Excel's spell check finds typos in your cells, but only if you tell it to look
Excel does not automatically flag misspelled words the way Gmail or Microsoft Word does. You have to run the spell checker manually, and it only scans the cells you have selected — so if you want to check an entire sheet, you need to select all the data first. The spell checker compares your text against Excel's built-in dictionary and suggests corrections for words it does not recognize.
Spell check works the same way in Excel on Windows and Mac, though the menu path differs slightly. It catches common typos, but it will not catch words that are spelled correctly but used wrong — "their" versus "there" — and it will flag any proper nouns or technical terms that are not in its dictionary.
Key Takeaways
- Select the cells you want to check before opening spell check, or select all cells with Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac) to check the entire sheet.
- Open spell check from the Review tab on Windows or the Tools menu on Mac, then step through each flagged word and choose to ignore it, change it, or add it to the dictionary.
- Excel's spell checker will not catch words that are spelled correctly but used in the wrong context, so you still need to read through your data yourself.
- Adding words to the dictionary prevents Excel from flagging them again — useful for company names, product names, or technical terms you use often.
How to run spell check on Windows
Click the Review tab at the top of the ribbon. In the Proofing group, click Spelling (or press F7). Excel opens the Spelling dialog box and begins scanning the selected cells from top to bottom.
When Excel finds a word it does not recognize, it shows you the word, suggests corrections, and gives you four options: Ignore Once (skip this instance), Ignore All (skip every instance of this word in the current check), Change (replace it with the suggestion), or Change All (replace every instance). You can also type your own correction in the field at the top of the dialog if none of the suggestions are right.
If the word is correct — a company name, a technical term, or a name you use often — click Add to Dictionary. Excel will not flag that word again in any spreadsheet on your computer.
How to run spell check on Mac
Click the Tools menu at the top of the screen, then select Spelling (or press Command+;). The Spelling dialog opens and scans your selected cells.
The options work the same way as Windows: Ignore, Ignore All, Change, Change All, or Add to Dictionary. Type your own correction in the text field if you want to use something other than the suggestions.
Selecting cells before you spell check
Spell check only scans the cells you have selected. If you select a single cell, Excel checks only that cell. If you select a range — say, A1 to C10 — it checks only those cells. If you want to check the entire sheet, select all cells first.
To select all cells on the current sheet, press Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac). You will see the entire sheet highlight. Then open spell check. Excel will scan every cell that contains text.
If you have multiple sheets and want to check them all, you have to run spell check on each sheet separately — Excel does not have a way to check all sheets at once.
What spell check will and will not catch
Spell check catches misspelled words: "recieve" instead of "receive", "occured" instead of "occurred", "adress" instead of "address". It will flag any word that does not match something in its dictionary.
Spell check will not catch words that are spelled correctly but used wrong. If you type "their" when you mean "there", or "its" when you mean "it's", spell check will not flag it because both words are spelled correctly. You have to read through your data yourself to catch those mistakes. Spell check also will not catch numbers or formulas — it only checks text in cells.
Spell check will flag proper nouns and technical terms that are not in its dictionary. If you work in a field with specialized vocabulary — medical terms, software names, industry jargon — you will see a lot of false positives. Adding those words to the dictionary prevents them from being flagged again.
Adding words to the dictionary
When spell check flags a word that is actually correct, click Add to Dictionary. Excel stores that word and will not flag it again in any spreadsheet you open on your computer.
This is useful for company names, product names, people's names, or technical terms you use often. If you work with a list of client names that spell check does not recognize, adding them to the dictionary saves you time on future spell checks.
The dictionary is stored on your computer, not in the file itself. If you share the spreadsheet with someone else, they will still see those words flagged unless they add them to their own dictionary.
Spell check limitations in Excel
Excel's spell checker is basic compared to the one in Word. It does not check grammar, it does not flag repeated words, and it does not suggest improvements to phrasing. It only looks for words that do not match its dictionary.
If you are working with a spreadsheet that contains a lot of text — descriptions, notes, comments — you might get better results by copying that text into Word, running spell check there, and pasting it back. Word's spell checker is more thorough and catches more types of errors.
Spell check also depends on which language you have set for your spreadsheet. If your language setting is wrong, spell check will flag words that are actually correct in the language you are using. You can change the language in the Review tab (Windows) or Tools menu (Mac) under Language.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I spell check just one column instead of the whole sheet?
Yes. Click the column header to select the entire column, then open spell check. Excel will scan only that column. You can also select a specific range of cells by clicking the first cell, holding Shift, and clicking the last cell you want to include.
What happens if I add a word to the dictionary by mistake?
There is no straightforward way to remove a word from the dictionary through Excel. On Windows, you can edit the dictionary file directly, but it requires finding a hidden file on your computer. On Mac, the process is similar but also technical. If you added a word by mistake, the simplest solution is to just ignore it when spell check flags it in the future.
Does spell check work on cells with formulas?
No. Spell check only scans text in cells. If a cell contains a formula, spell check skips it. It will check any text that appears in the cell as a result of the formula, but not the formula itself.
Can I spell check while I am typing?
No. Excel does not have a live spell checker that underlines mistakes as you type the way Word does. You have to finish typing, then run spell check manually from the Review tab or Tools menu.
Will spell check find numbers that are spelled out wrong?
Only if they are written as words. If you type "fourty" instead of "forty", spell check will flag it. If you type "4ty" or a number that does not match a word in the dictionary, spell check will flag it too. But if you type actual numerals like "4" or "40", spell check ignores them.