Page 1 of 1
[Troubleshooting] Spell check in OpenOffice
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:40 pm
by Hagar Delest
This quick troubleshooting guide will help you checking the language configuration with screenshots and basic questions.
Module used here is Writer. Once it's fine with it, do the same for the other modules and change the Paragraph styles to Cell, Slide, ... styles.
For further details, see the
[Tutorial] Spell check and Language configuration.
1. Check the dictionary extension is installed
Go to menu Tools>Extension Manager
Check that the extension corresponding to the language you want appears:
NB: if you see a "multi-user" icon, it just means that the extension is installed for all the users of the computer (English dictionary above), else, it means that the extension is in the user profile and is available for the current user only (French dictionary above).
Do you see the dictionary extension with your language?
Yes ⇨ Continue to next post
No ⇨ Go to that section of the tutorial:
4. There is no dictionary for my language
2. Check the general settings
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:54 pm
by Hagar Delest
Go to menu Tools>Options>Languages Settings>Languages
Check that the language in the section
Default languages for documents has the
blue ABC✓ check mark
- General settings.png (10.42 KiB) Viewed 218514 times
NB: please be sure that you're looking at the right menu, don't trust the Tools>Language menu (discussed at the end of this topic).
Do you see the blue check mark in the general settings panel?
Yes ⇨ Continue to next post
No ⇨ Make sure you have closed OOo, the Quickstarter (OOo icon in system tray) and restarted OOo.
NB: in some rare cases, you have to untick, then retick the
Hunspell SpellChecker option (Tools > Options > Language Settings > Writing Aids > Edit) before closing and restarting the application.
3. Check the paragraph style settings
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:10 pm
by Hagar Delest
Right click in your paragraph, select
Edit Paragraph style (bottom of the list) and go to the
Font tab.
Make sure there is the blue ABC✓ check mark in front of the language selected from the drop-down list:
- Default paragraph.png (16.62 KiB) Viewed 218506 times
Default paragraph style is the master paragraph style; this is the first one to check since all the other paragraph styles are based on that one.
NB: depending on the localization, its name can differ (can also be
Standard for example).
Do you see the correct language (with the blue check mark) for the current paragraph style?
Yes ⇨ Continue to next post
No ⇨ Open the
Stylist (F11), right click the paragraph style, select
Modify and go to the
Font tab.
NB: make sure the list is displaying the paragraph styles (first icon highlighted at left from the
Stylist toolbar).
- Stylist.png (12.19 KiB) Viewed 218501 times
4. Check if the Spell checking is activated
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:20 pm
by Hagar Delest
Look at your main toolbar:
- Spell check activated.png (9.56 KiB) Viewed 218507 times
Is the spell checking button highlighted in the toolbar?
Yes ⇨ Continue to next post
No ⇨ Click it
5. Check there is no direct formatting on the text
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:38 pm
by Hagar Delest
Look at the language displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the main window:
- The status bar says that the language applied is French!
- Text.png (8.57 KiB) Viewed 161518 times
Is the language the correct one?
Yes ⇨ Continue to next post
No ⇨ Select the text and in the menu Tools>Language>For Selection, select
Reset to Default Language:
6. Let's test your configuration
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:51 pm
by Hagar Delest
Let's test the attached file: you should see the red wavy lines in certain places
Do you see the same as below?
- Installed dics: English, French and Spanish. Each paragraph has a misspelled sentence that should trigger the wavy lines.
Yes ⇨ Correct, your system should be fine now.
No ⇨ Continue to next post.
7. Completely restart OpenOffice
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:14 pm
by Hagar Delest
Have you restarted OpenOffice?
Yes ⇨ In this case, there is a real problem. It can be linked to the dictionary extension you've installed. See next post and if no change, you should create a new thread (not in this Tutorial section), mention that you've followed this troubleshooting process and what is the dictionary you've installed.
No ⇨ Make sure that you've exited OpenOffice and the Quickstarter (Seagulls icon bottom right of your screen with the clock under Windows). No need to reboot your computer but restarting completely OpenOffice is usually compulsory (you must see the OpenOffice splash screen at restart).
8. Last chance
Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:07 am
by Hagar Delest
Note: a script has been developed, it may help you fix it automatically without resetting the whole profile:
Spell checker "red wriggly lines" - beta test fix.
If nothing has worked,
reset your OpenOffice user profile. There may be some weird corruption that could still prevent the spell check from running correctly, even with the above operations...
9. Warning
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:46 pm
by Hagar Delest
Beware of the Tools>Language menu
- Tools_Language_menu.png (29.45 KiB) Viewed 167281 times
This menu is only used to
apply a language to a selection, it doesn't show the current language activated (except for the
For Selection entry). This is not the place where the checkmark has to be located (see
section 2).
Moreover, applying a language through this menu is a direct formatting! It may be removed if you later clear or reset to default the formatting of the selection.
_________________________________________
If you've comments about the content of this thread (mistakes, unclear items, ...) thanks to report them here:
Comments about the spell check troubleshooting thread.