Hi all.

I'm using Word 2010, and I'm having trouble with the default proofing language.  I need it set to UK English, and it works . . . most of the time.

Here's what I've done so far:

Options --> Proofing --> dictionary language set to UK English.

Options --> Language --> editing language set to UK English.

Here's the problem: some words are still being underlined in red as misspelled when they are not.  For example, "Programme" is being underlined even  though it is being used correctly. When I right click on it to select the proofing language, UK English and US English are both listed, but the US English option is checked off. It is infuriating.

The document is a collection of several other documents that I have cut and pasted from.  It seems the pieces I have pasted in to this document refuse to change their default proofing language no matter how many times I change it for the document as a whole.  I'm guessing this is what's going on because in the parts of the document that I created first, the word "Programme" is left alone (correctly) because that part of the document seems to be using UK English as the proofing language. 

In essence, I seem to have two different proofing languages going on in the same document. Is there anyway to fix this? This error is driving me nuts.

Thanks for any help!

In the Language dialog box (Review tab | Language | Set Proofing Language), clear the "Detect language automatically" option; this prevents Word from changing the language at the insertion point.

To fix the problem once it has occurred, select the text and manually apply the correct language (using that same dialog box).

This is not working for me in word 2010 for the PC.   Every time I open a new document, the proofing language is stuck as Swedish.  In fact, when I set styles to default (Times New Roman 12 instead of Calibri 11) they are lost as well when I open a new document.

Does this have something to do with the way it's installed, or that I am using a network version of Word?

This is not working for me in word 2010 for the PC.   Every time I open a new document, the proofing language is stuck as Swedish.  In fact, when I set styles to default (Times New Roman 12 instead of Calibri 11) they are lost as well when I open a new document.

Since you are losing all of your defaults, something is preventing you from saving the Normal template. As a workaround, do the following:

From within Word, press Alt+F11 to display the Visual Basic Editor. Press Ctrl+G to activate the Immediate window. Type

NormalTemplate.OpenAsDocument

and press Enter. Normal opens in a separate window (you'll see the filename on the title bar). Change the defaults as desired. Save and close Normal. Restart Word.

This is not working for me in word 2010 for the PC.   Every time I open a new document, the proofing language is stuck as Swedish.  In fact, when I set styles to default (Times New Roman 12 instead of Calibri 11) they are lost as well when I open a new document.

Does this have something to do with the way it's installed, or that I am using a network version of Word?

Network version of Word? Is your normal.dotm template by chance on your network and changes blocked or the template rewritten on a regular basis by the network? The normal template should NOT be shared. Try, under File > Options > Advanced > File Locations (toward the end) to set your templates location to a folder on your computer.

The proofing language is like a font attribute (Bold or Italic) in that it can be set in a single character. It is not, generally, an application or document setting. It is often set in Styles.

Mastering the Spelling Checker

See also: Add-Ins in Microsoft Word