All Microsoft Word users have a default custom dictionary that acts as a catchall for their spelling preferences. In fact, every time you right-click on a flagged word (which may or may not be misspelled) and select “Add to Dictionary,” that word goes to your default custom dictionary. However, you can create additional custom dictionaries in Microsoft Word for specific documents.
This tutorial explains the following:
1. How to create a custom dictionary
2. How to add words to a custom dictionary
3. How to add or remove a custom dictionary for a specific file
This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.
Watch more than fifty other videos about Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on my YouTube channel.
The images below are from Word for Office 365, which is currently the same as Word 2019. The steps are the same for Word 2016 and Word 2013 and are similar for Word 2010.
How to Create a Custom Dictionary
1. Select the File tab.
2. Select Options in the Backstage view.
3. Select Proofing in the Word Options dialog box.
4. Select the Custom Dictionaries button.
5. Select any of the available options in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box to make the New button available. (If All Languages or English is selected, the New button will be grayed out, which means it is unavailable.)
6. Select the New button.
7. Choose a file location for your new dictionary in the Create Custom Dictionary dialog box. Note that the default location chosen by Word will be appropriate for most users. See the Pro Tip below for additional information.
Pro Tip: By default, Word will save your new custom dictionary in the UProof folder connected to your user name, which means that only you can access that dictionary. If you want to share your new dictionary, save the file in another folder accessible by other Word users in your organization.
See step 6 in How to Add or Remove a Custom Dictionary for a Specific File, below, for instructions on adding dictionaries saved in other locations.
8. Type the name of your new custom dictionary in the File name text box.
9. Select the Save button.
The Create Custom Dictionary dialog box will close automatically, and your new dictionary will appear in the Custom Dictionary dialog box.
10. (Optional Step) Uncheck the new dictionary if you do not want it to be automatically applied to current or future documents.
11. Select the OK button in the Custom Dictionary dialog box.
Now, let’s populate your newly created custom dictionary.
How to Add Words to a Custom Dictionary
This section assumes that you closed the Custom Dictionary dialog box after completing the previous section. If your Custom Dictionary dialog box is still open, you can skip to step 5.
If you want to edit the existing words in your default custom dictionary or another custom dictionary, visit “How to Edit Your Custom Dictionary in Microsoft Word.”
1. Select the File tab (see figure 1).
2. Select Options in the Backstage view (see figure 2).
3. Select Proofing in the Word Options dialog box (see figure 3).
4. Select the Custom Dictionaries button (see figure 4).
5. Select your new dictionary in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box (see figure 10).
6. Select the Edit Word List button.
7. Type one word at a time into the Word(s) text box in the Edit Word List dialog box.
8. Select the Add button for each word.
9. Select the OK button when you are finished adding words to save your changes. The Custom Dictionaries dialog box will close automatically.
In an upcoming tutorial, we’ll use a simple text editor such as Notepad to add multiple words at once to a custom dictionary.
How to Add or Remove a Custom Dictionary for a Specific File
By default, Word’s Editor (which is the new name for the spelling and grammar check) applies all custom dictionaries to your documents unless specific dictionaries are manually unchecked in the Custom Dictionary dialog box. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to review the Custom Dictionary dialog box regularly to ensure that Word is using the dictionaries that you want—and none that you don’t.
The following steps show how to (1) add or remove a custom dictionary already connected to your document and (2) add a custom dictionary currently unconnected to your document (i.e., a dictionary saved outside of the UProof folder).
Add or Remove a Custom Dictionary Already Connected to Your Document
1. Select the File tab (see figure 1).
2. Select Options in the Backstage view (see figure 2).
3. Select Proofing in the Word Options dialog box (see figure 3).
4. Select the Custom Dictionaries button (see figure 4).
5. Check or uncheck specific dictionaries in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box (see figure 10).
6. Select the OK button to save your changes. The Custom Dictionaries dialog box will close automatically (see figure 16).
Add a Custom Dictionary Currently Unconnected to Your Document (Outside File)
1. Select the File tab (see figure 1).
2. Select Options in the Backstage view (see figure 2).
3. Select Proofing in the Word Options dialog box (see figure 3).
4. Select the Custom Dictionaries button (see figure 4).
5. Select any of the available options in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box to make the Add button available (see figure 5). (If All Languages or English is selected, the Add button will be grayed out, which means it is unavailable)
6. Select the Add button in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.
7. Navigate to the location of the dictionary you want to add in the Add Custom Dictionary dialog box and select the dictionary file.
8. Select the Open button.
The Add Custom Dictionary dialog box will close automatically, and the dictionary you just selected will appear in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.
9. Select the OK button to save your changes and close the Custom Dictionaries dialog box (see figure 16).
Very nice tutorial on adding custom dictionary to Word file. Concise and clear with great documentation. Thank you!
I appreciate your positive feedback. Thank you for stopping by!
It’s my understanding that when you add a word to the dictionary, it simply keeps that word from being marked wrong. But is there a way to add a word that you DO want to be marked wrong?
Hello, Lynn. Thank you for visiting my blog! You can create an exclusion dictionary that will mark words as incorrect even if they are correct. I am planning to do that topic in two weeks, so stay tuned!
Hello, Lynn. I just posted the tutorial about how to create an exclusion dictionary in Microsoft Word: https://erinwrightwriting.com/exclusion-dictionary-in-microsoft-word/. I wish you all the best in 2021!
-Erin