WD98: How to Consolidate Multiple Custom Dictionaries (176448)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
This article was previously published under Q176448

SUMMARY

Microsoft Word is capable of using multiple custom dictionaries. To add an additional custom dictionary to the default custom dictionary, follow these steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Preferences. Click the Spelling And Grammar tab, and then click Dictionaries.
  2. Click New.
  3. Under Save Current Document As, type in a name for the new Custom Dictionary.
  4. Click Save.
To use any combination of the custom dictionaries listed, click to select The dictionaries you want to use.

If you do not want to maintain multiple custom dictionaries, follow the steps in the "More Information" section of this article to combine the words from multiple custom dictionaries into a single custom dictionary.

MORE INFORMATION

To create a single custom dictionary, open each of the custom dictionaries, copy the words from ones you want to discard and paste the words into the one dictionary that you want to keep.

To do this, follow these steps.

  1. Open the dictionary that you want to keep:
    1. On the Tools menu, click Preferences. Select the Spelling And Grammar tab, and then click Dictionaries.
    2. Select the custom dictionary that you want to retain, and then click Edit. (If prompted, convert the file as Text Only).
  2. Open a dictionary that you want to discard, copy the words from it, and paste the words into the dictionary document that you want to keep. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. On the Tools menu, click Preferences. Select the Spelling And Grammar tab, and then click Dictionaries.
    2. Select a custom dictionary that you want to discard and click Edit. (If prompted, convert the file as Text Only).
    3. Position the insertion point in the newly opened dictionary file, and click Select All on the Edit menu.
    4. On the Edit menu, click Copy.
    5. To switch to the dictionary file that you want to keep, click its name on the Window menu. Position the insertion point at the end of the file, and click Paste on the Edit menu.

      The words from the dictionary you want to get rid of should be pasted into the dictionary file that you want to keep.
    6. Repeat steps a-e for each dictionary that you want to discard.
  3. Position the insertion point in the dictionary that you want to keep. On the File menu, click Save As. In the Save File As Type box, select Speller Custom Dictionary, type a name for the dictionary, and then click Save.

    NOTE: If you are asked to replace the file, click Replace. Then, click Yes if you receive the following message:
    This document may contain formatting which will be lost upon conversion to Speller Custom Dictionary format. To preserve the initial document, click No to exit this dialog, and then save the document in Word format before converting. Continue with Save?
  4. On the File menu, click Close.
  5. Close any other open custom dictionaries without saving them.
  6. On the Tools menu, click Preferences. Select the Spelling and Grammar tab and then click Dictionaries.
  7. Click to clear the check boxes for all dictionaries except for the one containing all of the words.
  8. Click OK.
  9. Click to select Check Spelling As You Type, and click OK.
For additional information about how to do this in earlier versions of Word, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

42051 WD: Combining Two Spelling Dictionaries into One Dictionary

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/4/2002
Keywords:kbhowto KB176448
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.