How to Remove a Word From the Microsoft Dictionary

Microsoft Word has a dictionary that is referenced when checking a document for correct spelling. If the word in the document being checked is not in the Word dictionary or is misspelled, a red line appears under the word. You can customize the dictionary by added or removing words. It is easy to accidentally add a misspelled word to the Word dictionary, but you can easily remove a word if needed by following a few simple steps.

Instructions

1. Open Microsoft Word and click the Microsoft Office button (the multi-colored symbol that looks like four boxes) located at the top left-hand corner of the page. You can open or save a document and make changes to the Word settings here.

2. Click the "Word Options" button from the menu that opens and select the "Proofing" tab from the list of options that appear.

3. Click the "Custom Dictionaries" button. You can add, remove or change the spelling of a word in the dictionary here.

4. Select "Edit Word List" and click the word that you want to remove from the dictionary. Click "Delete," then click "OK" to save the changes and exit the Word List options.

5. Click "OK" again to exit Word Options.

6. You can type the word you deleted from the dictionary into a document to make sure it was removed. You will know that it was removed from the dictionary because the word will have a red line under it to indicate that it is misspelled.

References

• Microsoft: Add or remove words