When you use the spelling checker, it compares the words in your document with those in the tool's main dictionary. The main dictionary contains most common words, but it might not include proper names, technical terms, or acronyms. In addition, some words might be capitalized differently in the main dictionary than in your document. Adding such words or capitalization to a custom dictionary prevents the spelling checker from flagging them as mistakes.

Important Any custom dictionary setting you change in one Microsoft Office program affects all the other programs.What do you want to do?

Enable custom dictionaries

You can use the Custom Dictionaries dialog box to manage your custom dictionaries. However, none of the settings in this dialog box take effect unless you enable custom dictionaries.

  1. Do the following in one of these Microsoft Office programs:

    showWord, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access

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

    showOutlook

    1. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Spelling tab, and then click Spelling and AutoCorrection.
    2. Click Proofing.

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

    showI can't click Spelling Options because it is not availableA file must be open before you can click Spelling Options. Create or to make this command available.

    showProject

    1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
    2. Click the Spelling tab, and then click More Spelling Options.
  2. Make sure the Suggest from main dictionary only check box is cleared.
  3. Click Custom Dictionaries.
  4. In the Custom Dictionaries dialog box, for any custom dictionaries you want to use, make sure the check box next to each of those dictionaries is selected.

Open the Custom Dictionaries dialog box

Do the following in one of these Microsoft Office programs.

showWord, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access

  1. Click the Microsoft Office Button button image, and then click Program Name Options.
  2. Click Proofing.
  3. Click Custom Dictionaries.

showOutlook

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Spelling tab, and then click Spelling and AutoCorrection.
  2. Click Proofing.
  3. Click Custom Dictionaries.

showInfoPath, OneNote, Publisher, SharePoint Designer, or Visio

  1. On the Tools menu, click Spelling, and then click Spelling Options.

    showI can't click Spelling Options because it is not availableA file must be open before you can click Spelling Options. Create or to make this command available.

  2. Click Custom Dictionaries.

showProject

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  2. Click the Spelling tab, and then click More Spelling Options.
  3. Click Custom Dictionaries.

Create a custom dictionary

  1. Open the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.

  2. Click New.
  3. In the File name box, type a name for the custom dictionary.
  4. Click Save.
  5. If you want the new dictionary to be used for another language, while the new dictionary is still selected on the Dictionary List, select the language on the Dictionary language menu.

Add an existing custom dictionary

The Custom Dictionaries dialog box lists the available custom dictionaries the program can use to check spelling. If the dictionary you want to use - for example, one you purchased from a third-party company - is installed on your computer but not listed in the Dictionary list box, you can add it.

  1. Open the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.

  2. Click Add.
  3. Locate the folder containing the custom dictionary you want, and then double-click the dictionary file.

If you need additional help installing a third-party dictionary, see the installation instructions for that dictionary.

Add, delete, or edit words in a custom dictionary

  1. Open the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.

  2. Select the dictionary you want to edit. Make sure you do not clear the check box.
  3. Click Edit Word List.
  4. Do one of the following:
    • To add a word, type it in the Word(s) box, and then click Add.
    • To delete a word, select it in the Dictionary box, and then click Delete.
    • To edit a word, delete it, and then add it with the spelling you want.
    • To remove all words, click Delete all.

Change the language associated with a custom dictionary

By default, when you create a new custom dictionary, the program sets the dictionary to All Languages, meaning that the dictionary is used when you check the spelling of text in any language. However, you can associate a custom dictionary with a particular language so that the program uses the dictionary only when you check the spelling of text in a particular language.

  1. Open the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.

  2. In the Dictionary list box, click the dictionary you want to change.

  3. On the Dictionary language menu, click the language for which dictionary should be used.

Change the default custom dictionary to which the spelling checker adds words

Whenever you check the spelling of a file, you have an option to add a word flagged as a misspelling to a custom dictionary. The default custom dictionary is the dictionary to which the program adds the word when you do this.

Do the following to specify the default custom dictionary that Microsoft Office programs use for all languages or for each language that you work in:

  1. Open the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.

  2. In the Dictionary list box, do one of the following:
    • To change the default dictionary for all languages, click the dictionary name under All languages.
    • To change the default dictionary for a particular language, click the dictionary name under the language heading.
  3. Click Change Default.

    Note If there is only one dictionary under a heading, then it is must be the default dictionary. In this case, the button is not available.

The next time you check spelling, the program uses the default custom dictionaries you selected. For more information, see .

See also: