Windows  ·  low  ·  Microsoft Office

Spell check does nothing, or checks in the wrong language

Spelling errors are not flagged, or are flagged against a language nobody is writing in. The usual cause is a setting stored in the text itself rather than in the application, which is why it follows the document between machines.

What you see

No red underlines anywhere, or only in part of a document. Or every word is marked wrong because the text is set to a language the dictionary does not match. Running the check reports it is complete without finding anything.

What is actually wrong

Language is a character-level property in Word, so a block of text can carry "Do not check spelling or grammar" while the rest of the document does not. Pasted text brings the source's language with it. Beyond that, the proofing tools for the language may not be installed, or the Normal template that holds the defaults may be damaged.

Codes and articles

Do not check spelling or grammarspell check not workingproofing languageEditor not workingnormal.dotm

Start here — find out which fix applies

A script that runs the 2 inspection commands from the write-up below and prints what each one returned. It reads the machine and changes nothing — every command that could write, delete, start or stop is excluded from it by construction. Run this first, then pick the fix its output points at.

Download the read-only diagnosticchanges nothing · safe to run before reading

Fixes (3)

Clear the language setting held in the text
Word10 minuteslow riskreversible

Part of a document is unchecked, or text is flagged against the wrong language. Start here — the setting travels with the text and no application-level change will override it.

  1. Select the whole document with Ctrl+A. Include headers, footers and text boxes separately — Ctrl+A does not reach them.

  2. Go to Review → Language → Set Proofing Language.

  3. Clear the "Do not check spelling or grammar" box, set the language to the one you want, and press OK.

    This box is applied to text, not to the document or the application. Pasted content very often arrives with it already ticked, which is why one paragraph behaves differently from the rest of an otherwise identical document.

  4. Press Set As Default in the same dialog to make that language the default for new documents.

  5. If it recurs on every paste, turn on Keep Text Only as the default paste option — File → Options → Advanced → Cut, copy and paste.

Confirm it workedErrors are underlined throughout the document, including in headers and text boxes, and against the correct language.
If you need to undo itUndo reverses the change, or reapply the previous language the same way.
Check the application settings and the installed proofing tools
Word, and PowerShell20 minuteslow riskreversible

Nothing is checked in any document on this machine.

  1. File → Options → Proofing, and confirm "Check spelling as you type" is ticked and "Hide spelling errors in this document only" is not.

  2. Check that proofing tools for the language are actually installed. File → Options → Language shows each one as either installed or not.

  3. Look for a policy override that disables proofing.

    PowerShell
    Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Proofing Tools\1.0\Override' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

    An entry here overrides the dictionary selection for a language and is left behind by some third-party proofing products long after they are removed.

  4. If the language shows as not installed, add the proofing tools from the Microsoft 365 portal or through the Office Deployment Tool. A display language pack is not the same thing as proofing tools and installing the wrong one is a common wasted step.

  5. Restart Word after installing anything.

Confirm it workedThe language shows as installed under File → Options → Language, and errors are flagged as you type.
If you need to undo itRe-tick anything you cleared. Removing proofing tools is done the same way they were added.
Download this fix as a PowerShell script4 steps you do yourself · asks before each step
Rebuild the Normal template
PowerShell as the affected user30 minutesmedium riskreversible

Settings will not stick between sessions, or the problem began after an update. Do this last — the template holds real customisation.

  1. Close Word completely.

    PowerShell
    Get-Process WINWORD -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force

  2. Find the template and note its size and date.

    PowerShell
    Get-ChildItem "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Templates\Normal.dotm" | Select-Object FullName, Length, LastWriteTime

  3. Rename it rather than deleting it. Word creates a fresh one automatically on the next start.

    PowerShell
    Rename-Item "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Templates\Normal.dotm" "Normal.dotm.bak"

    Normal.dotm holds custom styles, macros, AutoText entries, default fonts and page setup. Deleting it discards all of that with no warning, and for someone who has built up AutoText over years that is a real loss. Renaming means it can be put straight back.

  4. Start Word and confirm spell check now behaves.

  5. If it does, the old template was the cause. Copy any needed styles or AutoText across from the .bak file via the Organizer — Developer → Document Template → Organizer — rather than restoring the whole file.

Confirm it workedSpelling is checked correctly, and the setting survives closing and reopening Word.
If you need to undo itClose Word, delete the new Normal.dotm and rename Normal.dotm.bak back.
Download this fix as a PowerShell script2 steps you do yourself · asks before each step

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Where this stops. This write-up was written and checked by hand. It says what each step changes, how to confirm it worked and how to reverse it, and anything destructive is flagged before you reach it. If it does not match what your machine is doing, search the Support Centre for the exact code or message — and when something needs a person, get in touch.