Use exclusion dictionaries to change the preferred spelling of words

The following are a few situations where it is useful to be able to force the spelling checker to flag a word as misspelled, even though it is listed in the main dictionary as a correctly spelled word.

• Obscene or otherwise embarrassing words — While working on a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation, you accidentally type pubic instead of public.

• Style guidelines that you or your department wants to follow — For example, theater is a correctly spelled word, but the style guidelines of your department require the word to be spelled theatre.

How the exclusion dictionary affects the spelling checker

After you add a word to the exclusion dictionary, the spelling checker:

• Flags the word whenever you check spelling

• Does not suggest the word as a correction to a flagged word

Find and modify the exclusion dictionary for a language

1. Browse to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\UProof.

2. Locate the exclusion dictionary that you want to modify. For example, the exclusion dictionary for US English is ExcludeDictionaryEN0409.lex.

3. Right-click the file, click Open with, and then select a text editor such as NotePad.

4. Add each word that you want the dictionary to flag.

5. When you are finished, on the File menu, click Save and then click Exit.

Note: Learn how to add or edit words in a spell check dictionary.