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As a deadline approaches, often there is not enough time to check a document for spelling and grammar mistakes. Your Microsoft Office program provides tools that can help you correct these mistakes faster. You decide if you want to set up the Microsoft Office program so that you can easily see potential mistakes while you work. Or, if you find the wavy red and green lines distracting, you can just check your document when you are ready to finish it.What do you want to do?

Check spelling and grammar automatically (wavy red, blue, and green lines)

Maybe you are looking for a way to find and fix spelling mistakes in your document more quickly and easily? Or maybe you don't want to see the wavy red lines that your Microsoft Office program displays in your document? This section explains how automatic spelling and grammar checking works and how to turn it on or off.

Notes:

How automatic spelling checking works

When you check spelling automatically while you type, you can be more confident that you won't have to correct a lot of spelling mistakes when you are ready to deliver your document. Your Microsoft Office program can flag misspelled words while you work so that you can easily spot them, as in the following example.misspelled word with wavy red line under it

You can right-click the misspelled word to see suggested corrections.suggested corrections for misspelled word

Depending on the Microsoft Office program you are using, right-clicking a word can provide you with other options, such as adding the word to your custom dictionary.

How automatic grammar checking works (Outlook and Word only)

After you enable automatic grammar checking, Word and Outlook flag the potential grammar and style mistakes while you work in Word documents and in opened Outlook items (except Notes), as shown in the following example.grammar error

You can right-click the mistake for more options.right-click grammar error

On the menu that is shown, you may be given a suggested correction. You also can choose to ignore the error or click About This Sentence to see why the program considers the text to be a mistake.

Turn on or off automatic spelling and grammar checking

In the following Microsoft Office programs:

showWord

  1. Click the Microsoft Office Button button image, and then click Word Options.
  2. Click Proofing.

  3. To turn on or off automatic spelling checking and automatic grammar checking for the currently opened document, do the following:

    1. Under Exceptions for, click Name of currently open file.
    2. Select or clear the Hide spelling errors in this document only and Hide grammar errors in this document only check boxes.

    To turn on or off automatic spelling checking and automatic grammar checking for all documents that you create from now on, do the following:

    1. Under Exceptions for, click All New Documents.
    2. Select or clear the Hide spelling errors in this document only and Hide grammar errors in this document only check boxes.

Important If you turn off automatic spelling checking or automatic grammar checking for a file that you share with other people, you may want to notify those people that you made this change.

showOutlook

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  2. Click the Spelling tab, and then click Spelling and AutoCorrection.
  3. Select or clear the Check spelling as you type and Check grammar as you type check boxes.

Note The spelling and grammar checkers are available for all items except Notes.

Turn on or off automatic spelling checking

In the following Microsoft Office programs:

showPowerPoint

  1. Click the Microsoft Office Button button image, and then click PowerPoint Options.
  2. Click Proofing.
  3. Select or clear the Hide spelling errors check box.

    Note If you want to select this check box, you must also select the Check spelling as you type check box.

showInfoPath, OneNote, Publisher, SharePoint Designer, or Visio

  1. On the Tools menu, click Spelling, and then click Spelling Options.
  2. Select or clear the Hide spelling errors check box.

    Note If you want to select this check box, you must also select the Check spelling as you type check box.

showAccess, Excel, or ProjectThis feature is not available.

AutoCorrect

In some programs, you can also use AutoCorrect to automatically correct spelling as you type, without having to confirm each correction. For example, if you type definately and then type a space or other punctuation, the AutoCorrect feature automatically replaces the misspelled word with definitely. For more information about AutoCorrect, see .

Check spelling and grammar all at once

This method is useful if you want to postpone proofing a document until after you finish editing it. You can check for possible spelling mistakes and then confirm each correction.

Note Grammar checking is available only in Outlook and Word.

In most cases, checking spelling in all the Microsoft Office programs is fairly easy. Press F7, and then use the dialog box or task pane that appears to go through the file or item that you are working on. The following are detailed instructions as well as explanations of the unique options that are available for each Microsoft Office program:

  1. Select the file, item, text passage, or data in which you want to check the spelling.

    The following tells how to do this in the Microsoft Office program that you are using.

    showWord, PowerPoint, Project, Publisher, or SharePoint DesignerClick inside the file. Optionally, to check only a specific piece of text, select the text that you want to check.

    showAccess

    Check the spelling of data in Datasheet view

    1. Open a datasheet.
    2. Select the records, columns, fields, or text whose spelling you want to check.

      The following table lists the mouse techniques for selecting data or records in Datasheet view.

      To select Click
      Data in a field Where you want to start selecting and drag across the data.
      An entire field The left edge of the field in a datasheet, where the pointer changes into button image.
      Adjacent fields The left edge of a field and drag to extend the selection.

      You can also press and hold down SHIFT and then click another cell.

      A column The field selector.
      Adjacent columns The field name at the top of the column, and then drag to extend the selection.
      A record The record selector.
      Multiple records The record selector of the first record, and then drag to extend the selection.
      All records Select All Records on the Edit menu.

    Notes:

    • If a datasheet contains subdatasheets, Access checks the spelling only of the datasheet or subdatasheet where you placed the cursor.
    • To cancel a selection of cells, click any cell on the worksheet.

    Check the spelling of data in Form view

    1. Open a form in Form view.
    2. Select the field or text whose spelling you want to check.

    Check the spelling of the data in a database object in the Navigation Pane

    • In the Navigation Pane, click the table, query, form, view, or stored procedure whose spelling you want to check.

    showExcelClick inside a worksheet that you are editing to check the entire active worksheet, including cell values, cell comments, embedded charts, text boxes, buttons, headers, and footers. Excel does not check protected worksheets, formulas, or text that results from a formula. Also, if the formula bar is active when you check spelling, Excel checks only the contents of the formula bar.

    Optionally, to check only a specific piece of text, select the text you want to check.

    To select Do this
    A range of cells Click the first cell in the range, and then drag to the last cell. Or hold down SHIFT while you press the arrow keys to extend the selection.

    You can also select the first cell in the range and then press F8 to extend the selection by using the arrow keys.

    A large range of cells Click the first cell in the range, and then hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell in the range. You can scroll to make the last cell visible.
    All cells on a worksheet Click the Select All button.

    select all button

    To select the entire worksheet, you can also press CTRL+A.

    Note If the worksheet contains data, CTRL+A selects the current region. Pressing CTRL+A a second time selects the entire worksheet.

    Nonadjacent cells or cell ranges Select the first cell or range of cells, and then hold down CTRL while you select the other cells or ranges.

    You can also select the first cell or range of cells, and then press SHIFT+F8 to add another nonadjacent cell or range to the selection.

    Note You cannot cancel the selection of a cell or range of cells in a nonadjacent selection without canceling the entire selection.

    An entire row or column Click the row or column heading.

    worksheet showing row heading and column heading

    callout 1 Row heading

    callout 2 Column heading

    You can also select cells in a row or column by selecting the first cell and then pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW KEY (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for columns).

    Note If the row or column contains data, CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW KEY selects the row or column to the last used cell. Pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW KEY a second time selects the entire row or column.

    Adjacent rows or columns Drag across the row or column headings. Or select the first row or column; then hold down SHIFT while you select the last row or column.
    Nonadjacent rows or columns Click the column or row heading of the first row or column in your selection; then hold down CTRL while you click the column or row headings of other rows or columns that you want to add to the selection.
    More or fewer cells than the active selection Hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell that you want to include in the new selection. The rectangular range between the active cell and the cell that you click becomes the new selection.

    Note To cancel a selection of cells, click any cell on the worksheet.

    showInfoPathClick inside a form. Optionally, to check only a specific piece of text, select the text you want to check.

    showOneNoteClick inside a page to check the spelling of the text within the active page. Optionally, to check only a specific piece of text, select the text you want to check.

    showOutlookClick inside an open item, such as an e-mail message, to check the spelling of the text in that item. Optionally, to check only a specific piece of text, select the text you want to check.

    Note The spelling checker is available for all items except Notes.

    showVisioClick inside the file. Optionally, to check only a specific piece of text, you can either click inside a text object to check the spelling of all text in that object or select specific text in that object.

  2. Do one of the following:
    • Press F7.
    • Use the mouse in one of these Microsoft Office programs:

      showWord, Excel, or PowerPointOn the Review tab, in the Proofing group, click Spelling (in Word, click Spelling & Grammar).

      showOutlookCreate or open an item, such as an e-mail message, appointment, or contact, and then on the Write tab, in the Proofing group, click Spelling & Grammar.

      showAccessOn the Home tab, in the Records group, click Spelling.

      showInfoPath, OneNote, Publisher, SharePoint Designer, or VisioOn the Tools menu, point to Spelling, and then click Spelling.

  3. In Outlook or Word only, if you want to also check grammar, select the Check grammar check box.
  4. If the program finds spelling mistakes, a dialog box or task pane is displayed, and the first misspelled word found by the spelling checker is selected. You decide how you want to resolve each error that the program finds. The following are instructions about different ways to resolve a misspelled word:

    showI want to fix the error by using one of the suggested wordsSelect the word from the Suggestions list, and then click Change.

    showI want to fix the error by changing the word myself

    Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, InfoPath, and OneNote

    1. Click the word in the document, and edit the word as needed to fix the word.
    2. After you fix the word, click Resume, Find Next (in InfoPath), or Start Spell Check (in OneNote).

    Access, Excel, and Publisher

    1. Click the Not in Dictionary box.
    2. Edit the word.
    3. Click Change.

    SharePoint Designer or Visio

    1. Click the Change to box.
    2. Edit the word.
    3. Click Change.

    showThe misspelled word is actually a real word that I use. I want all the Microsoft Office programs to recognize this word and not treat it as a misspelling

    • Click Add or Add to Dictionary.

    showI want to ignore the misspelled word and move on to the next word

    Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, or Word

    • Click Ignore Once.

    Important Clicking Ignore Once in Outlook, PowerPoint, or Word causes the spelling checker to ignore that instance of the word permanently. In Outlook and Word, you can make the spelling checker find ignored words again. There is no way to make PowerPoint find an instance of a misspelled word after it has been ignored.

    Access, OneNote, Publisher, SharePoint Designer, or Visio

    • Click Ignore Once.

    Important Clicking Ignore in OneNote causes the spelling checker to ignore that instance of the word permanently. There is no way to make OneNote find an instance of a misspelled word after you click Ignore Once for the word.

    InfoPath

    • Click Find Next.

    showI want to ignore all instances of the misspelled word and move on to the next wordClick Ignore All.

    Important Clicking Ignore All in Outlook, PowerPoint, or Word causes the spelling checker to ignore all existing instances of the word permanently. In Outlook and Word, you can make the spelling checker find these ignored words again. There is no way to make PowerPoint find instances of a misspelled word after you click Ignore All for the word.

    showI tend to make this mistake a lot, so I want the program to automatically fix this mistake for me whenever I type it

    Access, Excel, Outlook, Word, or PowerPoint

    • Select the correct word from Suggestions, and then click AutoCorrect.

    OneNote

    1. Click AutoCorrect options.
    2. Type the mistake in the Replace box, and then type the correct spelling in the With box.
    3. Click Add.

    Project, Publisher, or Visio

    1. First you must either cancel or complete the spelling check.
    2. On the Tools menu, select AutoCorrect Options.
    3. Type the mistake in the Replace box, and then type the correct spelling in the With box.
    4. Click Add.

    InfoPath and SharePoint Designer

    Because these programs do not support the AutoCorrect feature, there is no way to have the program automatically fix mistakes while you type.

  5. After you resolve each misspelled word, the program flags the next misspelled word, so that you can decide what you want to do.
  6. In Outlook or Word only, after the program finishes flagging the spelling mistakes, it begins showing you the grammar mistakes. For each mistake, select an option in the Spelling and Grammar dialog box.

Fix problems with the spelling and grammar checker

Find links to information about troubleshooting problems with the spelling and grammar checkers in the See Also section.

See also: