To get British spelling in Word, set the proofing language to English (United Kingdom). For text that’s already written, select it and choose Review > Language > Set Proofing Language. For future documents, make English (United Kingdom) the default as well. The proofing language is separate from Word’s menu language and your keyboard layout, and changing it doesn’t rewrite any words for you.
Change an existing document to British English (Windows)
- Select the text to change. Press Ctrl+A to select all the main text in the document.
- Choose Review > Language > Set Proofing Language.
- Select English (United Kingdom) in the list. Languages already used in the document appear at the top.
- Select OK. If Word says proofing tools are missing, add them through Language Preferences first.
- Test a word such as colour or organise. It should no longer get a red underline, while color should.
- Check tables, text boxes, headers, footers, and footnotes separately. Ctrl+A may not reach all of them.
Microsoft’s proofing-language guide covers this selected-text workflow.
Change a document to British English on a Mac
- Select the text, or press Command+A to select the main text.
- In the menu bar, choose Tools > Language.
- Select English (UK) and select OK.
Make British English the default for new documents
Changing the text in one document doesn’t change the next document you create. To make UK English stick:
- In Word for Windows, open Review > Language > Set Proofing Language.
- Select English (United Kingdom).
- Select Set As Default, then choose Yes when Word asks whether to change the default for new documents based on the Normal template.
- Select OK.
On a Mac, use the Default button in the Tools > Language dialog, then confirm.
It also helps to set your Office language preference. In desktop Word, open Review > Language > Language Preferences (or File > Options > Language on Windows). Add English (United Kingdom) under Office authoring languages and proofing if it isn’t listed, check that it shows Proofing installed, and set it as Preferred. Microsoft notes that this preference can affect your other Office apps too.
Word for the web
Select the text, then choose Review > Editor > Set Proofing Language, pick English (United Kingdom), and select OK. Microsoft’s web proofing guide has the details.
What changes, and what doesn’t
- Word checks spelling and grammar against British rules, so colour, centre, and organise are accepted and American spellings get flagged.
- Words already spelled the American way stay as they are. Run a spelling check with Review > Editor (or press F7 on Windows) to find and fix them.
- Your menus and buttons stay in the same language. To change those, see changing Word’s menu language.
- Your keyboard layout doesn’t change, and nothing is translated.
Why Word keeps switching back to US English
- Detect language automatically is on. Word may relabel text it thinks is American. Open the Set Proofing Language dialog and clear Detect language automatically if it causes trouble.
- Your keyboard is set to US English. Microsoft says Word’s proofing language follows your default Windows keyboard language. Adding an English (United Kingdom) keyboard in Windows settings can stop new text coming in as US English.
- Pasted text kept its language. Text copied from another document or website brings its own language tag. Select it and set the proofing language again.
- The default wasn’t changed. If only the old document was fixed, new documents still start in US English. Use Set As Default, as shown above.
Our spell-check language guide covers documents that mix several languages.
Switch back to US English
- Select the text, or press Ctrl+A to select the main document text.
- Choose Review > Language > Set Proofing Language.
- Select English (United States).
- Select OK.
This only changes the selected text. If you also made British English your default or preferred language, go back to those settings and choose English (United States) again.
Frequently asked questions
Will AutoCorrect use British spellings too?
AutoCorrect follows the language of the text you’re typing in. If it still swaps in American spellings, see how to change the AutoCorrect language in Word.
Can I use British English in one part of a document only?
Yes. Select just that part and set its proofing language. Each block of text keeps its own language.
Matt has been writing about Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products since the days of Windows XP. He spends much of his time writing for sites like WindowBrain.com