[Solved] Writer is underlining everything in red lines

[mileena]

I have Apache OpenOffice 4.1.4. The problem just started today. Writer is underling every word in red squiggly lines, even words that are spelled correctly. This didn't happen yesterday; and I didn't change any settings.

Can anyone help?

I did google and found a solution from this forum:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89059

However, it involved complex and potentially dangerous renaming of your App Data folders. I am scared to try this. When I did something like this on Firefox, I believe, I always got a message that this may void my warranty. Is there any easier way, like uninstalling then reinstalling AOO?

In the meantime, I have disabled auto spell checking as you type, to get rid of those red lines.

On a more general level, can I respectfully ask why does AOO have glitches like these, where other office suites don't? Is it because it is free? For example, I get corrupted files that AOO can't open correctly every week since I store these files on a portable hard drive, rather than my C drive. I have to go to my AOO backup folder and change these from .bak to .odt or .ods to make new ones.

[RoryOF]

The problems are related to your computer and your usage of it. The red underlines are because OO has lost the language for the files; this is because you close your OpenOffice and computer too hastily, without allowing time for the internal buffering in the hard disk to flush to disk. If you look at a red underlined file, in the middle if the Status bar (bottom bar of OO window) you should see the language OO thinks was used in the file.

You work direct to a USB device? Do you observe the operating system's USB removal protocol? Failure to do this can cause file corruption as you report.

Do the appdata fix, renaming the existing user folder to user.old, so that you can bring forward any existing customisation, although much of this may have been lost in the corruption of the user profile, as indicated by the red underlining.

[mileena]

The problems are related to your computer and your usage of it. The red underlines are because OO has lost the language for the files; this is because you close your OpenOffice and computer too hastily, without allowing time for the internal buffering in the hard disk to flush to disk. If you look at a red underlined file, in the middle if the Status bar (bottom bar of OO window) you should see the language OO thinks was used in the file.

You work direct to a USB device? Do you observe the operating system's USB removal protocol? Failure to do this can cause file corruption as you report.

Do the appdata fix, renaming the existing user folder to user.old, so that you can bring forward any existing customisation, although much of this may have been lost in the corruption of the user profile, as indicated by the red underlining.

Thanks for your reply RoryOF.

I actually do not close AOO quickly. After I close AOO, I wait a few minutes before shutting down to allow time for buffering. Unless you mean not to close all my open AOO docs at once by clicking the "X" in the upper right-hand corner? Or not to open too many AOO docs at once?

I also rarely disconnect my USB hard drives. If I do, I shut the computer down first, and also turn off power tot the USB hub. Then I carefully remove the hard drives and pack them in their original packaging and bubble wrap for transport.

Thanks for telling me about the stats bar. They all say "English (USA)", which is correct. So I don't think the red underlining was my fault.

Also, that link above that I posted with the solution does not have a period between "User" and "OLD". It states:

"Go to %appdata%\OpenOffice\4 > rename the user folder to userOLD."

Should I use a period?

[robleyd]

Should I use a period?

It doesn't matter. You could name it foobarwibble and get the same outcome.

[mileena]

Should I use a period?

It doesn't matter. You could name it foobarwibble and get the same outcome.

Thanks robleyd!

[hawaiiantaina]

I figured it out.....why it is underlining everything in red.....Here is what you do... go to Tools, Options, Language Settings, Writing Aids, Options, UNCHECK the box-Check Spelling As You Type...that took care of it!! No more underline in (RED)

[Bill]

I figured it out.....why it is underlining everything in red.....Here is what you do... go to Tools, Options, Language Settings, Writing Aids, Options, UNCHECK the box-Check Spelling As You Type...that took care of it!! No more underline in (RED)

What you did was turn off SpellCheck. It's only a solution if you don't Writer to check your spelling. If you do want Writer to check your spelling, reset the user profile by renaming the specified "user" folder instead of unchecking "Check Spelling As You Type". There is no solution to this well-known problem that does not involve fixing the user profile.

[pops9095@msn.com]

That just started to happen on my computer. I am not advanced on computers so can someone please explain a fix in layman's language. Almost every word on my OO data files have a squiggle red line indicating a mis-spelled word, even simple words like the and blue! I have over 3000 entries with multiple words that are underlined, they weren't underlined when I started the file over 6 years ago. All of a sudden this happened. Is there a bug fix for this issue? I have uninstalled the program and re-installed it and the problem still exists. Please help or advise me as to a quick fix, mind you I am not a computer wiz so plain English would be appreciated.

[RoryOF]

To save us repeating ourselves, read this entire thread.

[robleyd]

And read [Solved] Spell Check Not Working (words red underlined)

[Samuel Johnson]

Thanks to hawaiiaintana. That person provided the easy fix. I am often frustrated by show-off geeks who provide complex, reprogramming "solutions" to problems that can be easily fixed by changing the right setting, often accompanied by condescending comments about whence the problem came. "Experts" please take note.

[FJCC]

The answer by hawaiiaintana is akin to placing black tape over your car's Check Engine light because a broken sensor causes it to always be on. One of those annoying car experts might say that puts your car at risk of damage and you should have the sensor fixed.
People generally expect a text editor to check spelling. Turning off spellcheck is a poor "solution".