Spell Check not working in Word 365 after automatic update

Anonymous
2018-02-23T19:51:54+00:00

I cannot get spell check to check my document.  Word no longer highlights potential issues, and when I run the spellcheck, even when I KNOW there are misspelled words, spell check completes without prompting me for any problematic words or phrases.  (the update also wiped out all of my macros, for the second time this week!)  

I have checked the proofing options, and everything appears to be as I want it.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-07-30T11:05:23+00:00

    This happens to me as well.  Spell check does not work.  Tried every fix going, every suggestion made.  Spent hours on this problem.  Absolutely no success whatsoever.  I pay for Office 365 every year, so why isn't this bug fixed?  If Microsoft can no longer offer this spell check and grammar facility on Word they should say so.  If not then fix this bug please.

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  2. Stefan Blom 353K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2018-07-15T19:51:20+00:00

    In Word, a filled check box means that the selection contains conflicting settings. For example, if a selection includes some text characters for which "Do not check spelling or grammar" has been activated and other characters for which "Do not check spelling or grammar" is turned off, you would see a filled check box. 

    However, it turns out that for any selection large enough, you will always see a filled check box, even if there is no conflict.

    In other words, it isn't very likely that the option gets activated automatically. If that is indeed happening, the usual culprit would be a poorly designed add-in.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-07-15T18:41:25+00:00

    This appears to have corrected the problem for me. I can now open new documents and live spelling and grammar check works correctly. It turns out that the "Do not check spelling or grammar" was marked (with a square, not a checkmark). This is certainly not something I manually changed. There is the potential that it happened after editing and saving a Word document in another language. Otherwise, I'm guessing it happened after an Office 365 update.  Any idea how/why this would be automatically changed?

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  4. Stefan Blom 353K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2018-07-13T20:47:08+00:00

    Well, setting the correct language is an important first step. You didn't say which formatting you had to clear. Often, with spellcheck issues, you must also ensure that the "Do not check spelling or grammar" is switched off.

    You can tell which specific formatting has been applied to a selection via the Reveal Formatting pane (Shift+F11).

    Perhaps you can share an example document where the spellchecking does not work.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-07-13T01:06:02+00:00

    Hmmm..that does nothing at all! You have to clear the formatting for it to pick up a spelling mistake.  

    I purposely spelt authority wrong here and as you can see doing your steps does nothing, but it will work again with a red squiggle if I clear formatting. Can you explain what is going on so others can be helped please.

    Thanks

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