In the dropdown menu, click “Modify…” to open a new window.Go to “Styles” and right click the style you want to update (e.g., “Header”).You can do this either by selecting the relevant text and using the process described above, or by following these steps: If you’re using any of these features, you’ll need to check that the language settings are consistent with the rest of your document. The last thing you need is sneaky British spellings in your footnotes! Comments, Headers and Footnotesįor reasons beyond the comprehension of mortal minds, Microsoft treats the language options for comments, headers and footnotes as separate from the main text in your document.

This also allows you to use different language settings in different parts of the same document, if required.Īlternatively, you can quickly select all of the text in a document using “Ctrl + A” (or “Cmd + A” on Mac computers), then apply a new language as described above. You can do this by selecting the passages you want to check and using the steps outlined above to pick a new proofing language. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! If you’re applying new language settings to an existing document rather than starting from scratch, you’ll need to select the text you want to modify first. For American English, the correct option is “English (United States).” If you click “Set as Default,” the same settings will be applied to all new documents.

In the new window, select your chosen language and click “OK”Įither approach will ensure the spellchecker looks for spellings specific to your region.

Click on the language section of the blue bar at the bottom of your document (this will display the current language settings by default).

The second option is possibly even simpler:

Choose the language required in your document from the new window and click “OK”.

Click on “Language” and select “Set Proofing Language…”.

Go to the “Review” tab and find the “Language” section.

The first is to use the “Review” tab on the main ribbon: There are two main ways to set the language of a new document in Microsoft Word.

Luckily, changing the language in Microsoft Word is a quick and simple process. This is vital because even regional variations of English can differ in spelling, which means the automatic spellchecker will miss mistakes if the wrong settings are used. First, though, you’ll need to know how to change the language settings. The automatic spellchecker in Microsoft Word is far from perfect, but it can be useful for spotting mistakes in your written work. Changing the Language Settings in Microsoft Word

French word for settings