Richard Gilpin

Q: Word 2016 Custom Dictionary is full.

I post this question here, because I have not got the answer in the Microsoft forum.

 

Is anyone else getting a full custom dictionary in Word 2016?    Now, when I try to add words to my custom dictionary, I get this dialog box:

 

Screen Shot 2016-06-17 at 11.05.33 AM.png

I am on my sixth custom dictionary now.   None of them works.  Nobody at Microsoft knows what to do about it.  

 

I post here in case someone here has the answer to this problem.

 

 

If you want to see the whole thread at the Microsoft site, here it is:

 

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macoffice2016-macword/custom-dictio nary-is-full-word-2016/938923eb-fde2-4aed-b7dc-f498688d961d

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Jun 17, 2016 2:41 PM

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Q: Word 2016 Custom Dictionary is full.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Jun 17, 2016 7:59 PM in response to Richard Gilpin
    Level 5 (5,753 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 17, 2016 7:59 PM in response to Richard Gilpin

    It could very well be a bug. I see Bob Jones helped you. He has been a Microsoft MVP for years and I would trust his advice. Since he mentioned he's never seen this before, it indicates to me it's a bug.

     

    The only other suggestion I could suggest would be to set language.

     

    custom-dict.png

     

    Open a Word document. Click on Word > Preferences
    Under the Authoring & Proofing Tools, select Spelling and Grammar
    Click on the Dictionaries button next to the Custom Dictionary drop down.
    Select a language (US English or any other language you want to use)
    Click on OK. Exit word.
    Restart Word
    Try the adding a new word to dictionary.

     

    If this fails...

     

    I suggest you test in a new User. This will quickly tell you if the problem is system wide or if it's your User's folder that contains the problem.

     

    You can use the Guest User or create a new User for testing.

     

     

    CREATE A NEW USER

     

    Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Users & Groups.

    Switch to the New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching.

     

    Only default Apple apps will  be in the Dock in the new User. Go to Applications to open Microsoft Word.

     

    Do you still see the issue?

     

        If yes, then the problem is with your base files. (this would indicate a bug in Word)

        If no, then the problem is in your User's folder.

  • by Richard Gilpin,

    Richard Gilpin Richard Gilpin Jun 18, 2016 9:15 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 2 (190 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 18, 2016 9:15 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    Yes, I am familiar with resetting the language.  Too familiar.   Word 2016 is constantly forgetting my language preference.   I find this out when I order Word to check my spelling, and then Word skips over all the obvious misspellings in my documents.   I then open up "Language."  I see that the option there is set for "do not check spelling."   That is the exact opposite of what I want.  I click off that box.  I select "English US" as my default language and close preferences.   Spellcheck works properly for that document, but it fails again with the next document.

     

    I have an entirely separate thread on the MS website on this problem.  Someone said that this could be a problem with documents that I created in Word 2011, but this problem occurs in all my Word documents, regardless of whether I created them in Word 2011 or Word 2016.

     

    I'll experiment with the "new user" when I have time.

  • by Lanny,

    Lanny Lanny Jun 18, 2016 9:47 AM in response to Richard Gilpin
    Level 6 (8,041 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 18, 2016 9:47 AM in response to Richard Gilpin

    What does any of this have to do with El Capitan? It's a Microsoft issue.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Jun 18, 2016 11:14 AM in response to Richard Gilpin
    Level 5 (5,753 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 18, 2016 11:14 AM in response to Richard Gilpin

    Be sure to send Microsoft feedback using the Smile feature located under the search field in the upper right corner of the Outlook window. Feedback goes directly to the appropriate product manager.

     

    You will not get a reply.

  • by BobTheFisherman,

    BobTheFisherman BobTheFisherman Jun 18, 2016 11:16 AM in response to Richard Gilpin
    Level 6 (15,654 points)
    Jun 18, 2016 11:16 AM in response to Richard Gilpin
  • by Richard Gilpin,

    Richard Gilpin Richard Gilpin Jun 29, 2016 12:08 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 2 (190 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 29, 2016 12:08 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    I have noticed.   I wonder if Microsoft is tired of hearing from me.

  • by BusinessHelper,

    BusinessHelper BusinessHelper Oct 4, 2016 10:03 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 4, 2016 10:03 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    Thanks! This is just what I needed. I was having that custom dictionary problem in Outlook for Mac and couldn't figure out how to solve it. When I opened Word, and followed your directions for setting the Language in the Custom Dictionary (which was set to None) to English, it worked. I can finally save to the dictionary.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Oct 4, 2016 2:10 PM in response to BusinessHelper
    Level 5 (5,753 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 4, 2016 2:10 PM in response to BusinessHelper

    Glad this worked for you.

  • by hal42,

    hal42 hal42 Oct 10, 2016 9:38 AM in response to Richard Gilpin
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 10, 2016 9:38 AM in response to Richard Gilpin

    The problem for me was that since installing office 2016 on my mac, word has been pointing at a non-existant "custom dictionary" file in location set by office 2011.  By adding a new "custom dictionary" (to which word added a ".dic" extension) put in the right place, and deleting the old one, everything works now.

    Bad entry:

     

    bad_custom_dictionary_setting.png

    good entry, now working:

     

    correct_custom_dictionary_setting.png

  • by WoodsideDart,

    WoodsideDart WoodsideDart Oct 12, 2016 11:29 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Oct 12, 2016 11:29 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    Thanks. Selecting a language seems to have fixed it for me, at least on the first try at saving a spelling.