default language STUCK! HELP!

[rosamundi]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: intel

I bought my mac in England and it has never left, yet I cannot change the default language, used in spell-checking, to UK English. I have gone into the Language menu, made the change, set it as the new defaut, etc. it says it will be applied to all new documents in Normal template, yet new documents continue to be in US English. I have repeated this operation 3 times, quitting Word, etc. but I cannot shift it!

This is dire because I'm preparing a manuscript for a UK publisher and the spelling HAS to be UK English!!! Please help. Thanks!

 

[John McGhie]

OK, here's a procedure for making it stick:

Make sure your Operating System is set to the language you want to use, and
that the keyboard is correct.

1) Quit all Office applications.

2) Start Word. Dismiss the blank document and use File>Open to open your
Normal template (it will be in the Microsoft User Data folder unless you've
moved it).

3) Go to Format>Style and change the language on Normal Style.

4) Display your paragraph marks so you can see what you are doing, and
select the default paragraph mark (Ctrl + a)

5) Reset the formatting of that paragraph by using Edit>Clear>Clear
formatting. Don't lose the selection.

6) Use Tools>Language>Set Language to reset the language.

7) Save, close, and quit Word.

It should stick now. If it doesn't, with Word quit, delete the Normal
template. It will re-create it next time it starts.

Notes: Word must be quit, not minimised, when you make these changes. Word
holds a copy of Normal template in memory while it is running. Unless you
make the change this way, Word will simply write the old template back to
disk from memory when it quits.

Language can be applied from either a style, or as direct formatting. If it
has been applied as direct formatting to the default paragraph in the Normal
template, the setting follows through to every document you create and it's
difficult to get rid of it.

The Normal template can corrupt, and when it does, various things can turn
"read-only". Language is one of them.

There's more information here:
http://word.mvps.org/mac/spellcheck.html#HowItWorks

Hope this helps

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: intel

I bought my mac in England and it has never left, yet I cannot change the
default language, used in spell-checking, to UK English. I have gone into the
Language menu, made the change, set it as the new defaut, etc. it says it will
be applied to all new documents in Normal template, yet new documents continue
to be in US English. I have repeated this operation 3 times, quitting Word,
etc. but I cannot shift it!

This is dire because I'm preparing a manuscript for a UK publisher and the
spelling HAS to be UK English!!! Please help. Thanks!

--
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Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]