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: Spell-Checking from the Keyboard.

Spell-Checking from the Keyboard

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 13, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


1

You may already know that you can right-click on a misspelled word and the resulting Context menu will display suggested corrections for your error. You may not want to use the mouse to activate this feature, however. You might not want to take your hands off the keyboard, which can slow down your editing.

If you are of this ilk, there are two major ways you can display the Context menu for the misspelled word. In both instances, you must make sure the insertion point is somewhere in the misspelled word, then you can do either of the following:

  • If you have one of the 104-key Windows keyboards, press the "right-click key." This is the key next to the right Ctrl key.
  • Press Shift+F10.

Either of these methods results in the Context menu being displayed. You can then use the arrow keys to select a suggested spelling correction. Pressing Enter then makes the correction. If you don't see a suggestion you like, pressing the Esc key dismisses the Context menu.

Another possible solution is to simply place the insertion point someplace before the misspelled word, and then press Alt+F7. This automatically selects the next misspelled word in the document and displays the Context menu with suggested alternatives.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1210) 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: Spell-Checking from the Keyboard.

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

Inserting a Cross-Reference to the First Style on a Page

A common way to set up a header is to have it refer to the first occurrence of a heading on the page. (Think how the ...

Discover More

Transferring AutoCorrect Entries

One of the helpful tools in Word is AutoCorrect. If you spend a lot of time creating your own AutoCorrect entries, you ...

Discover More

Page Ranges in a TOC

It is easy to generate a table of contents for a document, and that TOC can contain page number references for each ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (menu)

Turning Off Spell Checking

For some documents, you may not want spell checking turned on. There are two ways that you can turn it off, depending on ...

Discover More

Spell Checking Forms

Word may be used to create protected forms that limit where the user may input data. Normally spell checking is disabled ...

Discover More

Spell-checking Uppercase Words

When Word checks the spelling of a document, it can either check or ignore words that are in uppercase letters. Here's ...

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 0 + 7?

2021-06-13 22:21:00

Erin

I'm very frustrated to find that Microsoft chose to change this functionality in Word. This was a very helpful tool I used daily in my work for editing documents. Now, it's slowed me down quite a bit since they've "streamlined" the popup menu. Has anyone else found this frustrating?


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.