

It's possible that during a previous spell check the Ignore/Ignore All option was used. You might also click the Check Document button while there, then recheck the spelling. In Word> Preferences> Spelling & Grammar, make sure the box labeled "Hide spelling errors in this document" is UNchecked (and ditto for the similar box for grammar). Just click the "do not check spelling and grammar" box until it is completely clear, and that will remove the "do not check spelling and grammar" formatting regardless of which languages are applied to the text, and will not change your language formatting. If your document uses more than one language, when you Select All and go to Tools>Language, you will see that no language is highlighted. If the “do not check spelling or grammar” box has a dash in it, this means part of your text is tagged “do not check.” Click twice to clear completely. Be sure to Select All the text first! Now it should work. Select all the text, go to Tools>Language, select the desired language, uncheck the “do not check spelling or grammar” box if necessary, and hit OK.

Word will automatically add that language tag to your Normal style, which is the default style for text in a new blank document. Go to Tools>Language, select a Language, and click Default. New documents will behave, although you will need to fix old documents one-by-one. Then anytime you use that style in the future, it will automatically have the language tags.

You need to modify the style that the text is formatted in, to include the language formatting. Fixing All Documents, or Changing the Default Language Spelling depends on the language setting, so first make sure you have a Tools>Language menu entry. Note: the Word 2004 Help topic "Troubleshoot spelling and grammar checking" also addresses some questions not covered here. Tools>Spelling & Grammar Dialog Stops Showing Suggestions.Spanish Custom Dictionary-FIXED with Office 2004 SP2 (11.2).There Is No "Language" on My Tools Menu.The Spelling & Grammar Preferences Are Grayed Out.Change Language in a Single Click in Word 2008 (external link, scroll down for English).Spell-Check Doesn’t Catch Misspelled Words.Updated for Word 2008 (DRAFT in Progress) Spell-Checking, Language, and Dictionary Issues in MacWord
