This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Lolu chungechunge lwabekwa kunqolobane. Uyacelwa ubuze umbuzo omusha uma udinga usizo.

Why has Auto spell check has stopped working since last updating Firefox on my Mac

  • 5 uphendule
  • 146 zinale nkinga
  • 3 views
  • Igcine ukuphendulwa ngu petrolmaps

more options

Usually, when I typed text Firefox checks my spelling as I type. Since updating to the latest version it no longer does that. In Preferences - Advanced - General I have 'check spelling as I type' box clicked. Also in my Gmail account I have the 'Check Spelling' set to Auto and UK English on the email form, but still no Auto Spell Checking

Usually, when I typed text Firefox checks my spelling as I type. Since updating to the latest version it no longer does that. In Preferences - Advanced - General I have 'check spelling as I type' box clicked. Also in my Gmail account I have the 'Check Spelling' set to Auto and UK English on the email form, but still no Auto Spell Checking

All Replies (5)

more options

Not all locales come with a dictionary installed for licensing reasons. If you do not have the en-US locale then check that you have a dictionary installed (Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) and selected.

You can see which dictionary is selected if you right-click in a text area and open the Languages submenu. Also make sure that [X] "Check Spelling" in the right-click context menu has a tick. You can also try to toggle the "Check Spelling" item off and on again.

See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Spell_checking and How do I use the Firefox spell checker?
See also http://kb.mozillazine.org/Dictionaries

You can look here for dictionaries:

more options

If you have already made sure your language dictionary is installed, go into preferences and click 'Content -> Languages -> Choose...' and make sure your language is in the list. If not, add it (it does not have to be in the list)

Then, in 'Advanced -> General', under the heading 'Browsing' uncheck 'Check my spelling as I type' and recheck it. (You may have to uncheck it, click 'OK' to close preferences, reopen preferences and check it again).

Doing these two things fixed the problem for me (it's possible simply unchecking and rechecking is sufficient, but since I did the language thing first I have no way to tell since I cannot reproduce the problem any longer).

more options

You can download a dictionary from Mozilla. The spell check under lines the word hold down control and click on the word and it will give you suggestions.

more options

Thanks for your suggestion. In fact I managed to resolve to resolve this issue almost a year ago! Peace Steve

more options

I had The British English dictionary installed, but it stopped underlining errors after the latest Firefox 10 update. The solution is easy (but not obvious) - just go to a multi-line text box on any web page and right click on the editable area. Then select Languages > English-United Kingdom and it will start working again.

Incidentally, the solution can be found by going to Tools > Add-ons > Extensions > British English Dictionary.