Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: Editing While Spell-Checking.

Editing While Spell-Checking

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 12, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


You already know that Word includes a powerful spell-checking utility. You may not know, however, that you can edit your document as you are spell-checking. I find this particularly useful, as I often recognize other, non-spelling errors as I am running the spell checker.

To do this, any time the spell-checker is prompting you to correct a word, press Ctrl+Tab. This changes the focus to your document and away from the spell-checker; you can now edit your document directly. If you prefer you can simply click the mouse pointer in your document, near the place where you want to make your edit.

When you are ready to resume spell-checking, simply click on Resume in the Spelling and Grammar dialog box (Word 2007 and Word 2010) or the Spelling task pane (later versions of Word).

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6090) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Editing While Spell-Checking.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Viewing Your Entire Document Width

The Zoom tool is very useful to help you see all of your document information. Here's how to make sure you can see all ...

Discover More

Shading Table Rows

Need to format the rows of a table so that your data is showcased better? Here are a few ways you can get the shading you ...

Discover More

Using Mandatory Form Fields

When using form fields to gather information from users of your documents, you may want to make sure that some of the ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Updating the Spelling Exclusion List Automatically

Want to add words easily to the spelling exclusion list? Here's a macro that can make the task completely painless.

Discover More

Keeping Words in the Custom Dictionary

The spell checker that is part of Word allows you to create and use custom dictionaries to expand how the checker does ...

Discover More

Spell Checking Not Catching a Misspelled Word

Word allows you to accept words as correctly spelled, even if they aren't. This tip explains how to track down those ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is 3 + 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 ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.