Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

RoryOF wrote:Try this:

To fix the spellcheck, try renaming your OpenOffice user profile.

As you are using Windows close OpenOffice and the Quickstarter.

Open File Explorer. Copy and paste %appdata%\OpenOffice\4 in the File Explorer (sometimes called Windows Explorer)
Address Bar and press Enter.

Rename the "user" folder - "user.old" is a good choice.

Start OpenOffice.

Thank you for this! The python route wasn't working anymore and this solved the problem in less than 15 seconds (once I found it again).

Thanks again,
Paj
8^)

Thanks for the dictionary fix. That seems to have done the trick. Much appreciated.

RoryOF you are my hero. Over many months I've in vain I tried several solutions, and yours worked. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, this solved my problem as well. But I found the description of how to access the OpenOffice App file difficult to follow, so I simply worked my way through the windows 10 explorer files to find AppData, then inside the Roaming folder is the file named OpenOffice.
For my PC the address was - C:\Users\Mike\AppData\Roaming - where 'Mike' is the name of my folder within Users.

However, I am very pleased with this Fix; it also solved an annoying habit of changing a typed 'a' to As, and 'the' to we, when spell checking.

Note that while renaming ...\user to something like ...\user_old fixes spelling it loses

• all user customisation
• all user added words to dictionaries
• all user autocorrects
• all user autotexts
• all user macros
• all user copies of backup files
• all user installed extensions
• all user graphics added to the Gallery
• all user templates
• etc

Users are therefore strongly recommended to follow the instructions at [Solved] Spell Check Not Working (words red underlined).

What a difficult suggestion for solving red lining.
I cannot understand it. I have Windows 10 and the instructions in the tutorial do not work. Putting in %AppData% takes me off into a bing search. There is no file location in my Windows Explorer.
A better solution please.
Roy Martin

You are putting %appdata% into the address bar of your browser. Open File Explorer and put %appdata% into its address bar.

Thank you so much for your very prompt reply. I had been struggling for 2 hours to get rid of the red lines on 4.1.9 and the tutorial had me bemused as there was no 'search' icon available in the task bar. Only Cortana. However, after a good nights sleep, I tried again following your advice and eventually it worked, even though I had 86 hits for %AppData%. All seems to be well now I am 77 and not computer literate, so all help is well received.
Keep well in this difficult time.

I'm glad it worked for you. Many of the volunteers on Forum are of similar age to you, so there is still hope for you!

Not using an current version of Windows, I cannot even hazard a guess why you had 86 hits for %appdata%.

For others searching ...
If you want to keep your customisations, added words etc then you need to copy back everything except ...\config and registrymodifications.xcu. The problem was in ...\config and possibly in registrymodifications.xcu
Full instructions are included in [Solved] Spell Check Not Working (words red underlined)

Hi,

I'm having a lot of trouble trying to solve this problem. For instance, following this link: viewtopic.php?t=16512 led me to downloading a .oxt file but when I tried to add it I got an error message (attached).

Is there an MSOffice clean uninstall process, so I can start from scratch?

Thanks,

Ian

Close AOO and try to delete the ...\cache folder that is shown in your screenshot.
Then reinstall the extension.
Note that it may remove other extensions if you had installed some.

That was quick! Thanks Hagar. The bad news is that the path doesn't exist. Looks like I've a bigger problem than I imagined. There aren't any AppData folders under Users\User.

It is an hidden folder. In the file explorer (in the address bar), enter %appdata% and it should appear.

Silly me I'd assumed hidden folders were visible. I'll try again, but have to go out soon, so it'll be a while before I get back to you.
Once again, thanks for your help,

Ian

Hi again,

Sorted. A BIG THANK YOU, Hagar!

Ian

Okay, but what does it mean when you look at a few things online then decide to go to Control Panel, uninstall Open Office, then after it is uninstalled go to the AOO website and install the latest version,
and ...
the fresh new installation has the same trouble
and ..
has somehow remembered the words you added to the dictionary in the supposedly uninstalled program?

So, I have just come here and joined.

Note: my health is a bit of a mess with several neurological, endocrine, mitochondrial, musculoskeletal, things going on and stuff which requires digging around in the computers programming is not going to happen.

Uninstalling OpenOffice does not remove or replace the User Profile - it leaves the OpenOffice User Profile (the culprit) in existence, which profile is picked up by the new installation and the problem remains.

Open the WIndows Explorer (file manager) and enter %APPDATA%\OpenOffice\4\ into the address bar. There you find a folder named "user". Rename that folder to user.backup or any other name.

Now start OpenOffice again and all should be well with your spellcheck.

As advised by Hagar, the process suggested by Rory worked for me, the ONLY downside being the loss of menu bar customising, but that was soon resolved.

southwestforests wrote:Okay, but what does it mean when you look at a few things online then decide to go to Control Panel, uninstall Open Office, then after it is uninstalled go to the AOO website and install the latest version,
and ...
the fresh new installation has the same trouble
and ..
has somehow remembered the words you added to the dictionary in the supposedly uninstalled program?

That is correct. As RoryOF says, uninstalling and re-installing AOO does not replace the User Profile which is where the spelling problem is and where the user added words are stored.

You must reset the User Profile - see Resetting the user profile.

RoryOF wrote:Uninstalling OpenOffice does not remove or replace the User Profile - it leaves the OpenOffice User Profile (the culprit) in existence,

That sounds very, very, strange to me.

Open the WIndows Explorer (file manager) and enter %APPDATA%\OpenOffice\4\ into the address bar. There you find a folder named "user". Rename that folder to user.backup or any other name.

Now start OpenOffice again and all should be well with your spellcheck.

Alright, that is a thing I can do.
And will do it next.

Whatever happened has been only with this PC, Open Office in the laptop I drag everywhere, creative writers group, dr. appointments, the laundromat, is just fine.

Well ... I'll do it after the registration of the reinstallation.

The reason OpenOffice installation does not generate a new default User profile is attributed to the early development of StarOffice, the precursor to OpenOffice; it was said that some of those who developed StarOffice used it for writing long (book-length) works, and did not wish their dictionaries, autocorrects etc be overwritten with every new release of the program - i.e., they wished them carried forward into that new release.

Alright, that worked! thanks y'all.
Now I gotta remember how to set the default font, that New Roman hurts my eyes with all its little squiggles.

There appears to be the downside of my user additions to the dictionary are knocked out,
and I have to add back all the specific and not common-English-word technical terms for ...

railroads ...

aircraft ...

ships ...

spaceflight ...

AND ...

ALL ...

the non-English people and place names in my book ...

Oh well, I'm not on a time limit to do that.
And getting the dictionary fixed was the big thing.

EDIT:

RoryOF wrote: it was said that some of those who developed StarOffice used it for writing long (book-length) works, and did not wish their dictionaries, autocorrects etc be overwritten with every new release of the program - i.e., they wished them carried forward into that new release.

Ah. Since I am doing exactly that, I totally get that.

You may safely copy the customised dictionaries from the old profile (possible in user.old, if advice was followed exactly) to the new profile. These do not affect the working of spellcheck.

See [Tutorial] The OpenOffice User Profile to find out where various configurations are kept.

RoryOF wrote:You may safely copy the customised dictionaries from the old profile (possible in user.old, if advice was followed exactly) to the new profile. These do not affect the working of spellcheck.

robleyd wrote:See [Tutorial] The OpenOffice User Profile to find out where various configurations are kept.

Okay. I'll remember those to do at another time. This body is getting difficult to get along with again and now would be a good time to stop before I screw something up. But, hey, thanks everyone.