How to add a word to the custom dictionary to avoid spelling errors

Word 2016
A lot of documents contain words (character sequences) that are specific for the company, professional area, even for the project, such as a company name, the project name, specific abbreviations, terms, etc., also first, second and other names of the author or contact persons.

When you work with a Word document, an excellent way is to use the Word functionality Check spelling and grammar. To exclude specific words to be underlined in the document as a spelling error, you can:

To add words to the custom dictionary, do one of the following:

  • To add an existing word in the document, double-click on it and then select Spelling -> Add to Dictionary in the popup menu:
    Add to Dictionary in the popup menu Word for Microsoft 365
  • To add any, even non-existing word:

   1.   On the File tab, click Options:

Word 365 Options button

   2.   In the Word Options dialog box, on the Proofing tab, under When correcting spelling in Microsoft Office programs, click the Custom Dictionaries... button:

Custom Dictionaries in Word for Microsoft 365

   3.   In the Custom Dictionaries dialog box, select the dictionary, in which you want to add new words and click the Edit Word List... button:

Custom Dictionaries dialog box in Word for Microsoft 365

   4.   In the dialog box, named as the dictionary you have chosen in the previous step, type the word and click the Add button:

Custom Dic dialog box in Word for Microsoft 365

   5.   After adding all needed words, click OK.

Note: When you work with some document on different PC, laptops, etc. or if this document should be checked by somebody else, you can create your own dictionary just for this task (paper, report, project, etc.), copy and send it to other place or to other people for future use.

See also this tip in French: Comment ajouter un mot au dictionnaire personnel pour éviter les fautes d'orthographe.

Please, disable AdBlock and reload the page to continue

Today, 30% of our visitors use Ad-Block to block ads.We understand your pain with ads, but without ads, we won't be able to provide you with free content soon. If you need our content for work or study, please support our efforts and disable AdBlock for our site. As you will see, we have a lot of helpful information to share.