Word Spell-Check Mystery
Usually, I’m pretty good at Word, but a mystery has been plaguing me for YEARS that I finally just figured out.
Sometimes, for inexplicable reasons, Word staunchly refuses to spell check. It behaves as if everything was spelled correctly, even though EVERYTHING IS NOT. You can go to Tools > Spelling and Grammar, and nothing happens. Just a stupid smile. You can spell cat “ddog” and it will just beam, peacefully at you. Nothing gets the red underline. Even the Preference “Check Spelling as you Type” is active. Ddog is fine with Mr. Computer.
To fix it:
1. Select Edit>Replace.
2. Click the arrow to expand to Advanced settings.
3. Click in the Find field to set the pointer there.
4. Click the middle popup menu “Format”), and choose “Language.”
5. Activate “Do not check spelling or grammar.” Leave the list field to “(no language).” Click OK.
6. Click in the Replace field to set the pointer there.
7. Repeat steps 4 and 5, but now deactivate “Do not check spelling and grammar.” Click OK.
8. Click Replace all.
Spell check should now work again.
In other words, we’re doing a search/replace for this mysterious behavior, and getting rid of it.
I hope that this changes your life as it has mine.
