There are two ways to perform a spelling and grammar check once Microsoft Word has identified an error by underlining it in red or green. The most easy way is to Right-Click anywhere on the identified word. A menu will appear offering suggested corrections:
Simply select the appropriate suggestion from the list. This will allow you to spell and grammar check your document as you write it.
However, sometimes Word may offer not offer any suggestions. In such cases more traditional tools, such as a dictionary, may be needed.
What if I want to undo the automatic changes?
Sometimes Word will make automatic changes when they are not desired. To undo an automatic change, adhere to the following steps:
1. Move your cursor over the word that the changes were made to. Notice that a blue line has appeared underneath the first letter of the word.
2. Move the cursor over the blue line. An icon will appear that resembles a lightning bolt.
3. Left-click on the icon to bring up the AutoCorrect Options menu.
4. Select “Change back to…” from the menu. Or, select “Stop Automatically Correcting…” to prevent MS Word from ever using AutoCorrect on that word in the future.
I commonly misspell the same word over and over again!
The AutoCorrect feature in Word can be easily programmed to recognize and automatically correct words that are commonly misspelled by the user.
To set a misspelled word to be AutoCorrect-ed:
1. Right-click on the misspelled word as before.
2. When the menu appears, select “AutoCorrect”
3. Select the correct spelling for the word.
4. With this feature, each time the word is spelled incorrectly the same way, MS Word will AutoCorrect it.
Microsoft Word is wrong! It identified something that is not an error!
Occasionally, Word will identify items as errors that are correct. If it is a grammar error and underlined in green, then simply right-click and select the option “Ignore Once.”
In some cases, most commonly with foreign language words and last names, MS Word will identify a word as being spelled incorrectly when it is spelled correctly. To correct this:
1. As before, right-click on the identified word.
2. Select the option “Ignore All” to tell Word to only ignore that word in the current document.
3. Or select “Add to Dictionary” to tell Word to never misidentify that word in the current document and all future documents.
Spelling and Grammar Tool
Another method of performing a spelling and grammar check is to open the Spelling and Grammar Tool. This method is preferred by those who would rather check an entire document at once after it has been completed.
Note: Using the Spelling and Grammar Tool is the only way to spell check text in the subject line.
Activity:
Type the following sentence into Word:
I cant see the blu tree in the the wods.
To perform a spelling and grammar check, first select “Tools” from the top menu. Then select “Spelling and Grammar…” or press F7 on the keyboard.
The ‘Spelling and Grammar’ dialog box will appear.
The Spelling and Grammar Tool has all of the same abilities that have been previously discussed.
