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: Turning Off a Dictionary for a Style.

Turning Off a Dictionary for a Style

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 20, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365

If you use styles in your documents, chances are pretty good that you will end up defining styles for things such as tables, illustrations, and the like. There is also a good chance that you will want these types of paragraphs to be skipped when doing a grammar- or spell-check. You can ensure this by doing the following:

Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
Click the small icon at the bottom-right of the Styles group. Word displays the Styles task pane.
In the list of styles shown, hover the mouse pointer over the name of the style you want to alter. A drop-down arrow should appear at the right side of the style name.
Click the drop-down arrow and choose Modify. Word displays the Modify Style dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Modify Style dialog box.

Click on Format and select Language from the pull-down list. Word displays the Language dialog box. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Language dialog box.

Make sure the Do Not Check Spelling or Grammar check box is selected.
Click on OK.
Click on OK to close the Modify Style dialog box.
To change other styles, repeat steps 3 through 8.
When you are done, click on Close.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13048) 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: Turning Off a Dictionary for a Style.

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

Changing Your Windows 7 Password

Want to change the password you use when you log into Windows? It's easy to do, as you discover in this tip.

Discover More

Blank Page Printing after Table at End of Document

When you print, do you get an extra blank page printed at the end of the document? It could be because of the final ...

Discover More

Changing the Mouse Pointer

Windows is rather configurable, especially when it comes to the user interface. Here's how you can modify the way that ...

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)

Putting Style Names Next to Paragraphs on a Printout

If you use styles to format your document, you might want a way to print the document and show, to the left of each ...

Discover More

Understanding Style Sets

When you display the Home tab of the ribbon, Word shows a variety of styles in the Styles group. These are Style Sets, as ...

Discover More

Minimizing and Correcting Propagation of Similar Styles

When there are multiple users working with a document, it can collect a number of unwanted styles over time. Here are ...

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 eight minus 5?

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.