Proofing a Document
A well-formatted document with spelling mistakes still looks unprofessional. Word's proofing tools help you catch errors, improve language, and ensure your document is accessible to all readers.
Spelling & Grammar
Word checks spelling and grammar as you type — underlining errors in real time. You can also run a full document check at any time from the Review tab.
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Fix a single error | Right-click the underlined word → choose a suggested correction, or Ignore / Ignore All / Add to Dictionary |
| Run full check | Review → Spelling & Grammar (or press F7). The Editor pane opens with all issues listed. |
| Add to dictionary | Right-click → Add to Dictionary. Word stops flagging this word in all future documents. |
| Change proofing language | Select text → Review → Language → Set Proofing Language. Useful for multilingual documents. |
| Ignore all instances | Right-click → Ignore All. Stops flagging that word for the rest of this session only. |
Proofing Settings
Control exactly what Word checks — and what it ignores. Go to File → Options → Proofing.
Other Proofing Tools
All proofing tools are in the Review tab. Beyond spell check, Word includes several tools to improve and analyze your writing.
Find synonyms for any selected word. Right-click a word → Synonyms for quick access, or open the full Thesaurus pane for deeper results. Hover over a suggestion to see a definition.
Review → Word Count. Shows words, characters (with and without spaces), paragraphs, and lines. The word count also appears live in the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen.
Review → Translate → Translate Selection (translate a highlighted phrase) or Translate Document (sends the full document for translation). Uses Microsoft Translator — requires internet.
Review → Read Aloud. Word reads the document out loud from the cursor position. Use the toolbar to pause, skip forward/back, or change the reading speed and voice. Excellent for catching errors your eyes miss.
Review → Find (or Ctrl+F). Also accessible here for completeness — use it to locate specific words or phrases and optionally replace them throughout the document.
The Word Count dialog (Review → Word Count) also shows readability statistics if enabled in Proofing options — Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level scores.
Track Changes & Comments
When collaborating, Track Changes records every edit so the original author can review, accept, or reject each one. Comments let reviewers leave notes without altering the document content.
| Feature | How to use |
|---|---|
| Track Changes | Review → Track Changes → Track Changes (toggle on/off). Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+E. All edits appear in colored markup — insertions underlined, deletions crossed out. |
| Accept / Reject changes | Review → Accept or Reject. Accept All accepts every tracked change at once; Reject All reverts to the original. Or right-click individual changes to act on them one at a time. |
| New Comment | Select text → Review → New Comment (or Ctrl+Alt+M). Type in the comment bubble. Others can reply to create a threaded conversation. |
| Resolve / Delete Comment | Right-click the comment → Resolve Thread (marks it done but keeps it visible) or Delete Comment (removes it entirely). |
| Show Markup options | Review → Show Markup. Choose which types of changes are visible — comments, insertions, deletions, formatting changes — independently. |
| Compare documents | Review → Compare → Compare. Word shows the differences between two versions of a document as tracked changes — useful when you don't know what changed between two files. |
Accessibility
An accessible document can be read by everyone — including people using screen readers or other assistive technologies. Word has built-in tools to check and improve accessibility.
Review → Check Accessibility. Word scans the document and lists Errors, Warnings, and Tips — click any issue to jump to it and see how to fix it.
Right-click any image → Edit Alt Text. Write a brief description of what the image shows. Screen readers read this aloud to users who cannot see the image. Mark decorative images as decorative (no alt text needed).
When a document has multiple floating objects (images, text boxes), screen readers need a logical reading order. Use the Selection Pane (Picture Format → Selection Pane) to set the correct order by dragging items.
Tables must have a designated header row. Select the first row → Table Design → check Header Row. This tells screen readers which row contains the column labels.
Proper use of Heading 1, 2, 3 styles is the single most important accessibility practice. It creates document structure that screen readers use to navigate — and powers the Navigation Pane and Table of Contents.
Avoid hyperlinks that say "click here" or show a raw URL. Instead, make the linked text descriptive — "Download the course schedule" — so it makes sense when read out of context.