As you use the spell-checking capabilities of Word, you undoubtedly have added words to your custom dictionary. Normally you do this when you run across a word that the main dictionary does not understand, but which you know is correct. When you click on the Add button in the spell-check dialog box, the word is added to your custom dictionary.
You can edit the custom dictionary by following these steps:
Figure 1. The Custom Dictionaries dialog box.
Figure 2. Editing a custom dictionary.
It is interesting to note that custom dictionaries are simply text files. This means you can also edit them by using a different text editor, such as Notepad. In order to find the dictionaries, simply look in the directory where the custom dictionaries are stored. (You can figure out where this is by carefully examining the dialog boxes displayed in the above steps.) The dictionaries are nothing but a list of words that the spell-check should consider as acceptable. You can add words to the dictionary as needed, or delete words that never should have been added in the first place.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12196) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Editing Custom Dictionaries.
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2019-03-20 14:25:43
Rob
I have a custom dictionary I use in Word and Outlook. I often add words to the bottom of the list using Notepad. I've noticed that the dictionary occasionally gets sorted alphabetically, with capitalized words separated from non-capitalized. What triggers this action, and is there a way I can control it?
I've also noted that capitalized words (usually proper names) get added to the list without my intervention. All these names come from Outlook. How can I prevent this from happening?
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