Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Spelling Errors on Internet Addresses.

Spelling Errors on Internet Addresses

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 18, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

If you have a large number of Internet addresses in your document, and those addresses always slow you down when doing a spell check, you can instruct Word to ignore them. This means that any URLs or e-mail addresses will be ignored by the spell check utility. Follow these steps to make sure your Internet addresses are being ignored:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In later versions of Word display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
Click Proofing at the left side of the dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Proofing options of the Word Options dialog box.

Make sure the Ignore Internet and File Addresses check box is selected.
Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (5951) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Spelling Errors on Internet Addresses.

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...

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