Custom Dictionary Size Limits

[Chuck Cole]

I'm having a problem with custom dictionary size limits. I know that
custom dictionaries are supposed to be able to hold 10000 words, or
thereabouts, but when I create a new dictionary, Word is happy to add
to it up to a point, but the size of the dictionary at this point is
only 4K, and there are only about 50 or 75 words in it. I've created
a new dictionary, and the same thing happens, and all of the older
custom dictionaries on my hard drive are also only 4K in size. I'm
using Word for OsX. Thanks.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Chuck,

Please post back and tell us the following:

What is your OS version (Jaguar?, Panther?, updated?)?

What updaters have you applied to Office X?

What happens when you try to add a word to the Custom Dictionary? Is the
Add button greyed out? Something else? If it's the greyed out Add button,
check the topic "Troubleshoot Spelling" in the Word Help.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

 

[Chuck Cole]

Hi Chuck,

Please post back and tell us the following:

What is your OS version (Jaguar?, Panther?, updated?)?

What updaters have you applied to Office X?

What happens when you try to add a word to the Custom Dictionary? Is the
Add button greyed out? Something else? If it's the greyed out Add button,
check the topic "Troubleshoot Spelling" in the Word Help.

I'm using Jaguar which I've been using since soon after it came out.
I just went through updating Office to 10.1.5, which I hadn't done,
but this makes no difference. I have five dictionaries selected, all
of which appear to be 4K in size. When I activate spelling, the add
button is not gray, but when I click on it, I get a message that the
"The custom dictionary is full. The word was not added" in a dialog
box. any ideas??

 

[Beth Rosengard]

I'm using Jaguar which I've been using since soon after it came out.
I just went through updating Office to 10.1.5, which I hadn't done,
but this makes no difference. I have five dictionaries selected, all
of which appear to be 4K in size. When I activate spelling, the add
button is not gray, but when I click on it, I get a message that the
"The custom dictionary is full. The word was not added" in a dialog
box. any ideas??

Hi Chuck,

I've never heard of this before. Try this: Start from scratch. Close
Word. Trash all your Custom Dictionaries (not sure of the location in Word X
but you'll find it).

Before reopening Word, repair disk permissions: Go to Macintosh
HD/Applications/Utilities. Open up Disk Utility. Select your hard disk,
then click the First Aid tab. Click the button to "Repair Disk
Permissions".

Reopen Word. Go to Preferences: Spelling & Grammar. If a default Custom
Dictionary was not created when you reopened Word, create one and select it.
Make sure you only have the one Custom Dictionary. Set the language to
None.

See what happens and report back if the problem recurs.

Hope this helps.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

 

[Chuck Cole]

I followed the advice quoted below, which didn't help, and ultimately
discovered that one word was at fault--always giving me the full
dictionary dialogue box. I had no trouble adding words which came
after it in my document. I copied the entire document to a new
document and then it was able to add the problematic word to my
dictionary. I guess there was some sort of invisible corruption,
perhaps something that made the word appear to the dictionary to be
too long to add--perhaps another wonder of Microsoft Office. Thanks
for the suggestions.