Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Setting Spell-Checking Options.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 8, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Excel includes a spelling checker that you can use to proof the text in your worksheets. There are a few options that you can set for the spelling checker. For instance, you can make sure the spelling checker doesn't check words that are all uppercase or those that have numbers in the word.
To change the spelling checker options, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Spelling tab of the Options dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3315) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Setting Spell-Checking Options.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here:
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