Rerunning the spelling checker!

The spelling and grammar checker isn't perfect, and it often flags "mistakes" that are actually correct. To prevent Word from flagging an item in the future, you can simply click the Ignore or Ignore All button in the Spelling And Grammar dialog box while you're running the spelling checker. You can also right-click ([control]-click on the Mac) on a flagged word or phrase and select Ignore or Ignore All from the resulting shortcut menu. (Items are flagged with a red wavy underline for spelling "mistakes" or a green wavy underline for grammatical "mistakes.")

What many folks don't realize is that when you tell the spelling and grammar checker to ignore a word or phrase in your document, it continues to ignore it if you run the spelling and grammar checker later on in that same document. So what do you do if you change your mind and you want previously ignored text to be checked instead? First, select Tools | Options from the menu bar, and then click on the Spelling & Grammar tab. Next, click the Recheck Document button at the bottom of the dialog box. When prompted to continue, click Yes. This removes the "ignored" status from any items you chose to ignore during an earlier spelling or grammar check. Click OK to close the Options (or Preferences) dialog box, and then run the spelling and grammar checker to recheck the document.