t check grammar, punctuation or spelling (only spelling when I type). I don’t know what else to do. I use word for academic papers and it’s not helping me because of this problem. Does anyone have any idea what else to do?

Which version of Word do you have? If you have the full, desktop version of Word, try the following: In an affected document, select all the text with Ctrl+A. On the Review tab, click Language (in the Language group) and then click Set Proofing Language. In the dialog box, select the desired language—note that you will see a check mark next to the language if it is correctly installed and, if it isn't, you will have to install the required language support.

Clear "Do not check spelling or grammar" as well as "Detect language automatically" and click OK.

Does this improve the situation?

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Sheila.P 0 Reputation points

2026-09-12T20:47:34.33+00:00

I did this e it didn't solve the problem. I said in my question all the proceedings I've already done.
Stefan Blom 354.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-09-13T07:50:10.1766667+00:00

I said in my question all the proceedings I've already done.

You didn't actually specify the steps.

You said elsewhere in the thread that the issue does not affect new documents, which points to a language formatting issue in the affected document (see my previous reply).

After you worked through all the steps to (re-)apply language formatting, there are some more settings at File > Options > Proofing which you may or may not have verified (see the screen shot below).

If none of this helps, what you can do is share a representative sample document with the forum, so that we can have a closer look. Make sure that your sample does not include any sensitive information that you do not want to share.

Answer 3

Hello @Sheila.P

Since spelling is working while you type but Word isn't checking the existing document for grammar or punctuation, first check the proofing language applied to the document itself. Changing Office's general language settings doesn't necessarily change the proofing language already assigned to existing text.

Please try this on one affected document:

Press Ctrl+A to select the entire document.
Go to Review > Language > Set Proofing Language.
Select Portuguese (Brazil).
Make sure Do not check spelling or grammar is not selected.
Since the document is primarily Portuguese, temporarily turn off Detect language automatically as well, then click OK.
Then go to Home > Editor (or press F7) and check whether Grammar now appears under Corrections.

Microsoft Word can apply different proofing languages to different portions of a document, and the Do not check spelling or grammar setting can prevent proofing even when the Office language itself is configured correctly.

Next, go to File > Options > Proofing and confirm that:

Check spelling as you type is enabled;
Mark grammar errors as you type is enabled; and
under Writing Style, Grammar & Refinements is selected.

Microsoft Editor requires an Internet connection for some Editor/refinement functionality, and Microsoft also recommends confirming that its connected/Intelligent Services are enabled when refinements aren't appearing.

Since you mentioned you already repaired Office, here's another useful isolation test: open the same document in Word for the web, select all the text, and set the proofing language to Portuguese (Brazil). Word for the web also uses Microsoft Editor for spelling and grammar.

If grammar works in Word for the web but not Word desktop, that points toward the desktop Office installation/configuration rather than the document itself. If it fails in both, the document's language/proofing configuration becomes more likely.

One other test would help: create a completely new blank document, set Portuguese (Brazil) as its proofing language, type a few intentionally incorrect Portuguese sentences, and press F7. If Editor catches them there but not in your academic documents, the problem is probably stored in the formatting/proofing properties of those existing documents rather than Word globally.

Could you let us know the result of those two tests: a new blank document and the same document in Word for the web? Also, under File > Options > Language, does Portuguese (Brazil) show as installed under Proofing?

References:

Check spelling and grammar in a different language

Set up or change languages used for spelling and grammar

Check grammar, spelling, and more in Word

Editor language availability

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Answer 4

Thomas4-N 22,570 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Sheila.P,

I noticed there is already a good troubleshooting reply covering most of the common proofing-language checks.

Before trying more settings, could you let us know the results of two quick tests?

Does grammar checking work in a brand new blank Word document?
Does grammar checking work if you open the same document in Word for the web?

Also, under File > Account, are you using a Microsoft 365 subscription version of Word or a perpetual version such as Office 2021/2024?

The reason I ask is that if grammar works in Word for the web but not in desktop Word, that points more toward the desktop Office installation or Editor configuration. If it fails in both places, the issue is more likely related to the document's proofing settings or the Portuguese (Brazil) proofing tools themselves.

Those results should help narrow the cause more effectively.

Sheila.P 0 Reputation points

2026-09-12T21:00:40.8766667+00:00

Yes , (incredibly) in a brand new blank Word document it works (I didn't try this before, but the issue is that I need to reuse texts instead of starting from scratch each time, in a blank new file) . I don't know how to use Word for the web. Can you explain? I use Microsoft Office 365 updated.
Thomas4-N 22,570 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-13T06:40:19.64+00:00

Hello Sheila.P,

Since grammar checking works in a brand-new blank document, Word, Microsoft Editor, and the Portuguese (Brazil) proofing tools appear to be working correctly. This points more toward something stored in the affected documents rather than Word itself.

As a test, open one affected document, press Ctrl+A, then hold Shift and press the Left Arrow once to exclude the final paragraph mark. Copy the selected content into a brand-new blank document, save it with a new name, and then test grammar checking again.

If grammar checking starts working in the new file, the original document likely contains a formatting or proofing setting that was carried with the document.

Also, does the problem occur in all of your existing academic documents or only in some of them?
Thomas4-N 22,570 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-17T06:41:22.9066667+00:00

Hello Sheila.P,

Just check in to see how things are going. Let me know if you need anything.
Sheila.P 0 Reputation points

2026-09-17T12:04:31.2733333+00:00

Hi @Thomas4-N I think I've answered your previous observation to another person. If you could see my answer and say something... Also, I think I'll give up!!! Too much trouble (although I need to send the article/document to an academic journal). I found some missing "commas" on my text. So, even if the editor shows that the grammar is checked, it is not. So it's still not working Next time I'll start my documents/articles trying not to copy nothing from this text (I hope I don't need to copy any phrase or paragraph......).
Charles Kenyon 171.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-09-17T15:28:29.9566667+00:00

Grammar checking for commas is subject to specific settings in grammar checking.

Answer 5

Sheila.P 0

I've already done this. Doesn't work. I've just tested some documents. Well, the issue occurs in not all of them. I was thinking, maybe it's because of the bibliographic references from the internet (the link) I put into the document? But even if I do not copy them to a new blank document, the issue occurs. It's frustrating because now I can't rewrite 15 pages again in a new blank document, you see...

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