Spell Checker not working in Microsoft Word 2011 for Mac

Anonymous
2011-07-10T17:10:35+00:00

I just installed Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac a few weeks ago, and when I type a document in Word, it is not flagging misspelled words as I type, even though the "check spelling and grammar" button is selected. Additionally, when I run a spelling/grammar check, it tells me that it's been run already and it still does not flag any misspelled words. I tried reinstalling the proofing tools, but that has not helped. Does anyone have any feedback on how to fix this?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2013-11-12T23:59:22+00:00

The convenience of this macro is, once you know it works, all you need to do is open all documents requiring fixing, ALL AT ONCE, and run the macro one final time.

To force Australian English, change the language specification from wdEnglishUS to wdEnglishAUS

(in two places).

There is a Preference setting that, curiously, is saved with each document and is probably the root of your current problem: *Word > Preferences > Spelling and Grammar > Hide spelling errors in this document.*I've added it to the code as well, so here's a new version with the changes in boldface, which you can add manually:

Sub ApplyEnglishAUStoAllOpenDocuments()

For Each aDocument In Application.Documents

aDocument.Activate

'Apply language ----------------------

Selection.WholeStory

Selection.LanguageID = wdEnglishAUS

Selection.NoProofing = False

'Redefine the Normal style ----------------

ActiveDocument.Styles("Normal").LanguageID = wdEnglishAUS

ActiveDocument.Styles("Normal").NoProofing = False

'Enable spelling errors --------------

ActiveDocument.ShowSpellingErrors = True

'Save changes and close -------------

aDocument.Save

aDocument.Close

Next aDocument

End Sub

In case you don't know anything about macros, the name that follows the starting "Sub" is arbitrary (thus, you can use pretty much any descriptive name there, like Sub ChangeLang(), etc.) while comment lines start with an apostrophe and are ignored by Word.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-07-27T13:15:44+00:00

    I solved this guys.

    You need to install the "Proofing & Grammar" pack that is on the original ISO/DISK.

    When prompted to install Office, choose CUSTOMISE and then drop down the arrow next to "Microsoft Office 2011" and this will present you with everything to tick to install.

    You need to make sure "Proofing & Grammar" is ticked.  Uncheck everything else otherwise you'll reinstall the whole lot again.

    Once it has installed... go into PREFERNCES of Word - "Spelling & Grammar" will now be present rather than greyed out as before.  Tick "Check spelling as you type" and hey presto!  It works..

    I had the same problems as you guys before and this solved it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-07-25T00:46:57+00:00

    I just had this problem and this fixed it after a loooong time looking for answers! Thanks so much.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-05-28T22:26:45+00:00

    I found after a while of searching that my language had defaulted to German. I went to "Review," then "Set language," and restored my default to English. My spell check and dictionary came back.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-04-29T05:14:12+00:00

    If you redefined the language in the Normal template, that change would only affect new documents. Once a document is created, it breaks dissociates from the template. Existing documents would not be affected by that change and should be manually fixed one by one: Select All, then apply the language.

    For good measure, in each document select Format > Style and modify the Normal paragraph style by clicking on the Modify button, then selecting Language in the dropdown menu at the bottom left. This is not essential if you won't be working with that document anymore.

    The duplication of designations can be confusing:

    • There is a Normal template (the mold used to cast new documents), and…
    • Within every document (and even within the Normal template itself), there is also a Normal paragraph style (the mold for paragraph formats)

    I too have been having the same problem.  I have tried all the fixes people have suggested on the entire thread posting.  Nothing has worked.  Will I have to reinstall Word?

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