6 Ways to Spell Check Is Not Working in Microsoft Word

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Before you begin, try to restart Microsoft Word to fix temporary bugs and glitches.

Fix 1: Enable Check Spelling As You Type

The ‘Check spelling as you type’ setting must be checked or enabled for Word to spell-check the document in real-time and show the familiar zig-zag red line underneath the misspelled word.

Step 1:Click on theFiletab.

Step 2:SelectOptionsin the right sidebar towards the bottom of the menu.

Step 3:Under the Proofing tab, make sureCheck spelling as you typeis checked.

Step 4:If you are wondering why Word is not spell-checking words in upper case letters, that’s because there is a separate option calledIgnore words in UPPERCASE.

Fix 2: Check If Spelling Errors are Disabled For the Document

It may be possible that the document you are editing has been added to the exceptions list, which is why Word is not proofreading it for spelling errors.

Step 1:Click on theFiletab.

Step 2:SelectOptionsin the right sidebar towards the bottom of the menu.

Step 3:SelectProofingand towards the bottom, make sure that theHide spelling errors in this document-onlyoption are unchecked.

Note that the ‘Hide spelling errors in this document only’ option will be enabled and greyed out if ‘Check spelling as you type’ is disabled. That means you can’t disable it either. Follow the steps in the previous point to enable that before you can disable this.

Fix 3: Add a Language to Check Spelling

Even if one is writing or editing a document in English, Word must have the correct proofing language selected. At times, proofing language is accidentally set to a foreign language.

Step 1:Click on theFiletab.

Step 2:SelectOptionsin the right sidebar towards the bottom of the menu.

Step 3:SelectLanguagefrom the sidebar and check if your preferred proofing language is installed. If not, click onAdd a Languageand select your desired proofing language to install it.

Step 4:Select the proofing language from the pop-up menu and click onAdd.

Fix 4: Add a Custom Dictionary

At times Word app may struggle to identify what you’ve typed. For example, when you are using slang or short form, the app won’t detect the spelling accurately. In such cases, you can add the word you’ve typed to Word’s inbuilt dictionary.

Justright-clickon the word and selectAdd to Dictionaryoption underSpellingin the context menu.

Fix 5: Update Document Style

Microsoft Wordallows users to create and set Styles, a collection of formatting options including a spell checker you can set for the entire document. This is separate from the universal options that we saw in the above steps.

Step 1:Under the Home tab,right-clickon the chosen Style and selectModifyfrom the context menu.

Step 2:Click onFormatat the bottom left corner of the screen and selectLanguage.

Step 3:Make sure to uncheck theDo not check spelling or grammaroption

Fix 6: Use the Grammarly Extension

If spell check is not working onMicrosoft Word, you can use a third-party tool.Grammarlyis a tool that will highlight and suggest spelling errors and allow you to correct them quickly with a single click. They also have an add-in for both Word and Outlook desktop apps.

To know more, readHow to Use Grammarly in Microsoft Word for Windows and Mac

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Last updated on 26 August, 2024

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