What is
spell checking?

PowerPoint can check all of the text in your presentation for misspelled words, automatically fix obvious errors, and suggest correct spellings. However, a computer would not find any errors in the following sentence:

George wood like to go two the store
an get some fish for there dinner.

Computerized spell checking cannot take the place of proof-reading by a human. But PowerPoint can help you with spelling in several ways: AutoCorrect, Check Spelling As You Type, and the Spelling command.

How do I use
AutoCorrect?

AutoCorrect. PowerPoint maintains a list of commonly misspelled or mistyped words and phrases (along with the associated correct spellings). As you type, PowerPoint automatically checks your spelling against this list. If you make a mistake and that incorrect word or phrase appears in the list, PowerPoint will immediately replace it with the correct spelling. (Try typing seperate and watch how it gets instantly changed to separate as soon as you finish typing the word; if you type andt he it is automatically replaced with and the.) This feature is called “AutoCorrect.”

If you frequently mis-spell a certain word, you can add it to the “AutoCorrect” list so that PowerPoint will always fix it for you on the fly:

1) Pull down the Tools menu and select AutoCorrect. The following dialog box appears:

2) In the “Replace” box, type the frequently mis-spelled word.

3) In the “With” box, type the correct spelling of the word. (For example, liason and liaison.)

4) Click the Add button.

How do I
check spelling
as I type?

Some people prefer not to be told about spelling errors until after they are done creating their presentation. To turn this feature off:

1) Pull down the Tools menu and select Options. The Options dialog box will appear.

2) Make sure the Spelling and Style tab is selected.

3) Deselect the Check spelling as you type check box.

The Spelling Command. If you would like PowerPoint to go through your presentation slide by slide, pointing out spelling and typographical errors and making suggestions, pull down the Tools menu and select Spelling.

If all of your spelling is correct, a message tells you that the spelling check is complete. If spelling errors are found, a dialog box appears:

The Not in Dictionary box displays the current misspelled word. You have several choices:

• Ignore. If you like the word the way it is (for example, if it is a proper name), then you can click the Ignore button. If the word shows up multiple times in the presentation, you can click the Ignore All button instead, so that PowerPoint won’t flag other occurrences of the same word as misspellings.

• Change. If the word is incorrect, you need to change it. PowerPoint makes suggestions in the Suggestions box; if you click on one of the suggestions, it will automatically be put into the Change to box. If additional suggestions are needed, click the Suggest button. Or, you can type the correct spelling yourself into the Change to box. When the Change to box has the correct entry, click the Change button and PowerPoint will make the correction. If the word appears in the presentation multiple times, you can click the Change All button instead, so that PowerPoint fixes it everywhere in the document.

• Add. If you like the word the way it is and you plan on using it frequently in the future (for example, your company name), then you can click the Add button. This adds the word to PowerPoint’s spelling dictionary, so that it will never be seen as an incorrect spelling again, in any presentation.

After you have dealt with a misspelled word, PowerPoint will automatically move on to the next misspelling, and you repeat the above steps. When you have corrected all of the errors, a message tells you that the spelling check is complete.

Copyright © 2002, Bloomsburg University Virtual Training Help Center.
All rights reserved. This material may not be used without written permission.
Contact Dr. Mary Nicholson at mjnich@bloomu.edu