Quickly Accessing Spelling and Grammar Options

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 26, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Exactly how Word performs a spell check or a grammar check is controlled by the settings on the Spelling & Grammar tab in the Options dialog box. To display the proper tab you normally choose Tools, then Options, and finally click on the Spelling & Grammar tab.

Word provides a quick way to pull up the spelling and grammar options, however: Simply right-click on the "open book" icon in the status bar, and then choose Options from the resulting Context menu. The Spelling & Grammar tab is displayed, alone, in its own dialog box. You can quickly make changes, dismiss the dialog box, and get on with other editing tasks.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1562) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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

Matching At the Beginning or End of a Word

The pattern matching capabilities of Word's search engine are quite powerful. You can tailor your search pattern so that ...

Discover More

Shading Rows with Conditional Formatting

If you need to shade alternating rows in a data table, you'll want to examine how you can accomplish the task with ...

Discover More

Indicating the Date Changes were Last Made

Do you want to keep track of when changes were made to your document? This tip looks at a couple of ways to do it, along ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Checking for Incorrect Numbers in Text

One of the grammar rules you can check for in a document is the incorrect use of numbers. If you are unsure when to use ...

Discover More

Context Menus, Spell Checking, and Common Tasks

Automatic Spell Checking can change your menu options.

Discover More

Checking Up On Numbers

When do you use digits in your prose and when do you spell out the numbers? Why not let Word help you make the decision? ...

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 eight more than 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


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.