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: Adjusting Spell Check for Internet Addresses.

Adjusting Spell Check for Internet Addresses

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 24, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you use the spelling checker to examine the text in a worksheet, you might want it to ignore Internet-related data, such as URLs and e-mail addresses. You can instruct the spelling checker to ignore anything that looks like an Internet address by following these steps:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Spelling tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Spelling tab of the Options dialog box.

  3. Make sure the Ignore Internet and File Addresses check box is selected.
  4. Click on OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3372) 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: Adjusting Spell Check for Internet Addresses.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Replacing Text with a Graphic

The Find and Replace feature in Word provides you with some powerful tools you can use to process a document. One such ...

Discover More

Squaring Table Cells

Inserting a table is fast and easy in Word. You may want to make sure that the cells in the table are as square as ...

Discover More

Inserting a Dynamic Word Count in Your Document

Need to know how many words are in your document? You can use the NumWords field to add that statistic, dynamically, to ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Spell-checking Uppercase Words

Excel's spell-checker normally checks uppercase words for spelling. If your worksheet contains a lot of acronyms, you ...

Discover More

Allowing for Words that Contain Numbers

When Excel does a spell-check of the information in a worksheet, you may want it to ignore words that contain numbers. ...

Discover More

Setting Spell-Checking Options

The spell checker can come in handy when entering data in a worksheet. Because the type of data you enter can vary so ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five more than 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.