Context Menus, Spell Checking, and Common Tasks

Some people are very mouse-dependent, while others are tied to the keyboard. Word, fortunately, accommodates both types of people. There are times, however, when you cannot work as much with the mouse as you may want to. One such time is when you right-click on words in a document. Normally, if you select a word and then right-click on it, you have the option of doing several common tasks, such as cutting, copying, pasting, or formatting.

All this changes, however, if you have automatic spell checking turned on and the highlighted word is misspelled. Word places a red wavy line under the misspelled word, and when you right-click you are presented with a totally different menu from the normal one. This menu is completely spelling-related, since Word assumes you want to correct the spelling of the word before you do anything else.

If you want, instead, to perform those common tasks (cutting, copying, pasting, etc.) via the Context menu, you are left out in the cold. You will need to either correct the spelling first or you will need to rely on regular menu choices or keyboard shortcuts to accomplish the desired task. (For instance, you would press Ctrl+X to cut the selected word.)

If you are a die-hard mouse user in this circumstance, you can of course modify the Context menu used for spelling, using the techniques detailed in a previous issue of WordTips.