Word isn't picking up Spelling

[MissMacchiato]

I have word 2007, and it's saying there are no spelling or grammar errors in my 92k novel.

That's a blatant lie, because my betas have picked up extra spaces between words, repeated words and all sorts of other things.

I think it's finding the file too big to show up (I get a message saying that formatting is hidden because the file is too large), which is fine, but when I go to use spell check, it says there are no errors.

Anyone else have dramas editing their WIP via word? any suggestions?

[TheIT]

How big is the file? If you think your file is too big, try breaking it into two files and spell check those. Be sure to save your original file first.

Have you run spell check before and accepted/ignored changes? Word might be remembering that you've already examined a change and not flagging it again. Are you trying to run a spell check from scratch or are you doing the "check while you type" approach?

[MissMacchiato]

from scratch....

It was originally in two parts, and then put back together, so I'm not sure that it's the size of it.

I guess I could try another computer and see if that helps, in case it has 'remembered' - I didn't think of that

[TheIT]

from scratch....

It was originally in two parts, and then put back together, so I'm not sure that it's the size of it.

I guess I could try another computer and see if that helps, in case it has 'remembered' - I didn't think of that

I believe the editing info is kept in the file, so I'm not sure whether moving the file to another computer will help.

Create a new empty document. In your original, select all & copy into the clipboard, then paste into the new document. Spell check the new document. That might get rid of some of the weirdness.

[MissMacchiato]

thanks! I'll try that as well. I have a lot of random words and names that I've asked it to skip, but stuff like extra spaces and extra words should totally be picked up on.

Hopefully copy-paste will sort it!

[Chris P]

Or, try hitting ctrl + A (select all) and then go to "review" and "set language." (You might also have a "set language" icon at the bottom left of your screen next to the word count. For me it says "English US" as that's my default language). Look for a box saying "do not check spelling and grammar." Make sure it is not checked. If there is a green box in the check box that means check spelling is on in some places and not others. I have no idea why it sometimes is on and sometimes not, but that usually fixes the problem.

For two spaces, etc., "Find and Replace" will work.

[JulieHowe]

I have word 2007, and it's saying there are no spelling or grammar errors in my 92k novel.

That's a blatant lie, because my betas have picked up extra spaces between words, repeated words and all sorts of other things.

I think it's finding the file too big to show up (I get a message saying that formatting is hidden because the file is too large), which is fine, but when I go to use spell check, it says there are no errors.

Anyone else have dramas editing their WIP via word? any suggestions?

Select and highlight one chunk of writing, say the first 50 pages, and then run a spell check on just those pages. I've actually had the problem with Word grammar check or spell check giving up because the file was too big.

Edited to note:

The suggestion someone else posted earlier about opening an entirely brand new Word document, cutting and pasting the problem text into the new document is probably the best way to deal with the problem.

[Terie]

A 92K-word manuscript file should not, in and of itself, reach the 'too big to spellcheck' point in Word 2007. My 96K-word MS isn't even 1Mb, and Word hasn't choked on that size file for a decade or more. It takes quite a few Mb to choke Word 2007 on a spellcheck.

You can find the file size in Windows Explorer or by opening the file in Word, selecting File>Properties, and going to the General tab.

If your file is several Mb, then it contains something weird that you're not seeing, and the suggestion to copy and paste the complete text into a fresh new file would be a good place to start. The problem with this is that it might pick up whatever weird thing is causing the file size to bloat. Still, try it and check the file size. If it's under 1Mb, you should be good to go.

If the new file is still large, you'll have to try to figure out what's causing it to be so big, and that's a bigger challenge. Maybe you could let us know if dumping the text into a new file reduces the file size, and if not, we can try to help you some more.

ETA: Now that I'm at work (where we use Word 2007), I just saved my 96K-word MS in .docx format, and the file size was cut in half (compared to the Word 2003 version). So the '.doc vs .docx' issue wouldn't be causing the file size problem.

[MissMacchiato]

okay, just checked file size. It's around 600kb, so not massively massive.

It has to be the most frustrating document to edit via word spelling/grammar - it couldn't find indignance as a word, for a start, or behoove, or wept. No offense word, but you suck b***s. Just sayin'.

[Terie]

okay, just checked file size. It's around 600kb, so not massively massive.

It has to be the most frustrating document to edit via word spelling/grammar - it couldn't find indignance as a word, for a start, or behoove, or wept. No offense word, but you suck b***s. Just sayin'.

Okay, so something else is going on. If you'd like to send me a couple of pages of your MS (ones with, yanno, spelling errors!), I'll take a look and see if I can troubleshoot for you. If you'd like me to do this, PM me.

[regdog]

I had a similar problem and had to contact Microsoft. It took several e-mails back and forth with different suggestions to solves the problem. Here's the post where I listed them all (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4684937&postcount=10)

Good luck

[RJK]

There are two check boxes on the proofing dialog form that, if checked, prevent Word from checking the document for spelling and grammar. You should check to see if they are checked and uncheck them.

[Jamesaritchie]

I've used Word 2007 to check files ten times as large as yours, and it worked fine. Whatever the problem is, it isn't file size.

[Matera the Mad]

Word does what you ask it to...usually. It can't read minds, anyway. Have you gone over your spelling and grammar checking settings with a fine-tooth comb?

[Steam&Ink]

Hey MissM, have you checked to make sure you haven't set your language to something obscure? If you've set it to a language that Word doesn't have a dictionary for (and yes, the majority of the languages in the list don't have dictionaries provided unless you download them), then Word will - in a show of generosity - assume that every word is spelled correctly and nor underline anything.

Don't just "select all" to check this, actually click your cursor into the block of text, and then check what it says in the bottom left corner, where the language name is displayed.

It's probably not that, but it's worth a shot. Good luck :)

[MissMacchiato]

It WAS originally set to Russian, but I reset it to Australian english - before I posted this thread, and still no luck. It picks up on strange things, telling me they're incorrect, when I know they aren't, but things like spaces that are missing, it doesn't highlight.

I am wondering now if it's because the document is from google docs.

I have quite good grammar, so all of the corrections it has suggested are incorrect. I'm more interested in things like extra spaces, missing spaces, and that pesky extra P in disappoint that always catches me out. That, or errors that were the result of typing too fast.

[Linda Adams]

If you have a lot of "spelling errors," Word will automatically turn off the spell checker. I did technical documentation with a lot of file names that were flagged a spelling errors, and Word turned the speller off. If it were a fantasy with a lot of names of places and people, it might do that, but it would need to be an awful lot.

[Terie]

Actually, as it happens, we've discovered that Word 2007 defaults to not displaying spelling/grammar errors anymore once they've been presented. (Stupid default, IMNSHO.)

Here's how to recheck a file you've previously checked in word 2007 (and presumably 2010+):

1. Open the file in Word.

2. Click the Office button in the upper left corner of Word.

3. Click the Word Options button.

4. When the Word Options window is displayed, click 'Proofing' in the left pane.

5. Click the 'Recheck Document' button near the bottom, and then click Yes in the pop-up box.

You can now perform a fresh spell/grammar check.

I'm going to poke around later to see if I can find a way to change the default so that it always performs a complete spell/grammer check if that's what someone wants to do.

[RJK]

If the original document used the Cyrillic alphabet, nearly every word would appear to be misspelled when you switch to English. That will overload the spell checker, and probably prevent the grammar checker from finding extra spaces.

[kcvale]

This problem has troubled me for weeks. I just found the answer 20 minutes ago on another site. I should have posted here a long time ago.

Being able to make it the default setting would be icing on the cake... really, really good icing! :)