How to Fix Spell Check Not Working in Microsoft Word: Troubleshooting Guide

Few tools in the productivity software landscape are more fundamental—or more frustrating—than reliable spell checking. For millions of knowledge workers, students, and professionals, Microsoft Word’s spell checker is among the first lines of defense against embarrassing typos and grammar errors. Yet, in practice, a not insignificant number of users on Microsoft 365 or Office 2016+ find that their trusted squiggly underlines vanish for no apparent reason, stubbornly refusing to reappear even as mistakes accumulate. When spell check stops working in Microsoft Word, productivity and confidence can take a serious hit.
The issue is common enough that a web search for “spell check not working in Word” returns thousands of forum threads, support pages, and desperate Reddit posts. This article provides an authoritative, comprehensive guide to diagnosing and resolving Word spell check failures for Microsoft 365, Office 2016, and later, leveraging advice verified across multiple tech support communities, official Microsoft sources, and user experiences.

Why Microsoft Word Spell Check Fails: Key Causes​

Spell check in Microsoft Word relies on several interconnected settings and underlying files. When one of these is misconfigured or corrupt, spell checking can fail in subtle or total ways. Some of the most frequently verified culprits include:

• Document-Specific Settings: Individual documents (or selected text) may have the “Do not check spelling or grammar” option enabled.
• Language or Proofing Issues: Incorrect language assignment or missing proofing tools prevent accurate error detection.
• Proofing Exceptions: Word allows users to hide spelling or grammar errors on a per-document or section basis, which is often enabled unintentionally, especially after copying/pasting from other sources.
• Add-ins or Template Corruption: Misbehaving third-party add-ins or a corrupted Normal.dotm template can break spell checking functionality.
• Administrative Restrictions: In organizational environments, Group Policy settings can disable or restrict spell check features.

Understanding the underlying cause is critical to applying the right solution and restoring full proofing capabilities.

Diagnosing Spell Check Issues: Step-by-Step​

The following troubleshooting steps have been validated across Microsoft’s own documentation, major tech support resources, and knowledgeable community guides.

1. Configure Proofing Language Settings Carefully​

Word’s spell check engine is language-aware. If content in your document (or specific paragraphs) is set to an unsupported or incorrect language, the spell checker won’t work as expected. Complicating matters, settings can vary at the document, paragraph, or even individual text level.
How to Check and Fix Proofing Language Settings:

• Select some or all of the affected text.
• Go to the Review tab, then choose Language -> Set Proofing Language.
• In the pop-up dialog, select the correct language for your document—e.g., “English (United States)” or “English (United Kingdom)”.
• Ensure “Do not check spelling or grammar” is unchecked.
• Click OK.

Pro Tip: If only specific paragraphs are ignored by the spell checker, select just that text before applying the language setting. Word supports mixed language and proofing rules within a document.

If Word’s proofing tools are still unavailable for your language, you may need to install the appropriate language pack. Go to File > Options > Language and verify the correct proofing tools are enabled (confirmed by multiple Microsoft sources and community troubleshooting guides).
Caution: In organization-managed environments, some settings may be grayed out due to Group Policy restrictions. In such cases, only your IT administrator can make changes.

2. Inspect and Clear Proofing Exceptions​

Unlike global options, proofing exceptions are specific to individual documents and often get enabled inadvertently—especially after content is copied from emails, PDFs, or older templates.
How to Check for Proofing Exceptions in Word:

• Click File -> Options.
• In the Word Options window, select Proofing from the left menu.
• Scroll down to the section labeled Exceptions for:
• Use the dropdown to verify the settings apply to your current document.
• Ensure both Hide spelling errors in this document only and Hide grammar errors in this document only are unchecked.
• Scroll up to the “When correcting spelling and grammar in Word” section and ensure the following are checked:
• Check spelling as you type
• Mark grammar errors as you type
• Check grammar with spelling (note: this option may be limited by language pack availability).
• Click OK and re-test the document.

This step alone often restores squiggly underlines and live spell checking, especially if errors were being hidden but not actually missed during checking. Community forums such as Appuals and the official Microsoft Answers consistently report success with this method.

3. Start Word in Safe Mode to Rule Out Add-ins and Template Issues​

Corrupted add-ins or template files (notably Normal.dotm) are another major source of spell checker failures. Safe Mode disables these elements, providing a controlled environment for diagnosis.
How to Launch Word in Safe Mode:

• Hold CTRL and double-click the Word icon, or...
• Press Win + R, type winword /safe, and press Enter.

In Safe Mode, if the spell checker suddenly works, one of the following is likely true:

• A third-party add-in is causing conflict.
• The Normal.dotm template (user settings and styles) is corrupt.
• A custom macro is interfering.

Next Steps:

• To disable add-ins: Go to File > Options > Add-ins. At the bottom, select COM Add-ins and click Go. Uncheck all add-ins and re-test. Re-enable add-ins one at a time to find the culprit.
• To reset user templates: Close Word. Rename or delete the file Normal.dotm, found at C:\Users[YourName]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates. Word will regenerate a fresh template on restart.

Safe Mode troubleshooting is widely recommended in Microsoft’s own spell check support article and has resolved persistent cases for many end users.

4. Verify Global Proofing Settings​

Sometimes it’s not the document, but Word’s application-wide settings that are to blame. Especially after updates or in enterprise environments, settings may revert or be silently altered.

• Open File > Options > Proofing.
• In the “When correcting spelling and grammar in Word” section, ensure Check spelling as you type and Mark grammar errors as you type are both checked.

Misconfigured global settings can hide errors throughout all documents, not just one.

5. Check for Language Pack or Proofing Tool Availability​

Certain Word spell checker features require the appropriate language packs. If you see “proofing tools not installed” or some options don’t appear for your chosen language, you may need to add the required components.
Install a Language Pack:

• Go to File > Options > Language.
• Under the “Office authoring languages and proofing” section, add the desired language.
• If indicated, download and install the proofing tools.

This is especially necessary for those working in multilingual environments or with documents sourced internationally.

6. Rule Out System-Wide File Corruption​

As a last resort, corrupted Office installation files or even Windows system components can disrupt Word’s spell checker. General tools like Fortect and the built-in Windows System File Checker (SFC) are suggested for broader repair:

• Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
• Type: sfc /scannow and press Enter.
• Let Windows scan for and repair integrity violations.

This step is generally only needed if Word’s spell check fails across all documents and profiles, or if other Office features are also malfunctioning.

Notable Strengths of Microsoft Word Spell Checker​

While spell check failures are undeniably frustrating, it is important to note just how sophisticated—yet approachable—Word’s proofing engine truly is. Standout strengths include:

• Granularity: Word allows users to configure proofing rules at both macro (whole document) and micro (individual block) levels.
• Multilingual Flexibility: With proper language packs, the engine can handle dozens of languages, switching proofing context on the fly.
• Real-Time Feedback: Live underlining of spelling and grammar alerts users to errors as they type—critical for catching mistakes before submission.
• Disable-By-Section: By design, disabling spell check for small document sections (such as code snippets, foreign phrases, or branded names) is possible—ideal for technical, academic, or legal workflows.
• Enterprise Integration: Proofing settings can be controlled centrally via Group Policy, helping organizations enforce or standardize writing quality.

These capabilities make Word’s spell checker a market leader in professional word processing—even as feature complexity can occasionally trip up unaware users.

Potential Risks: What Could Go Wrong?​

Despite its maturity, the spell checking subsystem does carry some risks and drawbacks, especially for organizations and high-stakes document creation:

1. User Confusion and Inconsistency​

Word’s ability to mix proofing settings for different document regions is powerful, but it can also create confusion. Users might accidentally apply “Do not check spelling or grammar” to entire sections or never notice hidden proofing exceptions. Without awareness—and a periodic review of document language and proofing settings—errors can easily slip through.

2. Language Pack Fragmentation​

Professionals who work with multinational teams or documents pasted from various sources may run into inconsistent proofing capabilities if not all language packs are installed. Remember, language and proofing tool availability is a local (not a network-wide) setting.

3. Hidden Administrative Restrictions​

IT administrators commonly disable spell check features to impose document hygiene standards or prevent unwanted corrections. However, organizations sometimes fail to clearly communicate these restrictions, leading to end-user frustration and unnecessary troubleshooting.

4. Add-in or Macro Interference​

A not insignificant number of chronic spell checker failures are eventually traced to misbehaving add-ins or custom macros modifying proofing behavior under the hood. While disabling COM add-ins solves the issue in most cases, tracking down the precise cause may require technical expertise.

5. Document Corruption or Legacy Templates​

Corrupted Word templates, particularly Normal.dotm, can introduce unpredictable proofing errors. This risk is particularly high in organizations that heavily customize Word templates or rely on very old files.

6. Copy-Paste Contamination​

Text pasted from web pages, PDFs, or non-Word tools often brings hidden style and language attributes that disable spell checking on the fly. Without manually reapplying proofing language settings, such copied content may go unchecked—a headache for editors reviewing externally sourced material.

SEO-Friendly Solutions: Ensuring Spell Check Works in Microsoft Word 365/2016+​

For those seeking to quickly resolve spell checker issues in the latest versions of Word, the following best practices represent a synthesis of Appuals’ comprehensive troubleshooting and Microsoft’s top recommendations:

• Always start by confirming your document’s proofing language (Review > Language > Set Proofing Language) and uncheck the “Do not check spelling or grammar” setting.
• Check document-specific proofing exceptions under File > Options > Proofing, ensuring that error-hiding features are disabled for your current document.
• If spell check works in Safe Mode but not normal mode, methodically disable add-ins and (if necessary) refresh your Normal.dotm template.
• Make sure required language packs and proofing tools are installed (File > Options > Language).
• For persistent, inexplicable errors, consider running a system repair or using trusted repair tools to address possible file corruption.
• In enterprise setups, communicate with your IT administrator to verify that spell check features are not intentionally disabled via Group Policies.

When to Seek Advanced Help​

If none of the above solutions resolves the issue—and Word’s spell checker fails across all documents, user profiles, and after reinstalling Office—your problem may stem from deeper Office or Windows corruption, hardware issues, or registry-level conflicts. At this point, it’s worth engaging with official Microsoft support channels or professional IT services. Provide them with precise details about the symptoms, specific error messages, Office versions, and the steps you’ve already tried.

Conclusion: Mastering Microsoft Word Spell Check​

Spell checking in Microsoft Word remains a crucial tool for modern knowledge workers, students, and anyone concerned with producing error-free documents. While the system is highly reliable under normal conditions, settings for proofing, language, and add-ins introduce useful flexibility—with an accompanying risk of misconfiguration.
When Word’s spell check stops working, patience and systematic troubleshooting are key. Start with language and proofing options, review document and application-wide settings, and use Safe Mode to isolate add-in or template interference. Most issues can be resolved in minutes. For more complex cases, don’t hesitate to consult your organization’s IT support or Microsoft’s expansive online resources.
By understanding how Word’s spell checking works at both the user and administrative levels, you can maintain robust error protection, produce more polished work, and avoid the stress of last-minute proofreading crises. With these proven solutions, Microsoft Word remains a powerful ally in the ongoing fight against avoidable mistakes—ensuring your documents always reflect your best, most accurate self.

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Source: Appuals Fix: Spell Check Not Working in Microsoft Word (365 or 2016+)