Very frustrating spell check problem

[Biederboat]

Hi! First time poster here; didn't see a noobie section but here goes: I consider myself an "above average" Office user who loves forums for the ability to get multiple eyes on a problem!

This problem is hard because it's very inconsistent. My boss's PC (Windows 7 64 bit, Office 2013) does not spell check consistently, at least on Word and Outlook. Sometimes it works fine, other times it doesn't mark any words (spelling errors or grammar). It appears (not 100% certain) to be a case of where it either works for a document or it doesn't. It can be a case of where it's working on one document that's open and not working on another that's open at the same time.

We've fairly thoroughly checked all his settings against mine and they appear to be all the same. His PC is fairly new (about 3-4 months).

Help please!

Thanks so much,


BB

[macropod]

Spell-checking (in Word, at least), is controlled at the document level, not at the application level. Accordingly, you'd need to check the spelling & grammar settings for the documents concerned.

The main ones you'll need to check are under Review>Language>Set Proofing Language. Ensure at least one proofing language appears above the bar in the upper portion of the dialog and that the 'Do not check spelling or grammar' option is not checked. For a thorough check, you should have the whole document selected when making this check. If that option is checked, none of the document will be checked. If it's shaded, some (maybe most) of the document won't be checked.

Under Review>Language>Language Preferences, make sure a proofing language has been chosen, too.

Finally, under File|Options|Proofing, there are settings that affect Word globally, including (potentially) the 'Exceptions for' at the bottom of the screen. Aside from that, if the 'all new documents' option is chosen and the 'Hide spelling errors' option is checked, that could prevent spell-checking in many documents.

[Biederboat]

Thanks for the suggestions macropod. I just reviewed all of the settings and they match my computer (which is working fine). I told him that, the next time he gets a document that doesn't spell check properly, to check the setting under review (with all text selected).

If anyone else has any suggestions, I will take them!

BB

[Charles Kenyon]

Try clicking on a misspelled word and pressing Shift+F1. You should see something like this:



Under Font formatting does it say : Language: Do not check spelling or grammar?

The screenshot above is from a computer with only one language installed, with spelling and grammar installed and active. This is a character(font)-level formatting in Word.