Word not suggesting spelling corrections on M4 Macbook Pro

Hello, I’m hoping that someone can help. I have Microsoft Word 16.100.3 on my new Macbook Pro. It’s the software that I use the most for my work. The problem is that while Word can detect misspelling, it does not suggest corrections. It will underline a misspelled word in red, but with no spelling correction suggestions. 


I have checked the Word Preferences, language settings, Review setting, Apple keyboard/edit setting, etc., and they all have the check spelling/suggest corrections boxes ticked.


Could someone help? Did the new version of Microsoft Word actually drop the useful feature of auto spelling suggestion? Using Word becomes frustrating even when I’m typing this short message. Thank you!

MacBook Pro 16″

Posted on Sep 5, 2025 07:33 AM

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Posted on Sep 5, 2025 08:22 AM

cheeeeee wrote:
Did the new version of Microsoft Word actually drop the useful feature of auto spelling suggestion?

No, it did not. Screenshot from my M4 Pro MBP running current macOS (15.6.1) and the current version of Word:



As usual, you need to secondary-click (control-click, two-finger click/tap depending on System Settings > Trackpad > Point & Click) to see the suggestions.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 5, 2025 08:22 AM in response to cheeeeee

cheeeeee wrote:
Did the new version of Microsoft Word actually drop the useful feature of auto spelling suggestion?

No, it did not. Screenshot from my M4 Pro MBP running current macOS (15.6.1) and the current version of Word:



As usual, you need to secondary-click (control-click, two-finger click/tap depending on System Settings > Trackpad > Point & Click) to see the suggestions.

Sep 5, 2025 06:52 PM in response to cheeeeee

cheeeeee wrote:
When I hold the control key and click on the misspelled word as you suggested, the popup menu showed up!! Is there a way that the menu would popup without me holding down the control key?

Control-click aka secondary-click is the Mac equivalent of Windows right-click. Earlier you stated that your pointer selections in System Settings are the same on both Macs, but please check again. On the new Mac, go to System Settings > Trackpad > Point & Click tab, and make sure Secondary click is set to Click or Tap with Two Fingers.


Sep 5, 2025 09:31 AM in response to cheeeeee

The model of Mac will not make a difference for this sort of thing (and in any case, I'm using an M4 Mac and it works fine). Therefore, it is a settings issue.


Start with two simple steps on the new Mac.

1. In Word > Word menu > Preferences > Spelling & Grammar, confirm that the boxes for Always suggest corrections and Check spelling as you type are ticked:


2. Press and hold the control key then click (single finger) on a misspelled word.


Do you see the popup menu with spelling suggestions?

Sep 6, 2025 07:16 PM in response to cheeeeee

cheeeeee wrote:
Confirmed! BTW, the auto correction suggestion works fine in Outlook on this computer. So it's not a system-wide problem. I just checked PowerPoint and encountered the same issue as in Word. Something is wrong with Office.

Given that we're running the same version of Word and I am not seeing the same behavior, it seems unlikely to be a universal problem with Office. PowerPoint offers suggestions for me just fine with a two-finger tap, as does Word. Perhaps you might try uninstalling MS 365 then reinstalling it?

Sep 6, 2025 07:26 PM in response to cheeeeee

"Confirmed! BTW, the auto correction suggestion works fine in Outlook on this computer. So it's not a system-wide problem. I just checked PowerPoint and encountered the same issue as in Word. Something is wrong with Office."

-------


I don't get this either.


IMPORTANT:

MS Office 2013 and MS Office 2019 are both being discontinued of bug fixes and all other support on October 14th. So, consider upgrading to 2021 or 2024, if neither is installed.

  1. Go to: Word menu
  2. Select: About Microsoft Word
  3. View: Second line down

Word not suggesting spelling corrections on M4 Macbook Pro

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