Correcting Your Spelling Errors

PowerPoint keeps a dictionary in its pocket, which is a good thing for you. Spelling errors really stand out in PowerPoint presentation because the text is so big. PowerPoint consults the dictionary as you enter text and draws lines in red underneath words that are misspelled and words that were entered twice in a row. To correct misspellings, you can either address them one at a time or start the spell checker and proof many slides or an entire presentation simultaneously. You can even create a dictionary of your own with the jargon and slang peculiar to your way of life and have PowerPoint check the spelling of jargon and slang.

Don't trust the spell checker to be accurate all the time. It does not really locate misspelled words - it locates words that are not in its dictionary. For example, if you write, "Nero diddled while Rome burned," the spell checker will not catch the error. Nero fiddled while Rome burned, but because "diddle" is a legitimate word in the spelling dictionary, the spell checker overlooks the misspelling. The moral: Proofread your presentations carefully and don't rely on the spell checker to catch all your smelling errors.

Correcting misspellings one at a time

With the one-at-a-time method of spell checking, you right-click each word that is underlined in red and choose a correct spelling from the shortcut menu, as shown in Figure below. When you choose a word from the shortcut menu, it replaces the misspelling that you right-clicked.

Right-click a redlined word to correct a typo or repeated word.

Words entered twice are also flagged in red, in which case the shortcut menu offers the Delete Repeated Word option so that you can delete the second word. You can also click Ignore All to tell PowerPoint when a word is correctly spelled and should not be flagged, or click Add to Dictionary, which adds the word to the PowerPoint spelling dictionary.

Spell checking an entire presentation

Instead of correcting misspellings one at a time, you can spell check a presentation. Start your spell check with one of these methods:

1. Press F7.
2. Go to the Review tab and click the Spelling button.

You see the Spelling and Grammar dialog box.

Misspellings are highlighted in the presentation and appear in the Not In Dictionary text box. PowerPoint offers all sorts of amenities for handling misspellings, but here is how to correct known misspellings in the Spelling and Grammar dialog box:

1. Select the correct spelling in the Suggestions box and click the Change button.
2. Click in the slide and change the spelling there; then click the Resume button (you can find it where the Ignore button used to be).

Herewith are explanations of all the buttons in the Spelling and Grammar dialog box:

Ignore:
Ignores this instance of the misspelling but stops on it again if the same misspelling appears later in the presentation.

Ignore All:
Ignores the misspelling throughout the presentation and in all other open presentations.

Change/Delete:
Enters the highlighted word in the Suggestions box in the presentation where the misspelling used to be. When the same word appears twice in a row, the Delete button appears where the Change button was. Click the Delete button to delete the second word in the pair.

Change All/Delete All:
Replaces all instances of the misspelled word with the word that is selected in the Suggestions box. Click the Change All button to correct a misspelling that occurs throughout a presentation. When two words appear in a row, this button is called Delete All. Click the Delete All button to delete the second word in the pair throughout your presentation.

Add:
Adds the misspelling to a spelling dictionary so that PowerPoint never stops on it again. By clicking the Add button, you tell PowerPoint that the misspelling is a legitimate word or name.

Suggest:
Changes the list of words in the Suggestions box. Select a word in the Suggestions box and click the Suggest button to see whether you can find a correct spelling.

AutoCorrect:
Adds the spelling correction to the list of words that are corrected automatically. If you find yourself making the same typing error over and over, place the error on the AutoCorrect list and never have to correct it again.

Office programs share the same spelling dictionary. Words you add to the spelling dictionary in PowerPoint by clicking the Add button in the Spelling and Grammar dialog box are deemed correct spellings in Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and Outlook e-mails as well as PowerPoint presentations.