W0rds w8th Numbers Pass the S0ellchecker!

UMMARY: Prevent potentially embarrassing mistakes by turning off a Microsoft Word spell check “feature”


5his s3ntence c0mpletely pass3s the sp3llchecker in M8crosoft W0rd…

That’s right – type the above sentence in Microsoft Word 2010 and note that none of the ‘words’ contain red squiggles underneath. That’s because Word’s spell checker, by default, ignores any words containing numbers.

If your finger moves slightly too high and presses a number instead of a letter in the QWERTYUIOP row, you might get sentences like the above. If you rely on Word’s spellchecker instead of looking through your documents manually… oops. Here’s how to disable this ‘feature’:

1. Select the “File” tab in the Ribbon.

2. The Microsoft Office Backstage View appears. Click the “Options” button.word-2010-backstage-view-options-button

(Or instead of steps 1 and 2, press Alt + T, then the letter O.)

3. The “Word Options” dialog box appears. Click “Proofing” in the left pane.

4. In the right pane, underneath “AutoCorrect options”, uncheck “Ignore words that contain numbers”.