My word does not check spelling

Have you ever had one of those days where you’re finishing an important document, but the spell check in Microsoft Word isn’t working correctly? Sometimes you can’t check one document, and other times you can’t spell-check any document. And sometimes, it’s several words. In this troubleshooting tutorial, I’ll show several fixes.

I’ve encountered this annoyance many times. Usually, I can solve the issue with the steps below unless it’s a protected Microsoft Word document. However, one reason you want to correct this issue is that it may interfere with calculating your Word readability statistics.

Spell Check Not Working – (1 Document)

Sometimes Word’s spell check will only work for one document. However, you can open other Microsoft Word documents, and spell check works. The problem is probably with the preferred languages or formatting settings.

Verify Your Language & Check Spelling Options

1. Open the problem document.
2. Press the Ctrl + A keys to select the entire text.
3. From the Review tab, select Language then Set Proofing Language…
4. In the Language dialog box make sure the correct default language is selected.
5. Verify the checkbox Do not check spelling or grammar is unchecked.

1. Click OK.
2. Recheck your document

I wish the above method were foolproof. Highlighting the entire document would overwrite all paragraph settings throughout. On older versions of Microsoft Word, I would get the following message as shown below. However, in Microsoft 365, I no longer get this alert even if I have spelling errors.

This alert message suggests that your document has a section marked “Do not check spelling or grammar.” Unfortunately, I don’t know any easy way to find these marks. So instead, I find a paragraph with a spelling mistake, highlight it, and press Shift + F1.

This opens the Reveal Formatting pane, where you can verify that your correct language is what you expect and if the paragraph has spell check turned off. In the example below, the highlighted paragraph is coded not to check for spelling.

Tip: If you don’t see the pane, you may have some sort of Function lock on your keyboard. Generally, these keyboards have an F Lock key on the top row because there are other functions mapped. Other keyboards may use an Fn key.

In the above example, I misspelled the word “government”. Word did not flag this instance because the paragraph was marked not to do spelling or grammar checks.

To fix the issue, highlight your paragraph and click the Language link in the Reveal Formatting dialog. This will open the Language dialog box, and you can deselect the check spelling or grammar option checkbox.

Are Multiple Proofing Languages Set

Looking at the screen print above, you’ll notice that I have three proofing languages above the double line. They are variations of English for Australia, Canada, United States. Word can get confused if you don’t enable “Detect language automatically“.

According to this support page, Microsoft noted several suggestions:

• Automatic language detection requires that a sentence of text be written in that language. Depending on the length of your sentences, you might need to type several sentences before Word has enough contextual information to automatically detect the language and apply the correct dictionary.
• Words that are spelled the same way in several languages, such as “centre” in English (United Kingdom) and French (France) might cause the Detect language automatically check box to incorrectly identify the language of text. To solve this problem, type more words in the language you want, or clear the Detect language automatically check box.

Review Your Proofing Exception Options

You should check another setting, as there is a Word option where you can elect to hide spelling errors. You can set this option on an individual file.

1. Click the File tab.
2. From the left panel, select Options.
3. In the Word Options dialog, click Proofing.
4. Scroll to the bottom area called Exceptions for:
5. Check to see if the Hide spelling errors in this document only check box is enabled.

Spell Check Not Working – (All Documents)

This second problem can be a real annoyance with many variations. The suggestions range from easy to a Microsoft Windows registry change.

Option 1: Verify the “check spelling as you type” Feature

This feature is an option to see your mistakes as they happen. In some cases, I’ve seen toggling this check box “on” and “off” fix the problem. Additionally, those red squiggly underlines might be from the Word Exclusion Dictionary.

To verify Spelling and Grammar Checkers are on,

1. Click the File tab.
2. From the left menu, select Options at the bottom.
3. In the Word Options dialog, click Proofing.
4. Check the boxes for Check spelling as you type and Mark grammar errors as you type. (See picture above.)
5. Click OK.

Note: For older versions of Word, use the Check Document feature on your Review tab.

Option 2: Check for Conflicting Word Add-in

Still, your problem may be caused by a combination of factors such as another Word add-in. The way to verify this is to see if the spellchecker works in “safe mode”. Safe Mode is a reduced functionality state where Microsoft Word loads without add-ins.

1. Hold down your Ctrl key and then press the icon or menu option for Microsoft Word.
2. Click Yes when the Safe Mode dialog appears.

1. Open up your document.
2. Press F7 to run spell-check.

If the spellchecker works, you need to figure out which add-in is causing the problem. There are two areas where you may see these.

The first is from the Insert tab.

If you click My Add-ins, you will see your installed items. If you hover over an item, a 3-dot menu will appear where you can remove the item.

Additionally, you can access this area from the Word Options dialog box under Add-ins. Hopefully, you recognize an add-in name such as Grammarly. Then you can press the Go button.

You’ll then get a COM Add-ins dialog where you can uncheck the box so it won’t load or remove it. 

I’d suggest closing Word and reopening your document before checking again.

Option 3: Rename Your Word Template

Your Microsoft Word document template, which is either normal.dot or normal.dotm, might also be causing an issue. You can find these files in your Microsoft Templates folder. When you rename the template, Word will reset to the default settings.

Because your global template file has your settings, I would recommend renaming the file to something like normalPRV.dot or normalPRV.dotm so you can change the name if this suggestion doesn’t work.

Tip: If you need to confirm the location of your template you can press your Windows key + r. This will open the Run dialog, where you can copy and paste the command below.

%appdata%MicrosoftTemplates

Option 4: Try Detect and Repair

Now and then, I have the spell-check feature go wonky after some other software update or hardware change. For example, a registry entry has become corrupted. In these rare cases, you may have to repair your installation.

Option 5: Rename a Windows Registry Folder

I don’t like giving instructions on using the Windows registry. But sometimes, this online repair works. If you’re unfamiliar with this area, I strongly recommend reading Microsoft’s https://docs.microsoft.com/en-US/troubleshoot/windows-server/performance/windows-registry-advanced-users.

As with an earlier suggestion, I rename the folder rather than deleting it. Some people rely on third-party dictionaries that may use some of these entries. If you find after renaming the folder, your 3rd party dictionary doesn’t work; you can revert the changes.

To rename the Proofing Tools folder,

1. Close Word.
2. Press the Windows key + R.
3. In the Run dialog box type regedit.
4. Click the OK button.
5. Expand the left pane to HKEY_CURRENT_USER | Software | Microsoft | Shared Tools| Proofing Tools
6. Right-click the folder named 1.0
7. Select Rename from the menu.

1. Rename folder to 1PRV.0
2. Close regedit.
3. Restart Microsoft Word.

Specific Word Isn’t Flagged as Misspelled

Sometimes, you’ve run through the steps above and Word still doesn’t flag an item that is misspelled. This can be frustrating, but sometimes the problem is us. Yes, I have misspelled words when adding them to Word’s custom spell check dictionary. That’s why I also created an exclude dictionary for Word.

Check Your Custom Dictionary

1. Click the File tab.
2. From the left menu, select Options at the bottom.
3. In the Word Options dialog, click Proofing.
4. Scroll down to When correcting spelling in Microsoft Office program section.
5. Click the Custom Dictionaries… button.
6. Click the Edit Word List… button.

1. Find your misspelled word and delete it.
2. Add correct variation if needed.
3. Click OK.

Try Another Online Option & Then Fix

This isn’t a fix for the problem, but it buys you time if you’ve got a deliverable. In the interim, you can save your document and try to open or copy it to another online word processor such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word Online. You will need to have an online account. Once you’ve imported your document, use that system’s spell-checker.

Hopefully, these solutions helped you isolate why spell-check wasn’t working. Now, you can continue to write your great novel, business proposal, letter, or tutorial.

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Get your automatic editor back in action

Updated on April 20, 2022

While Word’s spell check works well most of the time, sometimes it can appear to stop operating. Some simple troubleshooting steps will quickly get Word’s spelling and grammar-checking tool back up and running. These solutions apply to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, Word 2010, and Word for Mac.

Causes of Word’s Spell Check Not Working

There are several reasons Word’s spelling and grammar-checking tool might not be working. You might have changed a simple setting, or the language settings may be off. Exceptions may have been placed on the document or the spell-check tool, or the Word template may have an issue.

Whatever the reason, some easy fixes are likely to have Word back to pointing out mistakes in your documents soon.

The spelling and grammar checker may return an error message about the default language or say «Spelling and grammar check is complete» without flagging any errors. You may not receive any message but may notice the tool isn’t functioning.

Add Grammarly to Word: Learn How Now

How to Fix Word’s Spell Checker Not Working

Follow these troubleshooting steps in the order we present, from the simplest solution to the most complex.

1. Make sure Word spell check is turned on, the most likely culprit and most straightforward solution. If you haven’t enabled automatic spell-checking, the tool won’t function as you expect. Also, select the Mark grammar errors as you type and Check grammar with spelling check boxes.

   On a Mac, select Word > Preferences > Spelling & Grammar, and select the Check spelling as you type and Check grammar as you type check boxes.

2. Check Word’s proofing language. Word may be set to the wrong proofing language, causing it to miss errors. Make sure Word is proofing in the correct language, and see if this solves the problem.

3. Check for proofing exceptions. A setting for Hide proofing errors, or other exceptions, may have been enabled in the document. The spell-check tool might not work as expected if a user has made exceptions for checking the spelling or grammar.

4. Open Word in Safe Mode. A Word add-in can interfere with the spelling and grammar-checking tool, causing it to work sporadically or not at all. If you start Word in Safe Mode, add-ins aren’t enabled. See if the spelling and grammar-checking tool works. If it does, move on to step 5.

5. Disable add-ins one at a time. An add-in might be the problem if the spelling and grammar-checking tool worked in Safe Mode. Disable add-ins one at a time to isolate the one causing the issue. When you find the culprit, permanently disable it.

6. Rename the default template. If the issue still isn’t resolved, there could be something wrong with Word’s global template, which is called normal.dotm. Renaming the template could fix the problem. Word will generate a new default document without any customizations.

   When you rename the normal.dotm template, you lose the default settings you established, including styles, toolbars, AutoText entries, and macros.

7. Repair Word. If all your efforts haven’t resolved the spell-check problem, use the built-in Office Repair utility to fix Word. This tool repairs the entire Office suite even if there’s only one application you want to fix.

   This tool is only available for Windows versions of Office.

8. Contact Microsoft Word. If you still can’t fix the problem with Word’s spelling and grammar-checking tool not working, visit the Microsoft Word help page. With a searchable knowledge base, community forums, and contact information, you’ll find additional help.

FAQ

• Why is Grammarly not working in Word?

  If Grammarly in Word isn’t working, you may be working in a password-protected document, you may have opened the document in Protected View, or the document is stored on a network. To solve the problem, save your document to a local drive and open it from there.

• How do I turn off spell check in Word?

  To turn off spell check in Word on a PC, go to File > Options > Proofing. Uncheck the box next to Check spelling as you type. On a Mac, go to Tools > Spelling & Grammar and select Hide Spelling Errors.

• How do I reset spell check in Word?

  To reset Word’s spell check on a PC, go to the Tools menu and select Spelling & Grammar > Options. In the Proofing Tools section, select Recheck Document. On a Mac, go to Tools > Spelling & Grammar and select Reset Ignored Words and Grammar.

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How to Fix the Spell Check Not Working in Word

Fix Microsoft Word Spell Checker Not Working: Today, Computer plays a very crucial role in everyone’s life. Using computers you can perform so many tasks like using the Internet, editing documents, playing games, storing data & files and many more. Different tasks are performed using different software and in today’s guide, we would talk about Microsoft Word which we use to create or edit any document on Windows 10.

Microsoft Word: Microsoft Word is a word processor developed by Microsoft. It has been in use for many decades and it is the most used office application among other Microsoft applications available like Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, etc. around the world. Microsoft Word has many features which make it very easy for the users to create any document. And one of it’s most important feature is Spell Checker, which automatically checks the spelling of words in a text document. Spell Checker is a computer program which checks the spelling of the text by comparing it with a stored list of words.

Since nothing is perfect, the same is the case with Microsoft Word. Users are reporting that Microsoft Word is facing the issue where the spell checker is not working anymore. Now since spell checker is one of its main features, this is a very serious issue. If you try to write any text inside the Word document and by mistake, you have written something wrong then the Microsoft Word spell checker would automatically detect it and will immediately show you a red line below the incorrect text or sentence in order to warn you that you have written something wrong.

Since the Spell Check is not working in Microsoft Word then even if you write something wrong, you will not get any kind of warning about the same. So you won’t be able to correct your spellings or grammatical errors automatically. You need to manually go through the document word by word to find any issues. I hope by now you have realized the importance of Spell Checker in Microsoft Word as it increases the efficiency of article writing.

Why is my Word document is not showing spelling errors?

The Spell Checker does not recognize misspelled words in Microsoft Word because of the following reasons:

• Proofing tools are missing or not installed.
• Disabled EN-US Speller add-in.
• “Do not check spelling or grammar” box is checked.
• Another language is set as default.
• The following subkey exists in the registry:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftShared ToolsProofingTools1.0Overrideen-US

So, if you are facing the problem of spell checker not working in Microsoft Word then don’t worry as in this article we will discuss several methods using which you can fix this issue.

Make sure to create a restore point just in case something goes wrong.

Below are a few of the different methods using which you can fix the problem of Microsoft Word spell checker not working. This is not a very big issue and can be easily solved by adjusting some settings. Make sure to follow the methods in the hierarchical order.

Method 1: Uncheck “Do not check spelling or grammar” under Language

Microsoft word has special function where it automatically detects the language you are using to write the document and it tries to correct the text accordingly. Although this is a very useful feature but sometimes instead of fixing the issue, it creates more problems.

To Verify Your Language & Check Spelling Options follow the below-listed steps:

1.Open Microsoft Word or you can open any Word documents on your PC.

2.Select all the text by using the shortcut Windows key + A.

3.Click on the Review tab that is available at the top of the screen.

4.Now click on the Language under Review and then click on Set Proofing Language option.

4.Now in the dialog box that opens, make sure to select the correct Language.

6.Next, Uncheck the checkbox next to “Do not check spelling or grammar” and “Detect language automatically“.

7.Once done, click on the OK button to save the changes.

8.Restart Microsoft Word to apply changes.

After completing the above steps, now check if you’re able to fix Spell Check Not Working in Microsoft Word.

Method 2: Check Your Proofing Exceptions

There is feature in Microsoft Word using which you can add exceptions from all the proofing and spelling checks. This feature is utilized by users who do not wish to spell check their work while working with a custom language. Even so, if the above exceptions are added, then it can create problems and you may face Spell Check not working issue in Word.

To remove exceptions follow the below steps:

1.Open Microsoft Word or you can open any Word documents on your PC.

2.From the Word menu, click on File then select Options.

3.The Word Options dialog box will open up. Now click on Proofing from the left-hand side window.

4.Under Proofing option, scroll down to the bottom to reach Exceptions for.

5.From the “Exceptions for” drop-down select All Documents.

6.Now uncheck the check-box next to “Hide spelling errors in this document only” and “Hide grammar errors in this document only”.

7.Once done, click OK to save changes.

8.Restart Microsoft Word in order to apply the changes.

After your application is restarted, check if you’re able to fix Spell Checker not working in Word issue.

Method 3: Disable Do not check spelling or grammar

This is another option in Microsoft Word which can stop spelling or grammar check. This option is useful when you want to ignore certain words from spell checker. But if this option is incorrectly configured then it may lead to spell checker not working properly.

To revert this setting follow the below steps:

1.Open any saved Word document on your PC.

2.Select the particular word which is not being shown in spell checker.

3.After selecting that word, press Shift + F1 key.

4.Click on the Language option under Formatting of the selected text window.

5.Now make sure to uncheck “Do not check spelling or grammar” and “Detect language automatically“.

6.Click on OK button to save the changes and restart Microsoft Word.

After restarting the application, check if the Microsoft word spell checker is working fine or not.

Method 4: Rename the Proofing Tools Folder under Registry Editor

1.Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry.

2.Click Yes button on the UAC dialog box and the Registry Editor window will open.

3.Navigate to the following path under Registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftShared ToolsProofing Tools

4.Under Proofing Tools, right-click on the 1.0 folder.

5.Now from the right-click context menu select Rename option.

6.Rename the folder from 1.0 to 1PRV.0

7.After renaming the folder, close the Registry and restart your PC to save changes.

After completing the above steps, check if you’re able to fix Spell Check not working in Microsoft Word issue.

Method 5: Start Microsoft Word in Safe Mode

Safe mode is a reduced functionality state where Microsoft Word loads without any add-ins. Sometimes the Word Spell Checker might not work because of the conflict arising from the Word add-ins. So if you start the Microsoft Word in the safe mode then this might fix the issue.

To start Microsoft word in Safe mode, press & hold the CTRL key then double-click on any Word document to open. Click Yes to confirm that you want to open the Word document in Safe Mode. Alternatively, you can also press & hold the CTRL key then double-click on the Word shortcut on the desktop or single click if the Word shortcut is in your Start menu or on your Taskbar.

Once the document opens, press F7 to run the spell-check.

In this way, Microsoft Word Safe Mode can help you fixing the Spell Check not working issue.

Method 6: Rename Your Word Template

If the Global template either the normal.dot or normal.dotm is corrupted then you could face the Word Spell Check not working issue. The Global template is usually found in Microsoft Templates folder which is under the AppData folder. To fix this issue you will need to rename the Word Global template file. This will reset Microsoft Word to the default settings.

To rename the Word Template follow the below steps:

1.Press Windows Key + R then type the following & hit Enter:

%appdata%MicrosoftTemplates

2.This will open the Microsoft Word Templates folder, where you can see the normal.dot or normal.dotm file.

5.Right-click on the Normal.dotm file and select Rename from the context menu.

6.Change the file name from Normal.dotm to Normal_old.dotm.

After completing the above steps, the word template will be renamed and Word settings will be reset to default.

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Hopefully, using one of the above methods you will be able to fix your problem of Microsoft Word Spell Check not working. If you still have any questions regarding this tutorial then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.