An email can be written and sent in no time, but typos and mistakes can occur just as quickly. With Outlook’s spell check feature, you can identify and correct most writing errors.

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How to turn on spell check in Outlook quick guide

  1. Open Microsoft Outlook and go to the File tab.
  2. Select the menu item Options.
  3. Click on Email and then on Spelling and Au­to­Cor­rect.
  4. Check the boxes next to Check spelling as you type and Mark gram­mat­i­cal errors as you type (uncheck both boxes to de­ac­ti­vate them).

What is Outlook spell check?

The proofing tool in Outlook checks the spelling of your emails and flags spelling and gram­mat­i­cal errors. It works in a similar manner to the spell checker in Microsoft Word and alerts you to errors as you type.

You can enable spell check in Outlook so that emails are au­to­mat­i­cal­ly checked for errors before sending. You’ll receive a no­ti­fi­ca­tion when an error is made and can therefore avoid ac­ci­den­tal­ly sending emails with mistakes in them. It’s important to correct spelling mistakes before sending them because re­triev­ing sent emails in Outlook is rarely possible. The spell checker includes sug­ges­tions for solutions and the correct spelling of words and sentences. The grammar checker alerts you in case of missing or incorrect punc­tu­a­tion marks or repeated words.

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How to turn on spell check in Outlook step by step

Note

In the new version of Microsoft 365, there is no longer a File tab. Automatic spell check is enabled by default. You can still perform manual spelling and grammar checks as usual.

Step 1: Launch Microsoft Outlook and go to the File tab:

Image: The “File” tab in Microsoft Outlook
The “File” tab in Microsoft Outlook

Step 2: Select Options to view the Outlook settings.

Image: Outlook options
Outlook options

Step 3: In Outlook Options, click Mail and then Spelling and Au­to­cor­rect….

Image: Outlook mail menu
Outlook mail menu

Step 4: In the editor options, you can now set your pref­er­ences for proofing the document and decide if Outlook should check your emails for errors. To enable automatic spell checking, select the options Check spelling as you type and Mark grammar errors as you type.

If you want to disable spelling and grammar checking later, simply uncheck the boxes you selected here.

Image: Proofing in Outlook
Proofing a document in Outlook

Once you’ve activated the spell and grammar checker, Outlook will now au­to­mat­i­cal­ly check your texts when composing emails and highlight any spelling errors with a red wavy line. Grammar errors are high­light­ed in blue.

Image: Highlighted errors in Outlook
High­light­ed errors in Outlook
Tip

If the proofing tool doesn’t detect any errors or in­cor­rect­ly high­lights words that are spelled correctly, use these tips and tricks to find out why Outlook spell check isn’t working.

You can also correct errors as you type by using Outlook sug­ges­tions. Right-click on the word that’s been flagged in red and select Spelling. You will now be able to view Outlook sug­ges­tions for the correct spelling. By clicking on one of these sug­ges­tions, Outlook will au­to­mat­i­cal­ly insert it in place of the mis­spelled word.

Image: Outlook spell check: Suggestions for correction
Outlook: You can right-click to display sug­ges­tions for correct spelling

How to turn on manual spell check in Outlook

Irritated by the red and blue marks of mis­spelled words and sentences? You can quickly de­ac­ti­vate the automatic spell check as described above. This doesn’t mean that you need to forego spell checking. You can still use the manual spell checker, which works even when Au­to­Cor­rect is de­ac­ti­vat­ed.

To do this, select the Review tab and click on Spelling and Grammar once you finish composing your email. The spell checker opens in a new dialog box and will suggest cor­rec­tions for mis­spelled words or grammar errors. You can accept or reject sug­ges­tions and add your own cor­rec­tions in the text field, or simply ignore them.

Image: Manual spell check in Outlook
Manual spell check in Outlook
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How to set up Outlook spell check before sending

Don’t want to be disrupted by red or blue lines while writing but regularly forget to manually check the spelling in your emails before sending them? Outlook has a solution for you too. The ap­pli­ca­tion now includes the option to auto-check your emails for errors just before sending them.

  1. Go to the File tab and click on Options.
  2. Select Mail.
  3. Activate Always check spelling before sending by adding a check mark. It’s a good idea to check the box next to Ignore original message text in reply or forward. This prevents no­ti­fi­ca­tions of errors in emails before sending.
  4. Now click on Send and Outlook will check the spelling of your message.
Image: Activate automatic spell check before sending in Outlook
Activate automatic spell check before sending in Outlook

If your email is free of errors, it will be sent im­me­di­ate­ly. If errors are dis­cov­ered, you will receive a cor­re­spond­ing alert.

Image: Notification from the automatic spell checker in Outlook
No­ti­fi­ca­tion from the automatic spell checker in Outlook
Tip

The trusted Microsoft Office programs – ac­ces­si­ble from anywhere, with external storage and up to five in­stal­la­tions per user – are available as part of Microsoft 365 Business from IONOS.

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