Spell Check not working

Split from this thread.

I am having the same problem. The spellcheck has stopped working on all Word documents (old and new), and in all languages I use (English UK & US and Spanish). The proofing language is correct and the Do not check spelling box is unchecked.

I have unchecked the Hide spelling and grammar error boxes in Options -> Proofing > Exceptions

Every time I try to run the spellcheck, the Turn Off Proofing Exceptions message appears, even though I have already turned them off.

I have tried Style->Modify>Language and all boxes are correctly unchecked.

I have been using Word for years in my job and have never had this problem before, and I haven't made any changes to settings or added any Add-ins recently. What could have gone wrong with the spellcheck? I am using Office 365.

@Diane

I merged your question with that from GT and split it from the earlier one where you had posted it.

@GT

• Where is the Normal Template / How to Find the Normal Template

• Spelling Checker Does Not Work!

• Mastering the Spelling Checker by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP

Try typing an obviously misspelled word and if it does not show up as misspelled, select that word and click on the language in the status bar at the bottom of the Window.

What shows for "do not check spelling or grammar?"

This is a setting that can apply to a single character in Word, not a document or application setting. It is akin to font formatting.

@Both

Can you save a sample document with the problem and at least one obviously misspelled word on OneDrive or DropBox and post a share link here?

Why a sample file is important for troubleshooting - - - - - - - and how to do it.

MVP Suzanne S. Barnhill has reported this to the Microsoft Office Team as a (potential) bug. One of us will report back with any updates we receive.

Hello Charles,

Thanks for your reply. I have opened the language from the status bar at the bottom of the page after selecting the misspelt word.

As you can see in the image, the Do not check spelling... is not checked.

What happens is that I repeatedly go to Options -> Proofing -> Uncheck the exceptions for hiding spelling and grammar errors, click OK, but when running the spellcheck again the message shown in the image below always appears:

When I return to Options ->Proofing->Exceptions, I find that the boxes are checked once again. I repeatedly go back through the process to turn them off, but they switch themselves back on again every time.

I'm not sure how to provide a link to this Word doc in my OneDrive folder. Nevertheless, the problem occurs with all documents, including old ones where I didn't have this problem previously. I haven't tried modifying the Normal template because I don't think this is the problem. As I said the issue arose just yesterday out of the blue and applies to all documents, old and new and in the three languages I work in.

In another reply below I see that Stefan Blom says that Suzanne S. Barnhill has reported the issue to the Microsoft Office Team as a suspected bug.

Thanks again for your help and for any other possible suggestions you may have.

Great Stefan. I hope they come up with a solution soon. Do you think it would be worthwhile uninstalling and reinstalling Microsoft Office? Do you think this could resolve the problem?

At this point, a reinstall likely wouldn't make a difference. Let us first see how Microsoft responds to the message that Suzanne sent them.

@Charles, thank you very much for your reply. By the way, as in Diane's case, the issue suddenly appeared yesterday afternoon and affects all three languages I use.

I want to stress that I am not recommending this as a "solution" because maybe I did something wrong, but this is what I did yesterday. I somehow managed to find the Normal template, but couldn't change its settings as well. Therefore, I just deleted it. At the moment, in all "old" files, the spell check is not working, while in the "new" files (created using the document after the deletion of the Normal template), it is working.

I am sharing the link to a Dropbox folder where I added two files:

Test_old: I pasted an excerpt from an article in a file created before the issue occurred. The misspelled words are marked in yellow.

Test_new: I pasted the same excerpt in the "new" template (created this morning). At least for me, the spell check is working in this file.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/2ysf2qkzlpi1howqf15bv/ADC7pvc16zA53f_5MNq79sQ?rlkey=cxaefgtoujy0zfmuercyrgicr&st=nli6xhnu&dl=0

Again, thank you all so much.

@Charles, thank you very much for your reply.

I am sharing the link to a Dropbox folder where I added two files:

Test_old: I pasted an excerpt from an article in a file created before the issue occurred. The misspelled words are marked in yellow.

Test_new: I pasted the same excerpt in the "new" template (created this morning). At least for me, the spell check is working in this file.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/2ysf2qkzlpi1howqf15bv/ADC7pvc16zA53f_5MNq79sQ?rlkey=cxaefgtoujy0zfmuercyrgicr&st=nli6xhnu&dl=0

In your test_old I am seeing this.

I suspect, from your solution, that your old Normal.dotm template had these turned off. If you had other customizations saved in your Normal template they are gone now. I would have recommended renaming rather than deleting it.

See:

• Where is the Normal Template / How to Find the Normal Template

• Normal Template

I have no idea how they would have gotten turned off in the Normal template.

Yes, I probably should have renamed it. Honestly, it did not occur to me at all...The problem is that I kept turning off the exceptions, but the moment I wanted to write something in the file or correct the mistakes, the spell check "disappeared". Let's see whether there will be a response following the flagging of the issue because it will be really nice to be able to use my old files as well instead of pasting the text in a new file so that I can have it checked :)

Thank you!

Hello Charles,

*** when running the spellcheck again the message shown in the image below always appears:

When I return to Options ->Proofing->Exceptions, I find that the boxes are checked once again. I repeatedly go back through the process to turn them off, but they switch themselves back on again every time.

I'm not sure how to provide a link to this Word doc in my OneDrive folder. Nevertheless, the problem occurs with all documents, including old ones where I didn't have this problem previously. ***

Thanks again for your help and for any other possible suggestions you may have.

Hello Diane,

I, too, suspect a bug, that I am not experiencing. A number of people have reported it here.

As for a sample, see:

Why a sample file is important for troubleshooting - - - - - - - and how to do it.

I suspect that somehow this option has been set in your Normal.dotm template. Try renaming it, with Word closed.

Where is the Normal Template / How to Find the Normal Template

This worked for GT except that he/she deleted the template rather than renaming it.