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: Fast Spelling Corrections.

Fast Spelling Corrections

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 8, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


1

As you are typing in your document, you may have noticed that some of your words are underlined with a red wavy line. These are words for which Word is questioning your spelling. You can quickly correct your spelling (assuming you agree that it may be incorrect) by right-clicking on the word in question. The resulting Context menu contains spelling suggestions that you can select. Word then replaces the word on which you right-clicked (the incorrect word) with the proper spelling. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Right-click on a misspelled word to correct it.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12097) 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: Fast Spelling Corrections.

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

Printing Summary Information

Word automatically maintains a number of properties for each document you create. As part of those properties you can ...

Discover More

Preventing the Left Margin of a Footer from Moving

When you print a document, does the position of the page footer seem to move left and right? This could have to do with ...

Discover More

Deleting Duplicate Text Values

Got a list of data from which you want to delete duplicates? There are a couple of techniques you can use to get rid of ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies 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

Making Spell Check Ignore Characters

The rules of professional editing often require that editorial changes in a quote be noted with brackets. These brackets, ...

Discover More

Dictionary Shortcut Key

Need a quick way to display the dictionary or other grammar tools? Use one of the handy built-in shortcuts provided by Word.

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 six minus 5?

2018-10-09 05:41:49

Richard

I notice in your screenshot (Figure 1) that the list of suggested words also contains an explanation of the meaning of those words using a comma-separated list. This does not happen in my installation of Word 2013. Is it a settable option?


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.