How to Perform a Spell Check in Excel

How to Perform a Spell Check in Excel (Quick Guide)

If you want to perform a spell check in Excel:

  1. Select the region to be checked.
  2. Click on the Spelling option, which is located in the 'Proofing' group, on the Review table of the Excel ribbon.

    Spelling Check Option on the Excel Ribbon
  3. If Excel highlights any possible mistakes, you will be presented with the 'Spelling' dialog box, which can be used to correct or ignore any spelling errors.

These steps are described in further detail below:


Step 1 - Select the region to be checked

As with other basic operations in Excel, the spell check is only applied to the current selection. I.e.:

If you select multiple worksheets, all of these are checked.


Step 2 - Select the Spelling option in the Excel Ribbon

Click on the Spelling option, to perform the spell check. This is located in the 'Proofing' group, on the Review tab of the Excel ribbon (see below).

Spelling Check Option on the Excel Ribbon

Step 3 - Use The 'Spelling' Dialog Box To Correct Or Ignore Any Spelling Errors.

If there are no spelling errors in the checked range, a message box will pop-up, with the message "Spell check complete. You're good to go!".

Message Box Showing No Spelling Errors

If Excel does find some spelling errors, you will be presented with the 'Spelling' dialog box (see below).

Spelling Dialog Box for Correcting Spelling Errors

The 'Spelling' dialog box highlights the first spelling error that it has found and gives you possible alternative spellings for this word. From this dialog box, you can request that Excel takes one of the following actions:

or

Once you have specified what is to be done for the first highlighted word, Excel will move onto the next word that it believes may be mis-spelled. This is repeated until the entire range has been checked.