To use the online spell checker, type or paste your text into the text box or open a document, choose the language, and press Check spelling. Every issue is then underlined in your text and explained beside it, and you decide for each one whether to take the fix.
This guide walks through the Spell Checker, from the first word you paste to the corrected file you download. The AI Spell Checker is used the same way, so the steps work for both apps.
The short version in 6 steps
- Open the Spell Checker, and type or paste your text into the text box, or open a document.
- Choose the language and its variant, or let the app detect it.
- Turn on Picky mode if you also want style suggestions.
- Press Check spelling.
- Go through the underlined issues: pick a fix for each one, or ignore it.
- Copy the text, or download the corrected document.
The Spell Checker is free to use and needs no account. Here is each step in more detail.
Step 1: add your text or a document
The page opens on a text box. Type into it, or paste a text from somewhere else, such as an email or an essay. Typed or pasted text can be up to 150,000 characters long.
To check a whole file, open a document instead. The Spell Checker reads these formats:
- Word documents (DOCX and DOC), OpenDocument text (ODT), and RTF
- PDF, including scanned PDFs: a page without a text layer is read with text recognition (OCR)
- TXT, HTML, Markdown, and EPUB
- Photos and scans of pages (JPG, PNG, TIFF, WebP, BMP, and GIF), which text recognition reads
The file can come from your computer, from a link (choose Paste URL), or from cloud storage. A document can have up to 100 pages. For Word files in particular, read how to spell check a Word document online.
Step 2: choose the language and its variant
Pick the language your text is written in, and its variant. English comes as American, British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, or South African English. German comes for Germany, Austria, or Switzerland, and Portuguese for Portugal, Brazil, and more. French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and Polish are there too, and more than 30 languages in all.
You can also let the app detect the language, but detected English is checked as American English. If you write British English, choose it yourself, or spellings such as colour and organise are checked against the wrong variant. British or American English? explains how to keep one variant from the first line to the last.
Step 3: decide on Picky mode
Picky mode adds style suggestions to the check: wordy phrases, words you repeat, and wording that could be simpler. These are suggestions, not mistakes. Turn it on for a text that should read well, such as a cover letter, and leave it off when you only want the errors.
Step 4: press Check spelling
Press Check spelling. Each issue is underlined in the text and listed beside it, sorted by kind:
- Spelling: typos and words that are not spelled that way in the variant you chose
- Grammar: for example a verb that does not agree with its subject
- Punctuation: for example a missing comma or a doubled mark
- Style: the Picky mode suggestions
Each kind is also a filter, so in a long list you can fix all the spelling first and look at style last.
A document is checked page by page. Page 1 is checked and shows its suggestions before page 2, so you can start correcting the first pages while the next ones are still being read.
Step 5: review each suggestion
Click an underline in the text, or a card in the list, to see the explanation and the suggested fix. Pick the fix to apply it.
If a suggestion is wrong for your text, ignore it. This happens most with names, brand names, and the terms of your trade. For a word like that, choose Add to dictionary, and it is not flagged again. The word is kept in this browser only, so on another computer or browser you add it again.
You can also edit the text in the result yourself. After larger changes, press Check again to check the new version.
Step 6: copy or download the result
Press Copy text to take the corrected text back to your email or editor. For a document, choose Download and pick a format: PDF, DOCX, ODT, RTF, TXT, HTML, or Markdown.
A Word or OpenDocument file that you download in its own format keeps its formatting: you get the original file with each fix written into it. A DOC or EPUB file comes back as a new file in one of the formats above. To start over with a different text, press Check another text.
When to use the AI Spell Checker instead
The Spell Checker works with dictionaries and grammar rules. That makes it fast and predictable, and every mark comes with an explanation. Rules find it hard, though, to spot a real word in the wrong place, such as form where you meant from, or a sentence that is correct but clumsy.
The AI Spell Checker has an AI model read whole sentences, so it also catches those. It costs more to run, so its free use is limited: keep it for the texts that matter most, such as a job application. Spell checker or AI spell checker compares the two in detail.
A final read is still yours
A check cannot tell whether a date, a name, or a number is the right one. Read the corrected text once more before you send it, ideally out loud. The proofreading checklist lists what to look at.