All Office programs let you easily spell check document files. Curiously, however, the process doesn't work the same way in each Office program. The following paragraphs describe how each Office program checks spelling
Word spell checks its documents automatically by default. If you type a word that's not in the program’s spelling dictionary, Word underlines the possible misspelling with a red, wavy line:
If you know the correct spelling of the word, you can double-click the word and then type the correct spelling. If you don't know the correct spelling, you can right-click the word to display a shortcut menu:
The shortcut menu provides several useful commands for dealing with the misspelled word:
· Whenever possible, Word supplies a list of alternative spellings on the shortcut menu. You can correct the misspelling by choosing the correctly spelled word.
· If Word thinks you've misspelled a word but you actually haven't, click the Ignore All command. Clicking Ignore All tells Word not to identify this word as misspelled in the document.
· If Word thinks you've misspelled a word but you actually haven't and you want the program to stop identifying the word as misspelled in this and all future documents, click the Add command. Clicking Add tells Word to place the selected word into your custom dictionary. Once you've placed a word in the custom dictionary, Word won't identify it as misspelled in any document.
· If you want Word to automatically fix this misspelling now and in the future, select AutoCorrect and then choose the correct spelling from the AutoCorrect submenu. ("Using AutoCorrect," later in this chapter, describes what AutoCorrect is and how it works.)
· If Word thinks you’ve misspelled a non-English word, select Language, and click Set Language to display the Language dialog box. Then select a language from the list to mark the selected text as that language.
· If you want to correct the misspelling in some way other than that already described here, click Spelling to display the Spelling dialog box. Then use the Spelling Dialog box to describe how you want the misspelling corrected. For example, you can choose to ignore or change the selected occurrence of a misspelling or all occurrences of it.
NOTE: If Word doesn’t automatically spell check your documents, click Tools | Options, click the Spelling & Grammar tab, and then check the Check Spelling As You Type box. Note, too, that the Spelling & Grammar tab provides more than a dozen other buttons and boxes that you can use to control the way Word checks spelling and grammar in your Word document.
Excel's spell checking isn't automatic, but it's still very easy. To spell check a workbook or the selected range, choose Tools | Spelling. If Excel identifies a misspelled word, it displays the Spelling dialog box. Near the top of the dialog box, Excel displays the misspelled word and provides a list of suggested alternative spellings. If Excel is not able to supply alternative spellings, you can use the Change To text box to supply a new replacement word for the misspelled word. If the word isn't misspelled, you can click the Ignore button to ignore only this occurrence of the word or click the Ignore All button to ignore this and every other occurrence of the word.
If you want to change the misspelling to what shows in the Change To text box, click the Change button to change only this occurrence of the word, or click the Change All button to change this and every other occurrence of the word.
If the word Excel thinks is misspelled isn't actually misspelled and you want Excel to stop identifying it as such in this and all future workbooks, click the Add button. Clicking Add tells Excel to add the selected word to the custom spelling dictionary identified in the Add Words To drop-down list box. Once a word has been added to the custom dictionary, it won't be identified as misspelled any more. You typically need to do this with words and terms you've created yourself (product names, trademarks, and so on), as well as with esoteric words and terms (shoptalk, industry-specific buzzwords, and so forth).
If you want Excel to automatically correct a misspelling every time you enter it, select the correct spelling and click the AutoCorrect button. Clicking AutoCorrect tells Excel to add the selected word to its list of AutoCorrect entries.
PowerPoint's spell checking works almost identically to Word's spell checking. Like Word, PowerPoint automatically checks the spelling of words as you enter them. If PowerPoint identifies a misspelled word, it underlines the word with a red wavy line. To fix the misspelling manually, double-click the word and then type a replacement. Alternatively, right-click the word and then choose one of the alternative spellings or commands from the shortcut menu that PowerPoint displays. (If you have a question about what any of the commands on the shortcut menu does, refer to the earlier discussion of Word's spell checking.)
NOTE: To control how PowerPoint's spell checking works, choose
Tools | Options, click the Spelling and Style tab, and then use the boxes and
buttons that PowerPoint displays to describe how and when you want spell
checking to occur.
Access's spell checking works almost identically to Excel's spell checking. To spell check the information shown in the open database object (an object is just a database building block, such as a table), choose Tools | Spelling. If Access finds a word that isn't in its dictionary, it displays the Spelling dialog box shown in Figure 3-7. Near the top of the dialog box, Access displays the misspelled word and provides a list of suggested alternative spellings. If Access is not able to supply alternative spellings, you can use the Change To text box to supply a new replacement word for the misspelled word. If the word isn't misspelled, click the Ignore Field, Ignore, or Ignore All button. If you want to change the misspelling to what shows in the Change To text box, click the Change button or the Change All button.
NOTE: You can click the Ignore Field button to prevent Access from spell checking a field that contains textual phrases that Access won't find in its spelling dictionary: alphanumeric strings (such as product codes) and proper names (such as the names of companies and people).
Publisher’s spell checking works similarly to Power Point’s spell checking. Like Power point, Publisher automatically checks the spelling of words as you enter them. If Publisher identifies a misspelled word, it underlines the word with a wavy red line. To fix the misspelling you can right-click the word and click one of the suggested spellings from the shortcut menu. Or, you can click Tools Spelling and click Check Spelling to open Publisher’s Check Spelling window. If your publication contains more than one text file or table frame, you can check the Check All Stories box to correct the spelling in all of them. To turn Publisher’s automatic spell checker on or off, click Tools Spelling and click Spelling Options to view the Spelling Options window. To hide the wavy red lines in a publication, click Tools Spelling and click the Hide Spelling Errors button.
To spell check the information shown in an Outlook item, choose Tools | Spelling. If Outlook finds a word that isn't in its dictionary, it displays the Spelling dialog box, which is for all practical purposes identical to the Spelling dialog box that Excel shows (see Figure 3-6). Near the top of the dialog box, Outlook displays the misspelled word and provides a list of suggested alternative spellings. If Outlook is not able to supply alternative spellings, you can use the Change To text box to supply a replacement word. If the word isn't misspelled, click the Ignore or the Ignore All button. If you want to change the misspelling to what shows in the Change To text box, click the Change button or the Change All button.
TIP: To tell Outlook that it should automatically check the spelling of any items you create before you send them, choose Tools | Options, click the Spelling tab, and then check the Always Check Spelling Before Sending box. Note, too, that the Spelling tab also provides other boxes and buttons that you can use to customize the way Outlook spell checks items.