Office Settings & Configuration

How to Enforce UK English Spellings in Microsoft Office Dictionary

Emma Brown Oct 21, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user wants to configure Microsoft Office to strictly use UK English spellings and actively flag valid US spellings (like 'recognize') as incorrect.

How to Enforce UK English Spellings in Microsoft Office Dictionary

Product: Microsoft Word
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Proofreading documents in UK English and preventing the accidental use of US spelling variants.
Observed behavior: Office suggests US spellings even when UK English is selected. Adding preferred UK spellings to the custom dictionary does not mark the US equivalents as incorrect.

Before you start

Ensure that your document's proofing language is already set to English (United Kingdom) before modifying any dictionary files.

Solution 1Recommended

Add US Spellings to the Word Exclusion Dictionary

Use this method to force Microsoft Office to flag specific valid words (such as US spellings) as incorrect.

Microsoft Office includes an 'exclusion dictionary' feature. When you add a word to this list, Office will flag it as a misspelling even if it exists in the main standard lexicon. This is the perfect way to block US spellings like 'recognize' or commonly confused valid words like 'pubic' instead of 'public'.

Locate the exclusion dictionary folder

Press the Windows Key + R, type '%appdata%\Microsoft\UProof', and press Enter to open the proofing tools directory.

Open the UK English dictionary file

Look for a file named 'ExcludeDictionaryEN0809.lex' (the '0809' code corresponds to UK English). Right-click the file and open it using Notepad or another standard text editor.

Add the US spellings to block

Type the US spellings you want to flag as incorrect (e.g., 'recognize', 'visualizations'). You must place each word on a new line and use entirely lowercase letters.

Save and restart Word

Save the text file and close Notepad. Restart Microsoft Word. The excluded words will now be marked with a red squiggly line in your documents.

Add US Spellings to the Word Exclusion Dictionary

Local Machine Only: The exclusion dictionary only applies to the computer where the file is modified. If you send the document to someone else, 'recognize' will not be flagged on their machine unless they have identical exclusion entries.

Solution 2

Add Preferred UK Terms to Your Custom Dictionary

If a specific UK spelling is not recognized by Word, you can add it to your local custom dictionary to prevent it from being flagged.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Try WPS Office for Seamless Multilingual Spell Checking

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1. Download and Install WPS Office: Get the free installation package from the official WPS website and complete the quick setup.
2. Open your Document: Open your existing Word document in WPS Writer. Your formatting and text will remain perfectly intact.
3. Set UK English Proofing: Navigate to the Review tab, click on Spell Check, and easily switch your proofing language to English (United Kingdom).

Fully compatible with Microsoft Word formats (.docx, .doc)Built-in spell check for multiple English regions (UK, US, AU)Lightweight software with a familiar, easy-to-navigate interfaceFree to use for everyday document creation and proofreading

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Word still suggest US spellings when UK English is selected?

Microsoft Word's main UK dictionary still includes many recognized US variants as valid words. To force Word to flag them as errors, you must manually add the US variants to the exclusion dictionary.

Where is the exclusion dictionary located in Microsoft Office?

The exclusion dictionary is usually located in the '%appdata%\Microsoft\UProof' directory on Windows. For UK English, the file you need to modify is named 'ExcludeDictionaryEN0809.lex'.

Will my custom dictionary settings transfer if I email the document?

No. Custom and exclusion dictionary files are saved locally on your computer. If someone else opens your document, Word will use their local dictionary settings to spell-check the file.

Can I use exclusion dictionaries to block commonly mistyped words?

Yes. You can add valid words that you often mistype by accident (such as 'abut' instead of 'about', or 'pubic' instead of 'public') to the exclusion dictionary so they are immediately flagged as errors.

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