How to fix
Spell Checker that does not indicate mistakes
on Windows

Spell Checker on Windows suddenly stopped working. I purposefully misspelled words to test it out, but nothing has been underlined like it used to be in the previous Windows versions. It is strange that proofing tools are enabled. What could be the problem?

Spelling check is one of the useful features that Microsoft Office can offer. This tool helps you to quickly spot and fix minor spelling, grammar and syntax mistakes and even automatically change the misspelled words with the correct one throughout the extended text. You can only imagine how annoying it would be to lose this ability. You would have to proofread texts manually. Unfortunately, this hardship often befalls for a variety of reasons.

First, and the most obvious cause of malfunctioning proofreading function might be that these tools are not installed at all or are corrupted. In such a case, you will have to reinstall them. It might also be that the problem lays in the program’s settings. For instance, if the Speller EN-US add-in is not enabled or if the “Do not check spelling or grammar” option is pre-marked by default. What is more, another language set as a default can interfere with checking your intended one. Finally, it might be the problem of HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\ProofingTools\1.0\Override\en-US existing in your Windows registry. No matter what the problem might be, it can most likely be fixed. Below we provide a couple of solutions that might help set the settings according to your needs.

How to fix Spell Checker on Windows?

Solution 1: If you have not proofing tools installed, you can start by installing them on your computer.

1. Close all the running programs
2. Enter the Start menu and go to Control Panel
3. Go to Add/Remove programs
4. Locate Microsoft Office Edition and click Change
5. Then, in the new window select Add or Remove Features and proceed by clicking Continue.
6. Under the Office Shared Features drop-down menu select Proofing Tools and select Run all from My Computer.

Solution 2: Enable EN-US add-in

To enable the Speller EN-US add-in, follow the steps below:

1. In the Word or any other document you want to use spellchecker on, click the File in the top toolbar and navigate to Options.
2. Click Add-Ins option located on the left.
3. In the Word Options dialog box click for the list of the extended options and select Disabled items and proceed by clicking Go.
4. In the appeared dialog box make sure Speller EN-US (nlsdata0009.dll) is enabled by clicking Enable.
5. Close the dialogue box, and the changes confirm the changes by clicking OK.