Office Settings & Configuration

How to Change and Keep the Proofing Language in Word and OneNote

Emma Brown Oct 7, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to permanently apply a specific proofing language (like Swedish) to their text without the applications constantly reverting to English.

How to Change and Keep the Proofing Language in Word and OneNote

Product: Microsoft Word and OneNote
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Writing documents in a secondary language where the software's spell checker continually falls back to the default English setting, causing correct words to be marked as misspelled.
Observed behavior: Word and OneNote continue to use English proofing even after a different language is manually selected, often triggered by typing, changing styles, or pasting text.

Before you start

Ensure that the language pack for your desired proofing language is fully installed in your Office application and Windows language settings before attempting to lock the spell check language.

Solution 1Recommended

Apply the Proofing Language Manually and Disable Auto-Detect

This is the most effective method to forcefully apply the correct language to the entire document and prevent Word or OneNote from automatically switching it back.

Microsoft Office has a feature that attempts to automatically guess the language you are typing. While helpful, it frequently makes mistakes or defaults back to English when typing short sentences or names. Disabling this feature ensures your selected language sticks.

Select all text

Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to highlight all the text in your current document.

Open language settings

Navigate to the Review tab on the ribbon, click on 'Language', and select 'Set Proofing Language'.

Choose your language

Scroll through the list and select your preferred language (e.g., Swedish).

Disable conflicting options

Uncheck the box that says 'Do not check spelling or grammar', and ensure 'Detect language automatically' is also disabled.

Apply and save

Click OK to apply the settings to your document, then save your file.

Apply the Proofing Language Manually and Disable Auto-Detect

Watch Out for Pasted Text: When pasting text from other sources, the proofing language of the original text might carry over. Use 'Paste as Plain Text' (Keep Text Only) to inherit the language settings of your current document.

Solution 2

Update the Language Settings in Document Styles

Proofing languages are tied to document formatting styles. Updating the Normal style ensures new paragraphs don't revert to the old language.

Solution 3

Align Your Keyboard Input Language

Word and OneNote frequently synchronize the proofing language with the active Windows keyboard language. Matching your keyboard input to your typing language can resolve persistent switching.

Effortless Spell Checking

Easily Manage Proofing Languages in WPS Writer

WPS Office offers intuitive language and spell-checking tools. You can easily set up your preferred proofing language without the hassle of unexpected language switching, ensuring an uninterrupted writing experience.

1. Open your document: Launch WPS Writer and open the document you want to proofread.
2. Access Spell Check settings: Go to the Review tab on the top ribbon and click on the 'Spell Check' icon.
3. Set your language: Click on 'Set Language' in the spelling dropdown, choose your desired proofing language from the list, and click 'Set as Default'.

Set a default spell check language for the entire document effortlessly.Highly compatible with Microsoft Word (.docx) formats and styles.Built-in multi-language spell check support without complex menus.Free, lightweight, and fast document processing.

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Word keep changing my proofing language back to English?

This usually happens because the 'Detect language automatically' feature is enabled. Word tries to guess the language based on what you are typing, but short phrases or matching keyboard input settings can confuse it, causing it to fall back to your system's default language (like English).

Does pasting text from a website change the spell check language?

Yes, pasting formatted text can carry over the hidden proofing language tags from the source webpage or document. To prevent this, paste your text without formatting by right-clicking and selecting the 'Keep Text Only' paste option.

How do I change the default proofing language for all future documents?

Go to Review > Language > Set Proofing Language, select your preferred language, and click 'Set As Default'. Confirm the prompt to update your Normal.dotm template, which will apply this new language to all blank documents you create in the future.

Why is OneNote marking all my non-English words with red squiggly lines?

OneNote relies heavily on your Windows keyboard input language. If your Windows keyboard is set to English but you are typing in another language, OneNote will check the spelling against the English dictionary. Switch your Windows keyboard layout to match the language you are typing.

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