Spelling tool grays out "add" in Word 10.1.4, challenges wordsin user dictionary

[Norman R. Nager, Ph.D.]

The spelling tool works as it should in Entourage but, in Microsoft Word
10.1.4, frequently will challenge the spelling of words that are in the
user dictionary, such as my last name, as one of many examples.

BUT, the same words are not challenged when I copy the text to an Entourage
task or note and run the spelling tool. So the problem lies in Word's use
of the spelling tool.

To add to the confusion, in Microsoft Word, the spelling tool's "add" button
is grayed out, probably the tool's way of saying that the "incorrectly
spelled" word is spelled exactly that way in the user dictionary.

Suggestions, please?

Respectfully, Norm

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Norman,

Any chance that the document(s) in question have sections or paragraphs in
another language (like English UK or English AUS)? That would explain it.
For spelling to work in Word (it's a different situation in Entourage AFAIK)
the language of the proofing tools being used has to match the language of
the text being spell checked.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

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

 

[Norman R. Nager, Ph.D.]

Hi, Beth,

Thanks very much for wrestling with this annoying Word-spelling tool hiccup.

In the documents involved, no sections or paragraphs were in any language
other than American English.

I just created a new Word document in which I typed my full name. The
spelling tool accepted my first name but failed to recognize my last name
and "add" was grayed out. I then typed my name in an Excel spreadsheet,
checked with the spelling tool, and only found a problem if I neglected to
capitalize.

Something is definitely wrong with the spelling tool operation in Word
10.1.4. What do you suggest next, please?

Respectfully, Norm

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Norman,

Hmmm. Do you have more than one dictionary installed? If so, go to
Preferences/Spelling and Grammar. Click the Dictionaries button and ensure
the dropdown is set to "none" or to your preferred language (if you set it
to "none", spell check will use the document or style language).

If that's not the case, is the spell checker working otherwise or is it just
your name that's causing the problem? If it's not working in general, then
test the Carbon Registration Database (~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/).
With all Office apps quit, drag it to the desktop. Reopen Word and see if
the problem is gone. If it's not, quit all Office apps again, drag the
original file back into Microsoft Preferences and replace the new one that
will have been created.

If we're still at Square One, try testing your Normal template: Quit Word
and navigate to your Normal template which should be in
/Applications/Microsoft Office X/Templates/. Rename Normal to something else
(like OldNormal), then relaunch Word. If this fixes the problem but you
have customizations, etc, in OldNormal that you want to maintain, you can
use Organizer to transfer those from OldNormal to the newly-created Normal
template. Then you can trash the old renamed file. To learn how to use
Organizer, see here (use IE not Safari to view this site):
<http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/MacWordNormalTemplate.htm>

If this doesn't fix the problem, quit Word again, trash the new Normal,
rename OldNormal back to Normal and post back so we can try something else
.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

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

 

[Norman R. Nager, Ph.D.]

Sorry, Beth. I've now done each of the drills below and none work. I even
logged out in-between. Didn't help. Some of my user dictionary spellings
are not challenged; some are.

If I open my custom dictionary with Word, I can find the spellings that are
challenged. As I said, no problem whatsoever with the spelling tool in
Excel, no problem with Entourage Tasks, Entourage Notes, Entourage Email.
Just Word, grumble, grumble!

Norm

 

[Norman R. Nager, Ph.D.]

Thanks very much, Beth, for all your great troubleshooting ideas. I've
just made an Entourage Note of the experience and your suggestions should I
ever have weird spellcheck problems again in Word.

I discovered that what had once been an alias of my user Custom Dictionary
(which I mistakenly thought was still an alias) had become a corrupted 2nd
and considerably shorter version of the real user Custom Dictionary and that
the Word spelling tool preference had switched to the bad file.

The corruption of the alias and the preference pointing to the bad file may
have occurred during any (or a combination) of the following:

--"Spring Cleaning" of orphan aliases a couple months ago
--Bad blocks on my primary hard drive and my subsequent attempts to repair
resultant problems with several utilities before replacing it with a new
hard drive and duplicating everything from a backup drive.
--Beta testing of any of several programs, some of which hiccupped in
various builds.

Once the problem was recognized, it was easy to solve by changing the
preference to the uncorrupted user custom dictionary and trashing the bad
file.

Respectfully, Norm

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word]]

Hi Norman:

Well, I think Beth might be on track here. You know that Word text can
change language word-by-word? So it is worth actually clicking in the bad
word then going to Language to see what language is highlighted: that's the
only way to be sure that your language is correct.

It may however be that you have more than one custom dictionary active, or
that the custom dictionary you have is not active.

I assume you have tried the things suggested in the Help topic "Troubleshoot
spelling and grammar checking"?

Basically, the condition you have indicates that Word cannot find a
dictionary for the language in use, or cannot write to the dictionary.

Check that your Custom Dictionary is set to "No Language" as a start. If
the custom dictionary is set to a specific language, its entries are
available ONLY in that language.

Hope this helps


This responds to article <BCB4095F.11FEF%[email protected]>,

Hi, Beth,

Thanks very much for wrestling with this annoying Word-spelling tool hiccup.

In the documents involved, no sections or paragraphs were in any language
other than American English.

I just created a new Word document in which I typed my full name. The
spelling tool accepted my first name but failed to recognize my last name
and "add" was grayed out. I then typed my name in an Excel spreadsheet,
checked with the spelling tool, and only found a problem if I neglected to
capitalize.

Something is definitely wrong with the spelling tool operation in Word
10.1.4. What do you suggest next, please?

Respectfully, Norm

--

Please respond only to the newsgroup to preserve the thread.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Norman,

Thanks for getting back on this. I was beginning to despair .

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

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