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
    2018-01-15T21:30:00+00:00

    Thx but your fix did not work. What is so strange is all suggested solutions end up with unchecking the "Do not check spelling or grammar" box in the language menu. That's not my problem.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-11T13:28:28+00:00

    I had the same problem and found out that the Style I was using was specifying not to check for spelling errors under the Language section of the style. So, to correct (this is done on a Mac, not sure if Windows is different):

    . Place the cursor at the text that is not being checked

    . From the top menu choose Format -> Style

    . Click on Modify Style

    . Choose the Language... section

    . Unclick the checkbox that says "Do not check spelling or grammar"

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-17T19:17:26+00:00

    **This was the solution.**Good thing I noticed it was on selected docs.

    I spoke with two tech support people who never even came close to suggesting it. Thank you so much! 

    Saved me from uninstalling and re-installing. Ugh!

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-12-27T16:45:28+00:00

    This helped to solve my problem which was so irritating it brought on writer's block!

    As above, I typed Command Athen went to Tools>Language and applied the proper language (in my case English (UK)) then I cleared the do not check spelling box and OK.

    And all of the spelling errors lit up!

    Thanks Daniel.

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