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Default Dictionary for Microsoft Word 2003
If you are having problems with the default dictionary setting for Word 2003, please read about how to set the default dictionary on Microsoft Word 2003.
Default Dictionary for Microsoft Word 2007
To achieve this, follow these instructions.
1. Click on start, then on all programs, then on Microsoft Office, then on Microsoft Office Tools, then on Microsoft Office 2007 Language Settings – see picture below.

2. When you have done that, you will see another window shown below :

Then ensure that the enabled editing languages you need are in the Enabled Editing Languages box on the right hand side and that the default the Primary Editing Language is set in the box at the bottom of the window as shown above. This will be the default dictionary.
If that doesn’t work – there are scores of suggestions below in the comments to this blog post. Thanks to everyone who has contributed. I can’t believe how many people continue to have problems with Word. Maybe the latest version is better?

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Awesome! Thanks so much, this was driving me crazy for ages.
This is a real problem that MS need to sort out. we’re creating documents for the USA and UK and need to easily change the document into the right language and then run the spell check. At the moment I have to CTRL+A on each page and check the language.
Sassafrass, I’m guessing you might have the same problem I was having – the “automatic language detection” switch. I was also working on a file with Canadian English words in it. Word was noticing that I was typing the word “centre” the Canadian way, and decided that therefore my document’s language must be French. I’m guessing you used a word like “colour” or “neighbour” and Word decided you must be using UK English. So … see my above comment for how to turn auto language detection off. This worked for me, so I hope it helps.
This does NOT work for setting Vietnamese even ‘tho it is a language selection.
Thanks for this post… It immediately fixed the issue.
Here’s a twist for you all. I’m working in Canadian English and would like my Autocorrect dictionary to be Canada. It says English (UK) and I have no idea where that is coming from. All my defaults are set to Canada. I read all these posts and tried all the solutions. My Autocorrect dictionary is still UK. I am so FED UP!
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