Spell Checker Update

Word 2007+

A discussion of how Spell Checker works and how it has improved over the years.

Support.Office.com


See all Topics word

REDUCE MISSPELLLINGS

You might be missing typos in tables

If you've ever found typos in a table or list that you're positive you remember spell checking, chances are that the typos are in words that are purposely skipped during the spell check.

By default, SpellChecker ignores words that are all upper-case or that have numbers in them. In most cases, this is probably fine. However, especially with purchased data, you'll occasionally come across tables where everything is capitalized.

Fortunately, you can change the way SpellChecker works so that all words are included.

To do so, run the SpellChecker on a data selection that will cause the Spelling dialog box to be displayed.

Then, click the Options button and clear the Words In UPPERCASE and Words With Numbers check boxes.

Finally, click OK and then Cancel.


See all Topics word

Spell Check On

Spell check off

You can run Spelling and Grammar checking in Word by clicking on the ABC icon on the Standard toolbar (it's on the Review ribbon in Word 2007), going to Tools> Spelling and Grammar, or just hitting the F7 key.

As you go through the document, you may find areas that you would like to correct. You don't have to close the Spell checker, just click into the document, make the changes and click Resume in the Spell checker dialog box.

You can also flip focus to the document with Ctrl+Tab.
Then go back to checking with Resume.


See all Topics word

Protected Spell Checker

Correct the protected

Unfortunately, Word's protection feature disables a huge number of important functions, even if you only protect a single section of a document.

Besides the spellchecker, many other items on the View, Insert, Format, Tools and Table menus are disabled, as well as most items on the Drawing, Database, Visual Basic and Picture toolbars.

This MS Word MVP FAQ Site article lays out the steps needed to

Enable the spellchecker in a protected document.

One of the important elements is "NoReset=True". The act of removing and then re-protecting a document will reset the data without this line.

In Office 2007+ Protection is found on the Review tab:

See all Topics word

Custom Dictionary

Spell it the way you want to!

Although Office has its own dictionary, it probably does not contain all the words and jargon that you use. If this is the case, you can add your own frequently used terms, and names to the dictionary.

1. Open Word
   
2. From the Tools menu, click Options
   (See link below for 2007)
   
3. Select the Spelling and Grammar tab
   
4. Click the Custom Dictionaries button
   
5. Place a check beside the dictionary you want to modify
   
6. Click the Modify button
   
7. In the Word field, type in the word you want to add to the dictionary and click the Add button Click OK
   
8. Click OK to close the Custom Dictionaries dialog box
   
9. Click OK to close the Options dialog box

If you want to remove a word from the dictionary, complete steps 1 through 7. Select the word you want to remove and click the Delete button.
The Custom.dic file is a text file. You can create it or edit it using notepad.
Multiple dictionaries can be created for special purposes, like a list of employee names.
The Custom.dic file is used by all of the Office applications that do Spell checking.
How to add a custom dictionary in Word

About.com: Working With Dictionaries in Word

Microsoft.com How to create an exclude dictionary in Word

Copy the Custom Dictionary to a Floppy Disk and Use It on Other Computers

Error when you add a word to the custom dictionary


See all Topics word

Word Form or Content

Shape or substance

"The legibility of a typeface should not be evaluated on its ability to generate a good word shape.

Word shape is no longer a viable model of word recognition. The bulk of scientific evidence says that we recognize a word's component letters, then use that visual information to recognize a word. In addition to perceptual information, we also use contextual information to help recognize words during ordinary reading, but that has no bearing on the word shape versus parallel letter recognition debate. "

The science of word recognition
by Kevin Larson
From EyeMagazine
Suggested by:
Microsoft Typography

Also see:
Cmabrigde


See all Topics word

Don't Check Spelling

Avoid the squiggles

Omitting text selections from Word's spell checking process

If you frequently include macro code listings or other chunks of cryptic information in your documents, Word's spell checker is likely to have a field day pointing out unrecognized words.

You can make Word's spell checker skip over code listings and other information that it is likely not to recognize by applying the No Proofing language setting.

1. Select the text you would like the spell checker to skip.
   
2. Next, select Tools>Language Set Language from the menu bar.
   
3. In the Mark Selected Text As list box, select the (No Proofing) option and then click OK.

From now on, the spell checker will skip over the text you selected without flagging any spelling or grammatical errors.
Alan Wyatt's WordTips site has a comprehensive list of spell checker links: Spelling and Grammar Checking

BTW: If you want to spell check Web forms and information boxes you fill out using Internet Explore, look at ieSpell:

"ieSpell is a free Internet Explorer browser extension that spell checks text input boxes on a webpage. It should come in particularly handy for users who do a lot of web-based text entry (e.g. web mails, forums, blogs, diaries).
Even if your web application already includes spell checking functionality, you might still want to install this utility because it is definitely much faster than a server-side solution. Plus you get to store and use your personal word list across all your applications, instead of maintaining separate ones on each application."

See all Topics word