Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 18, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Spell check is flagging normal words in Linda's document, such as "there", "form", and "were". Even more oddly, she cannot click Ignore All to accept the words. Instead she must click Ignore once for each occurrence. She tried adding the words to the exclusion dictionary, but that didn't work, so Linda is looking for ideas on what to try next.
There are a couple of other things you can check. First of all, you should check to make sure that the language settings are correct for your document. If, for instance, the document contains some words marked as non-English, then those words would be checked by Word using a non-English dictionary, which might result in them being flagged.
The next thing to do is to check your dictionaries—custom and exclusion—and make sure that these common words do not appear in either of them. Other WordTips explain how to check the contents of dictionaries.
Speaking of dictionaries, you may want to check to make sure you are using the dictionary that came with Word, rather than some other dictionary. If the dictionary has changed, then it is very possible for the words to be marked as incorrect.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10750) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.
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Need a quick way to display the dictionary or other grammar tools? Use one of the handy built-in shortcuts provided by Word.
Discover MoreTired of Word marking Internet addresses as spelling errors? You can turn off this check by applying the steps in this tip.
Discover MoreWhen you are typing in a document, Word normally checks your spelling in the background, marking possible spelling errors ...
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2026-04-21 12:47:58
Barbie
Is it the spell check flagging these words, or the grammar check wondering if she meant "their," "from," and "where"? (These are easy to mistype even if you know the correct usage.) Grammar errors do not offer an "Ignore All" option, so this seems likely. (There should, however, be a choice to "Stop checking for this issue," if the suggested correction is frequently in error and you trust your own proofreading.)
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