Excel is not a typing program as it is majorly used to work with numbers and analyzing data. However all your efforts go in vain if there are typos or spelling mistakes in the representation of data. This comes as a challenge for many users to identify and correct the spelling mistakes or typos in excel. Unlike other Microsoft applications, Excel do not have the the option of highlighting spelling mistakes while typing so that they can be reviewed and corrected. So the question is how to review and correct them. In this article let us see how to do spell check in excel.
While Excel do not have the option of highlighting or the capability to check grammar, it still has the basic functionality to do a spell check. There is an inbuilt option to do Spell check in Excel.
Different Ways to Do Spell check in Excel
Irrespective of the version of excel you are using, you can do a spell check in excel in 3 different ways.
- Using the Spelling Option from Ribbon.
- Keyboard Shortcut.
- Using VBA or Macro. (Not Discussed in this article)
Using the Spelling Option on Ribbon
This option is available under the Review Tab. Go to the Review Tab and in the Proofing section we can see an option Spelling. This is typically the 1st option once you go to review tab. See the image below.
On clicking the spelling option a pop up box come up with multiple options in case of any spelling mistakes. See the image below to under stand the various options of the Spell check pop up box.
Options of Spell Check Pop up box
Ignore Once : You can use this option to ignore the error or spelling mistake identified by excel. This will keep the text as is without any change.
Ignore All : You can use this option to ignore all the instances of the word that excel identifies as an error or spelling mistake. This will retain all the instances of the word as is without any change.
Add to Dictionary : In case of any specific word(s) which you are sure of and wish to continue to use them (something related to your projects, company etc.) you can add them to the dictionary. This will add the word(s) to the accepted list and spell check in excel will not show that word(s) as an error.
Change : When excel identifies an error it shows a list of suggestions. You can choose the word from the suggestions and click on change to apply the word.
Change All : This is similar to ignore all option. You can use this option to change all the instances of the word that is identified as error or spelling mistake by excel. This will change all the instances of the word.
Auto Correct : You can use this option if you want excel to correct the mistakes and add them to the auto correct list. Next time excel will use the auto corrected word instead of the misspelt word.
Dictionary Language: If you want to set another proofing language you can select the same from the drop down.
Keyboard Shortcut for Spell check in Excel
The keyboard shortcut for spell check is F7. Press the F7 key to activate the spell check option.
Learn More Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
How Spell check Work
Note the below when using the spell check in excel.
Single Cell
Upon selecting a single cell, by default Excel checks the comments, page headers, footers and graphics in the current sheet.
If you select the starting cell of Excel (which is A1), Excel checks for spelling mistakes in the used range row wise 1st row followed by 2nd then 3rd till the end of the used range.
In case if you select some other cell other than the first cell (A1) then it starts checking from that cell till the end of the used range and give a pop up asking if you want to check at the beginning of the sheet. See the image below.
If you select Yes, then excel performs spell check for the remaining cells.
To Check only a certain part of the contents in a cell, enter to edit mode by double clicking on the cell. Then Select the portion of the text and then use the spell check option.
To check only one particular cell, enter to edit mode by double clicking on the cell and then use the spell check option.
Multiple Cells or Range
In case if you want to Spell check on multiple cells or a range, select the required cells or range and use the spell check option. Excel performs spell check only on those selected cells or range.
Spell check in Multiple Sheets
To do a Spell check in different sheets of the same workbook at a time, select the sheets by pressing CTRL. Once selected, run the spell check in excel by using shortcut key F7 or click the spelling button in Review tab.
Spell check in Entire Workbook
To do a Spell check in a workbook at once, you need to select all the sheets in the workbook. To select all sheets, right click on any sheet name. Then in the pop up window click on “Select all Sheets”. Once you see all sheets are selected, Run the spell check in excel by using shortcut key F7 or click the spelling button in Review tab.
Using Spell check in Formulas
By default, Spell Check in Excel is not applicable for Formulas. However, if you want to do a spell check in the formula as well, get into edit mode (F2 Key or Double Click) and run the spell check option.
Default Options/ Settings
Spell check in excel works with the below default settings. It Ignores
- Words in Uppercase. (BLEOW is not identified as error where as Bleow is identified)
- Words with numbers. (Something like abc123 is not marked as error)
- Email/ Internet or File addresses
Repetitive words will be shown as error. Meaning, the additional word will be marked as error.
In case if you want to change or modify these Default Settings, you can do so by going to the proofing option in Excel Options Window. Refer to below image.
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