This article is for people with visual impairments who use a screen reader program with the Office products and is part of the Office Accessibility content set. For more general help, see Office Support home or Fixes or workarounds for recent office issues.
Word automatically checks for potential spelling and grammatical errors as you type. Use your keyboard and a screen reader to go through the errors and fix them. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
Need instructions on how to check spelling and grammar in Word, but not using a screen reader? See Check spelling and grammar in Office.
Notes:
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft Office.
In this topic
Check and correct the spelling and grammar
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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.
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Do one of the following:
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To review both spelling and grammar errors, press Enter.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear the suggestion you want to use and then do one of the following:
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To use the suggested correction on the current error only, press Enter.
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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.
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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.
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In the Editor pane, after you've listened to the original sentence with the finding, do one of the following:
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To ignore a finding once, press I.
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To ignore a finding everywhere in the document, press G.
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Keyboard shortcuts for the Editor pane
The following table summarizes the keyboard shortcuts for the Editor pane.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Ignore the detected word once, but check it again. | I |
| Ignore the detected word throughout the document. | G |
| Add the detected word in the program's dictionary. | A |
| Undo the change. Repeat for previous corrections. | Ctrl+Z |
| Open the Proofing pane in the Word Options window to select and change how the program corrects spelling and grammar for all documents. | S |
Recheck words and grammar that you previously chose to ignore
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In the Word document you want to recheck, press Alt+F, T. The Word Options window opens.
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Press P, and then press the Tab key once. The Proofing pane opens with the focus on the AutoCorrect Options button.
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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.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Open the Word Options window. | Alt+F, T |
| Open the Proofing pane, in the Word Options window. | P, and then press the Tab key |
| Open the AutoCorrect dialog box, in the Proofing pane. | A |
| Open the AutoCorrect Exceptions dialog, in the AutoCorrect dialog. | E |
| Recheck the spelling and grammar, in the Proofing pane. | K |
| Select or clear the Check spelling as you type checkbox, in the Proofing pane. | P |
| Move to the Check grammar with spelling checkbox, in the Proofing pane. | H twice |
| Select or clear the Hide spelling errors in this document only checkbox, in the Proofing pane. | S |
| Select or clear the Hide grammar errors in this document only checkbox, in the Proofing pane. | D |
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.
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In a Word document, press Alt+F, T. The Word Options window opens.
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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.
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To clear or select the Check spelling as you type checkbox, press P.
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To move to the Mark grammar errors as you type checkbox, press M twice. To clear or select the checkbox, press Spacebar.
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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
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Word for Mac automatically checks for potential spelling and grammatical errors as you type, and you can use VoiceOver, the built-in Mac OS screen reader, to go through the errors and fix them.
Need instructions on how to check spelling and grammar in Word, but not using a screen reader? See Check spelling and grammar in Office.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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This topic assumes that you are using the built-in macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft Office.
In this topic
Check the spelling and grammar in a document
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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.
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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.
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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:
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To skip the currently selected text and move to the next item, select Ignore.
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To skip every occurrence of the selected text and move to the next item, select Ignore All.
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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.
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To skip a grammatical error occurrence and move to the next one, select Next Sentence.
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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.
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After you correct or skip an error, Word moves to the next error. Then repeat the review process for each error.
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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."
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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.
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To go to the menu bar, in the Word document you want to recheck, press Control+Option+M. You hear: "Menu bar Apple."
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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.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Reset Ignored Words and Grammar," and then press Spacebar.
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A notification window opens. To confirm reset, press the Tab key until you hear "Yes, default button," and then press Spacebar to select.
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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.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Open the Word Preferences. | Command+Comma (,) |
| Open the Spelling and Grammar dialog. | Option+Command+L |
| Find the next misspelling or grammatical error. | Fn+Option+F7 |
| Look up a selected word in Thesaurus task pane. | Fn+Shift+F7 |
| Look up selected text on the Internet. | Command+Shift+L |
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.
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To open Preferences, press Command+Comma (,). You hear: "Word preferences."
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Spelling and grammar, button," and then press Spacebar to select. The Spelling and Grammar dialog opens.
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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.
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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.
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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
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Word for iOS automatically checks for potential spelling errors as you type and you can use VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to go through the errors and fix them.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
For touch capabilities in Word for iOS, go to Word for iPhone touch guide.
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This topic assumes that you are using the built-in iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft Office.
In this topic
Check the spelling of a document
Check your document for spelling mistakes and then decide if you agree with the spellchecker.
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Open the document you want to check for spelling mistakes.
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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."
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Turn the Rotor to "Words."
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Swipe down until you hear VoiceOver announce a misspelled word. The focus is on the word.
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Double-tap the screen with two fingers. The context menu opens.
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Swipe right until you hear "Select," and then double-tap the screen with one finger. The misspelled word is now selected.
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Double-tap the screen with two fingers. The context menu opens.
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Swipe right until you hear "Menu item," and then double-tap the screen. The list of correction suggestions appears.
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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.
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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.
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Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Selected, <name of the current tab>."
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Review tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Proofing tools button," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Spelling, On," and then double-tap the screen. The automatic spellcheck is now off.
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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
Word for Android automatically checks for potential spelling errors as you type, and you can use TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to go through the errors and fix them.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
For touch capabilities in Word for Android, go to Word for Android touch guide.
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This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft Office.
In this topic
Check the spelling of a document
Check your document for spelling mistakes and then decide if you agree with the spellchecker.
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Open the document you want to check for spelling mistakes.
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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.
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Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Selected, <name of the current tab>."
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Review tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Selected, <name of the current tab>."
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Review tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Proofing and language menu," and then double-tap the screen.
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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.
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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
Word Mobile automatically checks for potential spelling errors as you type, and you can use Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader, to go through the errors and fix them.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft Office.
In this topic
Check the spelling of a document
Check your document for spelling mistakes and then decide if you agree with the spellchecker.
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Open the document you want to check for spelling mistakes.
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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.
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Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Menu, <name of the current tab>, selected."
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Review," and then double-tap the screen.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Menu, <name of the current tab>, selected."
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Review," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Proofing and language button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.
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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.
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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
Use Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader, to check spelling in a Word for the web document. Word for the web automatically checks for potential spelling errors as you type. Spelling errors are marked with a red squiggly line.
Need instructions on how to check spelling and grammar in Word, but not using a screen reader? See Check spelling and grammar in Office.
Notes:
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If you use Narrator with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have to turn off scan mode in order to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Office for the web. For more information, refer to Turn off virtual or browse mode in screen readers in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft Office.
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Because Word for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you'll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not Word for the web.
In this topic
Check the spelling of a document
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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."
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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.
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Do one of the following:
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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.
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If you want to ignore the spelling mistake Word identified, press the Down arrow key until you hear "Ignore all" and then press Spacebar.
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After you correct or ignore an error, to move to the next error, press Spacebar. Repeat the review process for each error.
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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.
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Place the cursor on the word that has proofing marks.
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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.
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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."
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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."
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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
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.
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