spell check is not working...how do I turn it on? (MS Word 2013)

Here is a macro that does this in the body of the document. (It will not reach headers, footers, or text boxes).

Sub SpellCheckLanguageReplace()

'

' SpellCheckLanguageReplace Macro

' Replaces "do not check" setting with check setting.

'

' Written 4 Sep 2015 by Charles Kenyon

' Distributed "as is"

'

    With Selection.Find

        .ClearFormatting

        .NoProofing = True

        .Replacement.ClearFormatting

        .Replacement.NoProofing = False

        .Text = ""

        .Replacement.Text = ""

        .Forward = True

        .Wrap = wdFindContinue

        .Format = True

        .MatchCase = False

        .MatchWholeWord = False

        .MatchWildcards = False

        .MatchSoundsLike = False

        .MatchAllWordForms = False

        .Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

        .ClearFormatting

        .Replacement.ClearFormatting

    End With

End Sub

For information on what to do with this macro see Installing Macros.

Yes, I second this. I did a mail merge into Word from an Excel document. There were several misspellings but Word was not showing any spelling errors. I could be wrong, but it appears that when merging from Excel, it automatically defaults to "do not check for spelling or grammar" under the language settings. No matter how many times I uncheck it, it still re-checks itself. 

My solution: Select all the text and hit Ctrl + spacebar. Once you do this, two things happen: 1) the "do not check for spelling and grammar" automatically becomes unchecked, and 2) any misspellings and grammar issues will be revealed. (Unfortunately it also removes formatting such as bold, italics, etc.) 

What is set for "do not check" is the text merged in, not the entire document.

You can do a replace for that setting if you want to remove such formatting.

You first click in the find box and using Format > Language you get the "do not check" setting checked. Then move to the replace with box and use Format > Language to get it clear (unchecked). Your replace dialog should look like the one above. Then click on Replace All.

It is a key thing to remember that the language setting is not a document or even paragraph setting, it is set for each character.

Yes, I second this. I did a mail merge into Word from an Excel document. There were several misspellings but Word was not showing any spelling errors. I could be wrong, but it appears that when merging from Excel, it automatically defaults to "do not check for spelling or grammar" under the language settings. No matter how many times I uncheck it, it still re-checks itself. 

My solution: Select all the text and hit Ctrl + spacebar. Once you do this, two things happen: 1) the "do not check for spelling and grammar" automatically becomes unchecked, and 2) any misspellings and grammar issues will be revealed. (Unfortunately it also removes formatting such as bold, italics, etc.) 

Mail merge does not set all of the text to "do not check" The text that was merged in does keep this setting from the field. There is no way to change that. These will contain data from the data file.

If all of the merge fields are formatted the same, you could create a mymergefield character style set to not check spelling or grammar. Then have a second one checkmergefield character style based on the first and set to check spelling and grammar. Upon completing the merge to a new document, you could use the replace feature to change from the no-checking style to the checking style.

You could record a macro doing the replace and run this macro when you complete merges.

To me, it is simpler to just proof your data file.

In one merge that I do regularly, I have one merge field formatted to be bold and pink because that field often does contain information that I do not want included in the document going out. I have a finishing macro that removes the formatting with the replace function.

Mail Merge

After some thought, see next for a replace without using Styles.

Yes, I second this. I did a mail merge into Word from an Excel document. There were several misspellings but Word was not showing any spelling errors. I could be wrong, but it appears that when merging from Excel, it automatically defaults to "do not check for spelling or grammar" under the language settings. No matter how many times I uncheck it, it still re-checks itself. 

My solution: Select all the text and hit Ctrl + spacebar. Once you do this, two things happen: 1) the "do not check for spelling and grammar" automatically becomes unchecked, and 2) any misspellings and grammar issues will be revealed. (Unfortunately it also removes formatting such as bold, italics, etc.)