When Word flags a possible spelling error is in what color is the squiggly line?

Into every Word file, a few squiggles must fall.

When Word flags a possible spelling error is in what color is the squiggly line?

In the 2019 release that is a snapshot of Word 365, the grammar and spelling tools are grouped together in a feature Microsoft has called the Editor. On screen, Word flags errors by underlining them. The underlining it uses mean the following:

  • red squiggle = misspelled
  • blue dots = formatting error
  • blue double straight = word choice or grammar error

The flagging of homonyms has improved, as you can see in the left-hand figure, but Word still misses a lot of grammar errors and some of the formatting errors — even when it has flagged those exact errors elsewhere. The errors shown in the screen grabs below are particularly bad, but Word even misses errors they used as illustrations in Word’s own help files.

  • When Word flags a possible spelling error is in what color is the squiggly line?
    Word flagged the yellow spelling and grammar errors but missed all the blue ones.
  • When Word flags a possible spelling error is in what color is the squiggly line?
    With all grammar options turned off, Word still flags the homonym.

Turning On Grammar & Spelling Display

  • On a Mac, go to Word > Preferences > Spelling & Grammar.
  • Windows users, click Options on the File menu, then select Proofing. In the area headed “When correcting spelling and grammar in Word,” click the Settings… button.

When Word flags a possible spelling error is in what color is the squiggly line?
Windows users look in the Proofing area of Options from the File ribbon.

Turning Off Grammar & Spelling Display

You can turn off grammar checking, and you can deselect a lot of the checks, but even if you turn off the display of spelling errors, homonyms will still be flagged. (Right figure, top.)

While many editors turn off the grammar checker because Word’s advice is misguided more often than not, the blue “wrong word” checker cannot be turned off.

To get rid of the flags, select “Check Document” or “Recheck Document” in the spelling & grammar settings after deselecting “Mark grammar errors as you type” and “Check grammar with spelling.”

When Word flags a possible spelling error is in what color is the squiggly line?
Find out more about making the most of “Editor” (formerly Spellcheck) starting on p. 27 of the book.

When Word flags a possible spelling error is in what color is the squiggly line?

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When Word flags a possible spelling error is in what color is the squiggly line?
Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Changing Colors of Spelling and Grammar Underlines.

When Word flags a possible spelling error is in what color is the squiggly line?

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 28, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365


One of the built-in tools for Word is real-time spell-checking and grammar-checking. Using the default configuration of the program, Word displays potential spelling errors with a wavy red underline and potential grammar errors with a wavy green underline. This presents a problem for people who may be red-green color blind, as they will not be able to tell which type of error is which on-screen. The solution would be to change the colors of the underlines, but Word doesn't provide a built-in way to make the change.

One possible solution is to play with the color settings for Windows as a whole. You can go to the Appearance and Personalization option (in the Control Panel) and click the Ease of Access Center option. There are several display options available to choose from, including Set up High Contrast. You may need to experiment a bit, but this approach could give desirable results not just in Word, but in other applications as well.

You can also change the colors by modifying some settings in the Windows Registry. The best instructions for how to accomplish this are included in Microsoft's Knowledge Base, at the following page:

https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=925597

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11163) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Changing Colors of Spelling and Grammar Underlines.

Author Bio

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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What does a squiggly line mean under a word?

Wavy blue lines that appear under text in a Word document indicate that the Format Consistency Checker is turned on and is functioning in the background as you type. The lines indicate that the Format Consistency Checker has detected an inconsistency that you may want to look at and to correct.

What color lines show spelling errors?

The red and green wavy lines show spelling and grammatical errors, respectively.

What color squiggly wavy line does Microsoft use to denote a misspelled word?

The lines are for the following: Red for flagged spelling errors (or words that MS Word doesn't know). Green for flagged gramatical errors, such a subj/verb aggreement.. Blue for flagged contextual errors.

What does green wavy line mean in word?

If there is a spelling mistake, the word gets underlined with a red color wavy / squiggly / zig-zag line indicating the error. For grammatical errors a wavy green line appears under the word or phrases. So, all in all, these red-green wavy underlines indicate spelling and grammar mistakes.