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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Removing Blank Pages at the End of Your Document

You go to print out your document, and all of a sudden notice that there was a blank page that printed at the end. This ...

Discover More

Calculating a Geometric Standard Deviation

One of the areas in which Excel provides worksheet functions is in the arena of statistical analysis. You may want to ...

Discover More

Entering Dates in Excel

When you type information into a cell, Excel tries to figure out what type of information you are entering. If Excel can ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Dictionary Shortcut Key

Need a quick way to display the dictionary or other grammar tools? Use one of the handy built-in shortcuts provided by Word.

Discover More

Spell Checking when Closing Documents

When you close a document, you might want to do one final check of the spelling, just to make sure that you didn't miss ...

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

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is nine less than 9?

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.