Spell Check Not Working In Word (Easy Fix)

Microsoft Word is the most widely used Office application for writing and editing documents. It comes with many helpful features for creating and managing documents efficiently. But, if any of them stop working, it can disrupt the entire task. 

Spell Checker is a useful feature in MS Word, which allows you to compose documents using correct and authentic spellings. You can’t imagine the inconvenience if a document is filled with incorrectly spelled words.

However, many Office users often report that Spell check not working in Word. In this section, we’ll provide some simple tricks to tackle this error and make the feature work again.

Why MS Word Spell Check not Working?

Sometimes, the Spell Checker can stop recognizing the words entirely. In that case, you won’t be able to rectify any spelling errors present in a document. So, before you learn how to make the Spell Checker work again, check the factors that can disable this feature.

• You may have accidentally clicked on ‘Do not check spelling or grammar’.
• A different language is set as the default one for your MS Word.
• You might not have installed proofing tools or spell check plug-in.
• The following key is present in your Registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\ProofingTools\1.0\Override\en-US

Solutions to Try when Spell Check not Working in Word

To begin with, this issue isn’t quite serious. Hence, you won’t need professional assistance to resolve it. So, if you follow the solutions provided below, you can enable the Spell Checker in Word. However, before you begin with the troubleshooting, ensure to make a restore point. 

Go through these solutions in chronological order when you attempt troubleshooting the issue:

Disable the ‘Do Not Check Spelling Or Grammar’ Option

Microsoft Word Spell Checker functions automatically. However, there’s an option called ‘Do not check spelling or grammar’. This stops the automatic spelling check process. You must make sure that you haven’t accidentally activated this feature. If yes, change it through the following steps:

1. At first, open any document of MS Word.
2. Now, select the text of the entire document by pressing Ctrl+A.
3. Look for the ‘Review’ tab and find the ‘Language’ option in it. Choose ‘Set Proofing Language’ and select the correct language. 
4. Thereafter, uncheck the box next to ‘Do not check spelling or grammar’. Next, click ‘OK’ to save the necessary changes.
5. Finally, relaunch Microsoft Word and check if the issue still persists.

Make Changes In Proofing Exceptions

Microsoft Word has another important feature. This feature allows you to exempt some texts from undergoing spelling or grammar check. It is used when a user is working on a custom language and doesn’t want automatic spell checks. However, the presence of any such exceptions can result in spell check not working in Word. 

So, make sure to turn it off with the following steps:

First, open Microsoft Word or any particular document in it. Now, go to the Word menu and click on ‘File’ options. After this, choose ‘Options’. 

When the ‘Word Options’ window opens, click on ‘Proofing’. You can find the ‘Proofing’ option on the left-hand side of the screen.

Here, keep scrolling down until you find the ‘Exceptions For’ option. Click on this option and select ‘All documents’. Also, untick the check-box beside ‘Hide spelling errors in this document only’. 

Do the same for ‘Hide grammar errors for this document only’. Then, click ‘OK’ to save the changes. Relaunch MS Word to check if spell check is working in Word. 

Use Registry Editor To Rename The Proofing Tools

Many users have solved this issue by renaming the ‘Proofing Tools’ on MS Word. To perform this solution, follow these steps:

1. Press the ‘Windows’ keys and the ‘R’ key. In the dialog box, type ‘regedit’ to open the Registry Editor.
2. Inside the Editor, follow this particular path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Proofing Tools
3. Under ‘Proofing Tool’, right-click on the 1.0 folder and choose the ‘Rename’ option.
4. Now, change the file name from 1.0 to 1PRV.0. 

Finally, close down the Registry Editor and restart your device to check if the error persists.

Rename Word Templates

In case there’s a corruption in the Global templates, you may find the spell check not working in Word. The corruption occurs usually in the Normal.dot or Normal.dotm templates. So, to solve the issue, you need to make changes in the names of the Global templates. Often, renaming the Word Global templates will put MS Word to its default settings. 

Follow these instructions to perform this solution:

Press the ‘Windows’ and ‘R’ key. In the Run window, type the following: %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates. The Microsoft Word Template folder will now open, where you will find the Normal.dot and Normal.dotm templates.

Now, right-click the “Normal. dotm” folder and click on the ‘Rename’ option. Alter the name of ‘Normal. dotm’ file to ‘Normal_old.dotm’. 

When you perform these steps, MS Word will return to its default settings.

Concluding Note

Spelling checks are crucial features to make sure that you create error-free documents. Sometimes, texts filled with spelling errors can cause hindrance in your work. So, if you come across the issue of Microsoft Office spell check not working, you’ve to solve it quickly.

Solutions to this issue are quite simple. These fixes are proven to be highly effective for many MS Word users. Hence, you can try them to re-enable Spell Checker.