Hello, my name is Erin. I'm a professional copy editor who shares
writing tips for the real world on my blog at erinwrightwriting.com.
This tutorial demonstrates how to use the spelling and grammar check in Microsoft
Word 2016 running on Windows. Word's spelling and grammar check is one of the
simplest yet most important tools in the Office suite. The interface for this
critical tool evolves with each version of the software and has experienced
substantial change in recent versions.
You can run the spelling and grammar check with grammar and spelling or just
with spelling. So let's begin by looking at how to include or exclude grammar.
First, select the File tab. Then select Options
in the Backstage view. Now select Proofing in the Word Options
dialog box. And then select or deselect "Check grammar with spelling." Lastly,
select the OK button to save your selection and close the Word Options
dialog box. After you have decided whether to include or exclude grammar,
you can run the spelling and grammar check. Begin by selecting the Review tab
and then select Spelling & Grammar. The Editor will appear on the right side of
the screen. For spelling errors you can choose an option from the suggestion
list to change that instance of the spelling error. Or, open the drop-down
menu for a suggestion and select Change All to change every instance of that
spelling error to the suggestion. You can also choose Add to Dictionary to add the
word with its current spelling to your custom dictionary, Ignore Once to ignore
that instance of the spelling error or Ignore All to ignore every instance of
the spelling error. Occasionally, Word won't be able to provide any suggestions;
however, when that lapse occurs the software will still offer the
opportunity to add the word to your custom dictionary, ignore the word once,
or ignore every instance of the word. If the software detects a grammar error, you
can choose an option from the suggestions list to change that instance
of the error or select Ignore Once to ignore that instance of the error, Don't
Check for this Issue to stop checking for that type of grammar error in the
document, or Options for Clarity and Conciseness
to open the Grammar Settings dialog box where you can customize your grammar
check. If you want to learn about the grammar error and see examples, open the
drop-down menu above the text box.
If you decide to make an edit in the text while the spelling and grammar
check is running, it will automatically pause itself. Select the Resume button
when you're ready to restart to check. If you have chosen to include readability
statistics in your proofing options, the Readability Statistics dialog box will
appear after you complete the spelling and grammar check. For more basic
tutorials on Microsoft Word, please see my Word playlist linked below. You can
find this tutorial in written format on my blog at erinwrightwriting.com,
which is linked below. Feel free to leave me a comment if you have a question
about Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat that you'd like me to address in a
future video. And please subscribe and give this video a thumbs-up if you found
it helpful. Thank you so much for watching!