Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Setting Spell-Checking Options.

Setting Spell-Checking Options

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 20, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


2

Word includes a spelling checker that you can use to proof your documents. There are a few options that you can set for the spelling checker. For instance, you can make sure the spelling checker doesn't check words that are all uppercase or those that have numbers in the word. To change the spelling checker options, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Spelling & Grammar tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Spelling & Grammar tab of the Options dialog box.

  4. Make changes in the options, as desired.
  5. Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1030) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Setting Spell-Checking Options.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Creating Custom Document Properties

Word allows you to keep track of any number of custom properties about a document. Here's how to create those properties ...

Discover More

Printing Documents in a Folder

If you want to print a group of documents at the same time there are a couple of ways you can accomplish the task. Here ...

Discover More

Quickly Deleting Rows and Columns

Deleting rows or columns is easy when you use the shortcut described in this tip. Just select the rows or columns and ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Editing While Spell-Checking

When you run a spell-check on a document, you may end up seeing other things that need to be edited. Never fear; you can ...

Discover More

Quickly Accessing Spelling and Grammar Options

You can change the way Word handles spelling and grammar checks through the menus. But there is a quicker way to access ...

Discover More

Spell-Checking from the Keyboard

If you hate to take your hands from the keyboard, even to right-click on a word, you'll love the information in this tip. ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 7?

2015-12-28 11:33:01

Allen

Lennart: I suspect you have one of the newer versions of Word. This tip is for those using the very old versions (Word 2003 and before). There is a link at the beginning of this tip and at the end that takes you to a version for the later versions.

-Allen


2015-12-28 05:34:23

Lennart von Blotnitz

I cannot find the tools menu.Ok: I open the Words page. On the right I press "find" the I type in "Tools Menu" The answer is: The search Item was not found.

I want to cancel ALL spelling "Aids" as I use any one of three languages when I use Word. (I never use Word, however, I always used "Word Pad", which seems to have vanished now that I have Windows 10


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.