How to Use the Spell Checker in Word 2003

A spell checker can be an editor’s best friend, but don’t rely on it completely. Like all tools, a spell checker can be fallible. Here's how to derive maximum benefit from the feature.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Word 2003
• Computer

1. Open an existing document or type a new document in Word 2003.
2. Understand automatic spelling and grammar checking. By default, Word 2003 checks your grammar and spelling as you go. Wavy red underlines mean you may have misspelled a word. Wavy green underlines indicate a possible grammatical error. Right-click the word or line in question to see suggestions.
3. Set up the spelling and grammar checker. If you want to check only spelling or only grammar you’ll have to change some options. Click "Tools," click "Options," and then “Spelling & Grammar.” Set the options. Right-click and select “What’s this?” if you don't understand what an option does.
4. Run the "Spelling and Grammar" check, Click "Tools," and then "Spelling and Grammar" or hit the "F7" key. A dialog box will display any possible errors.
5. Review the sentence. Consider the suggestions and decide whether to implement them.
6. Click "Ignore" to reject any changes. Click “Ignore All” if you want Word 2003 to stop asking you about future occurrences of that word.
7. Choose "Add to Dictionary" to add the word to Word 2003’s dictionary. This will halt Word from continually flagging the word. Use this option for new words or proper names that Word 2003 does not recognize.
8. Choose a suggestion from the list and click “Change” to replace the misspelled word. Click “Change All” to change any other occurrences of the word.
9. Click the "AutoCorrect" option and Word 2003 automatically will fix the spelling error the next time it appear. For example, if you choose to autocorrect “the” for “teh,” Word 2003 will insert “the” wherever you accidentally type “teh.”

Tips & Warnings

• You can change the language of the spell checker from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the dialog box.
• AutoCorrect also fixes capitalization errors. For example, a lower case “i” automatically will be changed to “I.”
• Always proofread. The human eye catches mistakes no machine can.

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