Spell Check does not work after installing InDesign 15.0.2

[VBL2]

re: InDesign CC 2019

Spell check is not working. I have read numerous forum posts and this appears to have been an issue for many for years. I don't know what else to check. I do think a picture is worth a thousand words … or in this case a single "word"

As you can see below, "word" is an unknown word with no suggestions.

{Renamed by MOD}

[Srishti Bali]

Hi there,

We are extremely sorry to hear about this issue. I would request if you can share a few more details like:

• Operating System(Exact version of Windows/MAC)
• Is it happening with a particular file or all the files?

Regards,

Srishti

[Mike Witherell]

In the Character panel, when the word "word" is highlighted, what language does the Character panel say is applied?

[VBL2 · Accepted solution]

hi srishtib8795206 and Mike Witherell​,

Thank you both for responding, after I posted my question, I kept digging for the answer and finally discovered that when I updated to CC 2019, the PREFERENCES–DICTIONARY–SPELLING drop-down was somehow set on USER DICTIONARY ONLY. Not sure how that happened but changing it to HUNSPELL of course resolved my issue.

I appreciate you stepping in to help.

Best,

V

[Jane Doe Graphix]

I was having the same issue after a recent update. Thanks for the solution. Good luck to you on this St. Patrick's Day and stay healthy and safe.

[janeh90524503]

It worked! Thank you SO much!

[Jingledale]

Yep, Preferences > Dictinoary > Spelling > Hunspell worked for me too!

P.S. Couldn't it be named "USE THIS DICTIONARY IF YOU LIVE IN NORTH AMERICA" or something that is intuitive? Maybe I'm ignorant but what does HUNSPELL mean?

[charliep79218105]

I have one document that the spell check will not work with.  I have tried all the obvious stuff - dynamic spelling is on, press 'w' key for preview mode, languarge set to english.

Other ID documents still work with spellcheck but this document does not.  PLEASE HELP 

[Ashutosh_Mishra]

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for reaching out. It could be a document specific issue if it is happening with just one document. Try converting document to IDML and then see if spellcheck works for you. Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Ashutosh

[charliep79218105]

Hi Ashutosh,

Thanks for the reply. I just tried that and still the same thing is happening.

I’ve just had a look and it is in fact doing it with all documents.

I have attached a couple of screen shots; when I open an existing document, dynamic spellcheck appears to be working but if I modify the incorrect words in any way the red zigzag line immediately disappears.

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling indesign via the CC app on Mac and it has not fixed the problem.

Kind regards, Charlie.

[charliep79218105]

Hi Ashutosh,

I just found this response from another recent post about the same problem...

'We are looking into this issue. It is a known bug with 15.0.2 release of InDesign. 

you can vote for this issue at: https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs/suggestions/39843622-spell-check-no...

By voting, you will also get updates on the progress we make on this bug'

It looks like it must be a problem at the Adobe end.

[sfklein1]

Hi There,

I also had big issues with select INDDs not spell-checking while others had no issues. Moreover I found that I could copy/paste the content of the offending doc into a blank spread and it would spellcheck. Tried all of the remedies relating to Paragraph Styles dictionary, Character Styles, etc. What ultimately seems to have worked for me was resetting the "Spelling" preferences dropdown to "Hunspell" (it was set on "Proximity"). Go to Preferences>Dictionary. Also be prepared to reset the thing over and over at random intervals - it seems to change itself back.

[kblakesd]

Thank you!!! Changing the Dictionary Preferences to "Hunspell" worked.

[aworthycause]

Thanks so much! This worked perfectly.

[Barb Binder]

That is the correct answer and I marked it as correct for you.

From the Adobe InDesign team:

We have been able to identify the issue to be happening because of the Spelling Dictionary (under Preferences > Dictionary) set to “Proximity”. If we set the Spelling Dictionary to “Hunspell”, the Check Spelling feature works without problems.

While we’re working to fix the bug with the “Proximity” dictionary and make the fix available as quickly as we can, we recommend that you switch the Spelling Dictionary to “Hunspell” in the meanwhile to continue to spell check your documents as earlier.

~Barb

[ex-KHaccount]

Hi there

I'm afraid that doesn't work: I had already changed the Spelling/Dictionary dropdown to Hunspell, but the spell check still isn't working. I deliberately typed in some nonsense (jdkls;dlgjre;s) and it didn't pick that up, so it clearly isn't working.

Any other suggestions?

[Srishti Bali]

Hi there, 

We're sorry to hear about this. I would request if you can try resetting InDesign Preferences and then change the Spelling/Dictionary dropdown to Hunspell.

To reset preferences please follow these steps:

• For Windows
  Close all Adobe applications.
  Go to Locations :
  C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Adobe
  C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Adobe.
  Rename InDesign folders to InDesign.old
  Launch InDesign from CC.
• For MAC
  Close all Adobe applications.
  Close all adobe applications
  Go to Locations:
  ~/Library/Caches
  ~/Library/Preferences
  Rename Adobe InDesign and com.adobe.indesign to Adobe InDesign.old and com.adobe.indesign.old
  Launch InDesign from the CC

Please note that resetting preferences will remove all the custom settings and InDesign will launch with default settings. This way all your old settings with be saved in .old folders and InDesign will recreate new folders with default settings.

If that doesn't help either, please update your observations here (https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs/suggestions/39843622-spell-check-no...) and try installing version 15.0.1 from Creative Cloud.

Regards,

Srishti

[CatherineGrace5]

I have a document I have been working in for years and just the last few weeks the spell check stopped working. I have tried EVERY suggestion here and on other fourms. At this point it seems to be a InDesign issue with the last upgrade I did in March 2020. It is not just one document, it is all of a sudden all of them. 

[designt55219699]

Niether proximity nor Hunspell work for me.  I even used the reset method for MAC sent by Srishti below to restore InDesign and nothing works.  I get the start button but upon hitting it, nothing happens.

[CCfrustration]

Switching to Hunspell worked, but unfortunately it adjusted the line breaks. Wouldn't have been an issue except that I was preparing to send the job to press and had to go back through 48 pages to figure out everything that had changed. I hope they can get this bug fixed soon.

[PeterFinneyJr]

Thank you, SFKlein1. The change to "Hunspell" worked perfectly. Actually, it was on Hunspell; I switched to Proximity and then back to Hunspell. The "burping" action seemed to have taken hold. I hope it continues!

[surf119]

Thank you for the tip - worked great for me!

[erwinvanwijk]

Settings changed to 'Hunspell'. It worked for me. Thanks.

[Gardei]

I fund that turning on Dynamic Spelling worked for me.

[jimar8]

Thanks, Hunspell worked on the first two chapters of my book but not on the next two chapters.  Each chapter after the first two is based on the same template. I can't figure out why the spell check will not work on these chapters after changing preferences recommended. They are all .indd docs in .indb book.