OFF98: Office-Wide Proofing Language Setting May Not Be Used (182681)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition
This article was previously published under Q182681

SYMPTOMS

When you set the Proofing Tools language in one Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition program, you may also set the language in another Office program. However, this behavior is inconsistent among the programs listed at the beginning of this article.

CAUSE

Not all of the Office programs use the Office-wide proofing tools language setting.

STATUS

This behavior is by design of the Office 98 Macintosh Edition programs.

MORE INFORMATION

The following sections for the three Office 98 programs indicate whether you can set the proofing tools language for the Office programs and whether the program uses the Office-wide setting.

Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

In Word, you can set a default Office-wide proofing tools language. However, only Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition uses this setting. This behavior means that if you can change the proofing tools language in Word, the next time you check the spelling in an Excel worksheet, the language you that specified in Word is used.

To set the default language for both Word and Excel, follow these steps:

  1. Start Word.
  2. On the Tools menu, point to Language, and then click Set Language.
  3. In the Language dialog box, select the language you want to use, and then click Default.
  4. When the prompt that indicates the change will apply to all new documents based on the Normal template appears, click Yes.
  5. Click OK in the Language dialog box.

Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

By default, Excel does not provide the ability to specify the language that is used to check the spelling in worksheets. However, you can install the Set Language add-in, and then use the interface provided by this add-in to change the language used by the spelling checker.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

181974 XL98: "Set Language" Add-In Specifies Language for Proofing

If you change the language setting in Microsoft Excel (by using the Set Language add-in), this setting does not affect the other Office programs.

NOTE: The Office-wide proofing tools language setting is stored in the HD: System Folder:Preferences:Microsoft Office Settings (8) preference file. If you experience problems when you check the spelling in your Excel worksheet because of a language setting you selected in Word, you may want to remove this file from the Preferences folder. However, if you remove this file, you lose other Office-wide settings.

Microsoft PowerPoint 98 Macintosh Edition

You can also change the language used to check the spelling in your PowerPoint presentations. However, the setting you select in PowerPoint does not affect the other Office programs, and any proofing tool language settings you select in Word or Excel do not affect the setting in PowerPoint.

REFERENCES

For more information about foreign language proofing tools, click the Office Assistant in Microsoft Word, type "proofing language," click Search, and then click to view "Check the spelling of text in another language."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Microsoft Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

179216 OFF98: How to Use the Microsoft Office Installer Program

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/25/2003
Keywords:kbinterop kbprb kbproof KB182681
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