Word – Spell checker in MS Word 2007 works for some languages but not for others

microsoft wordmicrosoft-word-2007spell-check

After browsing the help sites of MS Office for a long long time I decided to resort to your help: in MS Office Word 2007 (on 64 bit Windows 10 machine) the spell checker works for some languages but not for others. My guess is that this has to do with the missing checkmarks in this window:

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For English (UK and US), the spell checker works just fine, but for German and Dutch nothing happens (no red squiggely line under asdfasdf). Do you know which steps I have to take to get checkmarks (and then hopefully also a working spell checker) for Dutch and German?

Best Answer

Do you know which steps I have to take to get check-marks for other languages?

It is not possible to get spell check for languages where the check marks are missing:

... languages without ABC icon cannot be spell or grammar checked.

Full instructions as follows:

For the spelling and grammar checker to function correctly in another language, you must prepare your Office program to acknowledge the language.

Setting a New Default Language

After setting a new default language in Word or PowerPoint, the current file and all new or old files opened in that program will be subjected to the new language settings. This option is recommended for users who mainly type in a language other than the Office default.

NOTE: If you have changed the keyboard layout in Windows, Office automatically recognizes the language you are typing in.

  • From the Review tab, in the Proofing section, click the Set Language button

  • The Language dialog box appears. NOTE: Any language in the list can be recognized by your Office program, but languages without ABC icon cannot be spell or grammar checked.

    enter image description here

  • From the scroll list, select the desired language. EXAMPLE: Select Spanish (Mexico)

  • Click DEFAULT... A confirmation dialog box appears.

  • Click YES The default language is set.

  • Click OK

Setting the Language for a Current Document

You can set Word or PowerPoint to recognize selected text as another language. This option is recommended for users who alternate between different languages when typing.

  • Type the text you want recognized in another language

  • Select the text

  • From the Review tab, in the Proofing section, click the Set Language button The Language dialog box appears. NOTE: Any language in the list can be recognized your Office program, but languages without theABC iconicon cannot be spell or grammar checked.

    enter image description here

  • From the scroll list, select the desired language. EXAMPLE: Select Spanish (Mexico)

  • If you want Word to be able to check your spelling and grammar, be sure the Do not check spelling or grammar checkbox is not selected NOTE: The option is selected if a checkmark appears before it.

  • Click OK

Source Microsoft Office 2007 Checking Spelling & Grammar in Other Languages

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