When a spelling error is indicated, what is a quick way to show a list of possible corrections?

In this topic

• Check and correct the spelling and grammar

  • Ignore a spelling or grammar finding

• Keyboard shortcuts for the Editor pane

• Recheck words and grammar that you previously chose to ignore

• Keyboard shortcuts related to checking grammar and spelling

• Turn the automatic checking for spelling and grammar on or off

Check and correct the spelling and grammar

1. Open the document you want to check for spelling or grammar mistakes, and then press F7.

   You can also use the ribbon to start the check. Press Alt+R to open the Review tab, and then press C, 1 to select the Check Document option.

   The Editor pane opens. You hear "Editor overview" followed by the number of findings.

   Tip: To check the spelling and grammar in just a sentence or paragraph of your document, select the text you want to check and then press F7.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To review both spelling and grammar errors, press Enter.

   • To review only spelling errors, press the Tab key until you hear: "Corrections card." Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Spelling," and then press Enter.

   • To review only grammar errors, press the Tab key until you hear: "Corrections card." Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Grammar," and then press Enter.

3. You hear the original sentence with the spelling or grammar error. Press the Tab key until you hear the first suggestion on how to correct the error.

4. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the suggestion you want to use and then do one of the following:

   • To use the suggested correction on the current error only, press Enter.

   • To use the suggested correction on all occurrences of the error in the current document, press Alt+Down arrow key, and then press A.

   The error is corrected, and Word moves to the next error. Repeat this step for each error.

   Tip: To read the original sentence for the next error, press the Tab key until you reach the Read original sentence button, and then press Enter.

5. When Word finishes reviewing the document, you hear: "Microsoft Word dialog, OK button." To return to your document, press Enter.

Ignore a spelling or grammar finding

If you think that a finding is not an error, you can ignore it once or throughout the document. The finding is not corrected, and Word moves to the next error on the list.

1. In the Editor pane, after you've listened to the original sentence with the finding, do one of the following:

   • To ignore a finding once, press I.

   • To ignore a finding everywhere in the document, press G.

Keyboard shortcuts for the Editor pane

The following table summarizes the keyboard shortcuts for the Editor pane.

Recheck words and grammar that you previously chose to ignore

1. In the Word document you want to recheck, press Alt+F, T. The Word Options window opens.

2. Press P, and then press the Tab key once. The Proofing pane opens with the focus on the AutoCorrect Options button.

3. To move to and activate the Recheck document option, press K. When you are asked to confirm the action, press Enter to recheck the document. If you don't want to recheck the document, press the Right arrow key to move to the No button, and press Enter.

Keyboard shortcuts related to checking grammar and spelling

The following table provides a summary of keyboard shortcuts that can help you to check grammar and spelling in your Word documents.

Turn the automatic checking for spelling and grammar on or off

You can turn off automatic spelling and grammar checking and then check your document after it's completed. Checking all the spelling and grammar in your document at the same time is useful when you want to quickly proof your text.

1. In a Word document, press Alt+F, T. The Word Options window opens.

2. To open the Proofing pane, press P, and then press the Tab key. The Proofing pane opens with the focus on the AutoCorrect Options button.

3. To clear or select the Check spelling as you type checkbox, press P.

4. To move to the Mark grammar errors as you type checkbox, press M twice. To clear or select the checkbox, press Spacebar.

5. To apply your changes and close the Word Options window, press the Tab key until you reach the OK button, and then press Enter. The focus returns to your document.

Note: To specify how you want Word to autocorrect as you type, navigate to the Proofing tab, and press A. In the AutoCorrect dialog, select the options you want.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Use a screen reader to track and review changes in a document in Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365

In this topic

• Check the spelling and grammar of a document

• Recheck words and grammar that you previously chose to ignore

• Keyboard shortcuts related to checking grammar and spelling

• Turn the automatic checking for spelling and grammar on and off

Check the spelling and grammar in a document

1. Open the document you want to check for spelling or grammar mistakes, and then press Option+Command+L.

   Tip: To check the spelling and grammar in just a sentence or paragraph in your document, select the text you want to check and then press Option+Command+L. To select a piece of text, hold down Shift and press the arrow keys to move the cursor.

2. The Spelling and Grammar dialog opens. You hear: "Spelling and grammar" and the proofing language. The focus is on the text field where you can edit the misspelled word or grammatical error. The dialog also shows the suggested spellings, or the suggested grammatical revisions. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Suggestions, table." Listening to these will help you decide how to respond to the possible error.

3. To respond to an issue Word identifies, press the Tab key until you hear the command you'd like to select and then press Spacebar:

   • To skip the currently selected text and move to the next item, select Ignore.

   • To skip every occurrence of the selected text and move to the next item, select Ignore All.

   • To add the currently selected word to the dictionary so that Word doesn't detect the word as an error in the future, select Add. This only works for misspelled words. You can't add custom grammar to the dictionary.

   • To skip a grammatical error occurrence and move to the next one, select Next Sentence.

   • To apply the changes, select one of the spelling suggestions in the Word suggestions table. To browse the spelling suggestions, press the Up or Down arrow keys. VoiceOver announces the suggestions as you move. When on the suggestion, press the Tab key until you hear "Change" or "Change all" (to apply the change to every occurrence of the text), and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

4. After you correct or skip an error, Word moves to the next error. Then repeat the review process for each error.

5. When the spelling check is complete, you hear: "The spelling and grammar check is complete." If you checked only selected text, you hear: "Word finished checking the selection."

6. To return to your document, press Spacebar.

   Note: When VoiceOver reads the text, if Word detects a potential spelling mistake, you will also hear "misspelled" before the word.

Recheck words and grammar that you previously chose to ignore

You can clear or reset the list of Ignored Words and Grammar so Word will recheck for spelling and grammar issues you previously skipped.

Note: When you reset the list of Ignored Words and Grammar, the list is cleared only for the currently open document. Any spelling or grammar issues you skipped in other Word documents won't be affected.

1. To go to the menu bar, in the Word document you want to recheck, press Control+Option+M. You hear: "Menu bar Apple."

2. Press the Right arrow key until you hear "Tools," and then press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Spelling and grammar, submenu." To expand the Spelling and Grammar submenu, press Control+Option+Spacebar.

3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Reset Ignored Words and Grammar," and then press Spacebar.

4. A notification window opens. To confirm reset, press the Tab key until you hear "Yes, default button," and then press Spacebar to select.

5. To recheck the spelling and grammar, press Option+Command+L.

Keyboard shortcuts related to checking grammar and spelling

The following table provides a summary of keyboard shortcuts that can help you to check grammar and spelling in your Word documents.

Note:  Word for Mac uses the function keys for common commands. By default, to use a function key in a VoiceOver command, you must also press the Fn key. To learn more how to use the function keys in Word for Mac, see Use function key shortcuts in Keyboard shortcuts in Word.

Turn the automatic checking for spelling and grammar on and off

You can turn off the automatic checking for spelling and grammar in the Word documents and later turn it back on.

1. To open Preferences, press Command+Comma (,). You hear: "Word preferences."

2. Press the Tab key until you hear "Spelling and grammar, button," and then press Spacebar to select. The Spelling and Grammar dialog opens.

3. To turn the automatic checking for spelling on or off, press the Tab key until you hear: "Check spelling as you type, checkbox." You hear whether the checkbox is "checked" or "unchecked." To check or clear the Check spelling as you type checkbox, press Spacebar.

4. To turn on or off the automatic checking for grammar, press the Tab key until you hear: "Check grammar as you type, checkbox." You hear whether the checkbox is "checked" or "unchecked." To check or clear the Check grammar as you type checkbox, press Spacebar.

5. To go back to your document, press Esc.

See also

Use a screen reader to track and review changes in a document in Word

Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365

In this topic

• Check the spelling of a document

• Turn automatic checking for spelling on or off

Check the spelling of a document

Check your document for spelling mistakes and then decide if you agree with the spellchecker.

1. Open the document you want to check for spelling mistakes.

2. Swipe right until you hear "Page one content, <page content>, text field," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "Page one, text field, is editing."

3. Turn the Rotor to "Words."

4. Swipe down until you hear VoiceOver announce a misspelled word. The focus is on the word.

5. Double-tap the screen with two fingers. The context menu opens.

6. Swipe right until you hear "Select," and then double-tap the screen with one finger. The misspelled word is now selected.

7. Double-tap the screen with two fingers. The context menu opens.

8. Swipe right until you hear "Menu item," and then double-tap the screen. The list of correction suggestions appears.

9. Swipe right until you hear a suggestion you want to accept, and then double-tap the screen.

Turn automatic checking for spelling on or off

You can turn off the automatic spellchecking when you're working on your document. When you're done, you can turn the automatic checking back on and check the spelling in the whole document.

1. Swipe right until you hear "Show ribbon button," and then double-tap the screen. The ribbon opens, and the focus is on the current tab name.

2. Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Selected, <name of the current tab>."

3. Swipe left or right until you hear "Review tab," and then double-tap the screen.

4. Swipe right until you hear "Proofing tools button," and then double-tap the screen.

5. Swipe right until you hear "Spelling, On," and then double-tap the screen. The automatic spellcheck is now off.

6. To turn the automatic checking back on, navigate to the Proofing Tools button as instructed above, swipe right until you hear "Spelling, Off," and then double-tap the screen.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Use a screen reader to share a document in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365

In this topic

• Check the spelling of a document

• Hide and unhide proofing marks

Check the spelling of a document

Check your document for spelling mistakes and then decide if you agree with the spellchecker.

1. Open the document you want to check for spelling mistakes.

2. Swipe right until you hear "Not checked, expand switch," and then double-tap the screen. The ribbon opens, and the focus is on the current tab name.

3. Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Selected, <name of the current tab>."

4. Swipe left or right until you hear "Review tab," and then double-tap the screen.

5. Swipe right until you hear "Spelling button," and then double-tap the screen. The spellchecking is now activated. TalkBack announces the first spelling error it finds, for example: "<Misspelled word>, selected."

6. To check if there are correction suggestions available for the misspelled word, swipe right until you hear the suggestions. To select one, double-tap the screen.

7. To ignore the suggestions for this error and go to the next spelling error, swipe left or right until you hear "Next error button," and then double-tap the screen.

   To ignore all suggestions and end the spellcheck, swipe left or right until you hear "Ignore all button," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "Spelling check complete. You're good to go."

Hide and unhide proofing marks

You can hide the proofing marks so that TalkBack won't announce spelling errors as you work on your document. When you're done, you can unhide the marks, and check the spelling with TalkBack.

1. Swipe right until you hear "Not checked, expand switch," and then double-tap the screen. The tab menu opens, focus is on the current tab name.

2. Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Selected, <name of the current tab>."

3. Swipe left or right until you hear "Review tab," and then double-tap the screen.

4. Swipe right until you hear "Proofing and language menu," and then double-tap the screen.

5. To hide the proofing marks, swipe right until you hear "Not checked, Hide all proofing marks," and then double-tap the screen.

   Tip: To hide the proofing marks for a particular part of the text, first select the text in a document and then navigate to the Proofing and Language menu as instructed above. In the menu, swipe right until you hear: "Not checked, hide proofing marks in selected text," and then double-tap the screen.

6. To unhide the marks, navigate to the navigate to the Proofing and Language menu as instructed above. In the menu, swipe right until you hear "Checked, hide all proofing marks," and then double-tap the screen.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Use a screen reader to share a document in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365

In this topic

• Check the spelling of a document

• Hide and unhide proofing marks

Check the spelling of a document

Check your document for spelling mistakes and then decide if you agree with the spellchecker.

1. Open the document you want to check for spelling mistakes.

2. Swipe right until you hear "More options, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen. The ribbon opens, and the focus is on the current tab name.

3. Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Menu, <name of the current tab>, selected."

4. Swipe left or right until you hear "Review," and then double-tap the screen.

5. Swipe right until you hear "Spelling," and then double-tap the screen. The spellchecking is now activated. Narrator announces the first spelling error it finds, and the word is selected in the document.

6. To check if there are correction suggestions available for the misspelled word, swipe right until you hear the suggestions. To select one, double-tap the screen.

7. To ignore the suggestions, swipe left or right until you hear "Ignore all, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

Hide and unhide proofing marks

You can hide the proofing marks so that Narrator won't announce spelling errors as you work on your document. When you're done, you can unhide the marks, and check the spelling with Narrator.

1. Swipe right until you hear "More options, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen. The ribbon opens, and the focus is on the current tab name.

2. Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Menu, <name of the current tab>, selected."

3. Swipe left or right until you hear "Review," and then double-tap the screen.

4. Swipe right until you hear "Proofing and language button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

5. To hide the proofing marks, swipe right until you hear "Unchecked, hide all proofing marks," and then double-tap the screen.

   Tip: To hide the proofing marks for a particular part of the text, first select the text in the document and then navigate to the Proofing and Language menu as instructed above. In the menu, swipe right until you hear: "Unchecked, hide proofing marks in selected text," and then double-tap the screen.

6. To unhide the marks, navigate to the navigate to the Proofing and Language menu as instructed above. In the menu, swipe right until you hear "Checked, hide all proofing marks," and then double-tap the screen.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Use a screen reader to share a document in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

In this topic

• Check the spelling of a document

• Hide and unhide proofing marks

Check the spelling of a document

1. In the document you want to check for spelling mistakes, to go to the Spelling command on the ribbon, press Alt+Windows logo key, then R and S. You hear: "Spelling menu item."

2. To check spelling, press Enter. The focus moves to the first misspelled word in the document, and a context menu is opened. If there is a suggested spelling, you hear the suggestion.

3. Do one of the following:

   • If there is more than one suggested spelling, use the Down arrow key until you hear the spelling you want to use. To change the word, when on the suggestion, press Spacebar.

   • If you want to ignore the spelling mistake Word identified, press the Down arrow key until you hear "Ignore all" and then press Spacebar.

4. After you correct or ignore an error, to move to the next error, press Spacebar. Repeat the review process for each error.

5. When all errors have been reviewed, you hear "Dialog focus on OK button." To return to your document, press Spacebar.

Note:  Word for the web does not check grammar, but if you have the desktop app, you can quickly open the document there and check the grammar. In Word for the web, to open the document in the desktop app, press Alt+Windows logo key, and then O. To learn more about how to check the grammar in the desktop app, refer to Use a screen reader to check spelling in a document in Word.

Hide and unhide proofing marks

You can hide the proofing marks so that Narrator won't announce spelling errors as you work on your document. Once you're done, you can unhide the marks, and check the spelling with Narrator.

1. Place the cursor on the word that has proofing marks.

2. To open the context menu, press Shift+F10. Then press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Set proofing language menu item." To select, press Spacebar. The Language dialog opens.

3. To hide the proofing marks, in the Language dialog, press the Tab key until you hear "Unchecked, don't check spelling checkbox," and then press Spacebar. You hear: "Checked."

4. To unhide the proofing marks from a spelling error, in the Language dialog, press the Tab key until you hear "Checked, don't check spelling checkbox," and then press Spacebar. You hear: "Unchecked."

5. To close the dialog and move the focus to the document, press the Tab key until you hear "OK button," and then press Spacebar.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Use a screen reader to share a document in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365