"do not check spelling or grammar" will not stay unchecked

Anonymous
2013-04-28T04:05:48+00:00

Hi - I have a document that's been merged from a lot of single documents. When I run spellcheck, I always get the "Text marked do not check has been ignored." So I go to Review, Language, Set Proofing Language, and there is no language set and the box "Do not check spelling or grammar" has the half on/half off box in a box. When I click it twice, it clears, and I set the language to English, but when I go to re-check for spelling, I get an immediate "The spell check is complete", and when I go back to review, language, set proofing language, the check box is back to the half on half off setting and no language set. I am doing select all text each time, too. 

Office Professional Plus, version 14.0.6129.5000 64-bit

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Suzanne S Barnhill 279.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2013-05-06T18:34:51+00:00

Finding elusive "no proofing" text can be frustrating. When you select the entire document, you are selecting only the text layer. This doesn't include headers and footers and may not even include footnotes and endnotes. In one instance, I found "no proofing" text in an unused header. Here's how to ferret it out.

  1. Press Ctrl+H to open the Replace dialog and then select the Find tab (to my mind this is the easiest way to get to the Advanced Find without bothering with the Navigation pane).
  2. Click More>> to expand the dialog.
  3. Leaving the "Find what" box empty, click Format, then Language.
  4. Check the box for "Do not check spelling or grammar" and click OK. You'll see "Format: Do not check spelling or grammar" beneath the "Find what" box.
  5. Since "Find in" allows you to search only one layer at a time, it will probably be quicker to use "Find Next" (the likelihood is that there will be only one hit, anyway).
  6. Note where the found text is located. In the instance I cite, it was in an Even Page Header. Although "Odd and Even" was not currently enabled for headers and footers, Word had remembered the text entered for the Even Page Header, and it was formatted as "Do not check spelling or grammar." I could never have found this merely by inspecting the document in its current state.

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Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2013-04-28T16:27:16+00:00

Depending on the size of the selection, check boxes may appear greyed out; this is by design in Word...

Or you saying that the message "Text marked with 'Do not check spelling or grammar' was skipped" also resurfaces? Have you looked at the style definitions involved? For example, see if "Do not check spelling or grammar" has been added to the Normal style.

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  1. Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2017-06-02T21:05:25+00:00

    Check under File >> Options >> Proofing and make sure that the Exceptions are unchecked:

    • Hide spelling errors for this documents only
    • Hide grammar errors for this document only

             

    These were checked in my document and unchecking them resolved the problem.

    Note that hiding spelling errors with the options you mention shouldn't trigger the error message "Text marked with 'Do not check spelling or grammar' was skipped."

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-01-18T09:27:22+00:00

    I know that no software is perfect and I am willing to work with and troubleshoot any problem... but this "do not check spelling or grammar" glitch made me want to throw this brand new windows 8 computer against the wall after trolling the internet spreading obscenities against all things Microsoft.

    I had the same problem. No matter how many ways I tried to unselect the "do not check spelling or grammar" box, it came right back like that desperate crazy ex-girlfriend that was too good in bed to say no to. Finally I fixed the problem by modifying the "Normal" Style template. But...

    This was ridiculous. There are tons of posts with people having this same problem. How can there not be a simpler solution. I'm 29. I grew up with Microsoft Office and it took me way to long to figure this out. If this were my 55 year old father we would have NEVER figured it out... or worse, he would be calling ME to try to figure it out for him over the phone while I pull my hair out after yelling "NO DAD! RIGHT CLICK! THE OTHER BUTTON ON THE MOUSE!!!" for the 20th time.

    Microsoft needs to fix this. I would say I'm switching to Mac after all the problems I've had with Windows 8 but that threat would be empty. Too many years arguing with my wife about how overrated and overpriced Macintosh computers are to let her win that argument now over a bad spelling glitch... but after this... I considered it.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-01-14T15:35:25+00:00

    This was the clue I needed.  The normal style had an attribute "do not check spelling or grammar".  I changed this attribute for one paragraph, then used the style manager "Update normal to match selection", and it seems to be working.  REALLY appreciate your help Charles.

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