Reset Spell Check in any Office app

Spell Check works the same in each Office application. When it finds a word it doesn’t recognize, it offers you the opportunity to change or ignore the word. If you ignore the word, the feature remembers; the next time you run Spell Check, it won’t stop at the ignored word. Most of the time, that’s exactly what you’ll want. On the other hand, if you need to find the word later, this behavior is less than helpful.

When this happens, the best thing to do just might be to start over by resetting Spell Check as follows (in a 2003 or earlier application):

1. From the Tools menu, choose Options.
2. Click the Spelling & Grammar tab.
3. In the Proofing Tools section at the bottom, click Recheck Document.
4. Click OK.

In a 2007 application, follow these steps to reset Spell Check:

1. Click the Office button and then click the Options button in the bottom-right corner.
2. Choose Proofing from the left pane.
3. In the When Correcting Spelling And Grammar section, click Check Document.
4. Click OK.

The next time you run Spell Check, it will stop at every word it doesn’t recognize, even if you previously ignored it.