Adding words to a custom dictionary

Click the Add to Dictionary button in the Spelling dialog box to add unknown words to a custom dictionary. By default, Excel (as well as your other Microsoft applications, such as Word) adds words to a custom dictionary file named CUSTOM.DIC. If you want, you can create other specialized custom dictionaries just to use when spell checking particular types of spreadsheets. To create a new custom dictionary, follow these steps:

1. Begin spell checking your worksheet ( press F7 or click the Spelling button on the Standard toolbar).
   You can't start adding words to a new custom dictionary until you spell check a worksheet and Excel starts flagging some unknown words.
   
   
2. As soon as Excel locates an unknown word in the Spelling dialog box that you want to add to a new custom dictionary, click the Options button.
   
   
3. Click in the Add Word To drop-down list, replace the custom part of the dictionary filename with a name of your own, and then click OK or press Enter.
   
   When editing the custom.dic filename to create a name for your new custom dictionary, be sure not to delete the .dic filename extension. As soon as you click OK or press Enter, Excel adds the unknown word to your new custom dictionary.
   
   
4. Continue spell checking your worksheet, clicking the Add to Dictionary button to add all unknown words that you want to be part of your new custom dictionary.

After creating a custom dictionary, Excel automatically uses the words in this dictionary as well as in the CUSTOM.DIC when spell checking your worksheets.

You can directly edit the words that you add to your custom dictionary with the Windows Notepad text editor. Open the custom dictionary file (located in the Proof folder on your hard drive) and then make any changes to the entries in this file by saving your changes with Notepad's File > Save command.