Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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: Rechecking Spelling and Grammar.

Rechecking Spelling and Grammar

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 11, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365

When you check the spelling and grammar of your document, Word keeps track of which errors you choose to ignore. Even if you later go through a grammar and spell check again, Word still remembers your earlier decisions, and it can affect the current check you are doing.

At some point you may want to toss out your earlier decisions and recheck the document from scratch. You can do so by following these steps:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 and later versions display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
At the left side of the dialog box click Proofing. (See Figure 1.)

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

Click Check Document (Word 2007) or Recheck Document (Word 2010 and later versions). You'll see a dialog box asking if you really want to recheck everything.
Click on Yes.
Click on OK to close the Word Options dialog box.

At this point it may not look like anything has changed in your document. However, if you do a grammar and spell check (press F7) you will find that Word once again questions everything it thinks is wrong in your document.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6274) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Rechecking Spelling and Grammar.

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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Accessing the Source of a Document Link

If you have information linked into your document, you may want to display the source of that linked information. Word ...

Discover More

Preventing Changes to Multiple Selected Worksheets

It is common to select a group of worksheets and then print them. When done, any edits you make may affect the entire ...

Discover More

Floating Footer

Need some specific text to appear just below the end of the text on the last page of your document? You can accomplish ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Symbols in Words Added to the Dictionary

Adding special characters to otherwise normal words, such as a company name, may be necessary. However, this could affect ...

Discover More

Forcing Word to Display Spelling and Grammar Errors

If your document has enough spelling errors in it, Word informs you that you have too many and then refuses to display ...

Discover More

Adding Hyphenated Words to the Dictionary

When you hyphenate words, does the resulting compound word end up being marked as incorrectly spelled? This tip examines ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 9 + 7?

2023-05-18 04:36:13

Bill

I have the opposite problem with Word 365. I run the spell checker and grammar checker and make decisions to ignore some of the errors. When the process is finished and no more errors are found (and I get no errors if I run them again), I save the document. If I re-open the document and try running the spell checker and grammar checker again, it flags many of the errors I had previously made decisions about during the first run. This is very annoying, since I can't get the document to appear clean without turning off checking completely (which I don't want to do).

Why is Word not honoring the decisions I made about ignoring the 'errors' it thinks it found?

2023-03-11 10:35:49

Elizabeth Mercado

This tip is very helpful to me, thanks for posting!

2023-03-11 10:00:49

Dave Dyer

Would you reprint a macro(s) for use in Outlook.com that i could use for repetitive replies for Office 2019 please?

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.