My Outlook 2010’s Spelling Check Options (called Proofing in Outlook 2010), as well as AutoCorrect Options were all greyed out, so I don’t get the usual correct as you type feature as I usually get on my other computers. Only the basic ones, like Always checks spelling before sending, are still available. What’s going on?
Turned out, that’s because I have a mixed Microsoft Office versions installed, running Outlook 2010 alone while Word is still on 2007. The features like Spelling Check and AutoCorrect in Outlook are integrated tightly with the same version of Word. So when Outlook couldn’t find a working copy of Word application, it greys out these features.
Each version of Office is installed in a number-based sub-directory under the main Microsoft Office folder. For example, my Office 2007 is installed in Office12 folder while my Outlook 2010 is installed in Office14 folder, both under Microsoft Office folder. When my Outlook 2010 launches, it looks for the Word executable file WinWord.exe in the same directory. If nothing found, it then disables all Word-depended features like Spelling Check.
So, based on this observation, the workaround to get around this issue was easy:
Copy the WINWORD.exe file from Office12 folder to Office14 folder, and restart Outlook.
The result? All previously greyed out Spelling Check and AutoCorrect Options features became available again.
A few final words
The workaround works well in a mixed installation of Office 2007 and Outlook 2010 but I haven’t tested in other combinations. It most likely will still work if the versions are not set too apart. Let us know what works for you.
I applied it with Outlook 2013 and Word 2010. It worked perfectly !!
Thank you so much!
Your suggestion and workaround was right on! It worked for me perfectly (and that’s coming from someone who is not a techy)! My configuration was just like Mariangel below… Outlook 2013 and Word 2010. Thanks again!
Thanks, it works with Word 2003 and Outlook 2010 too
Really helpful for Outlook 2013 & Word 2010
Thank you! Worked for outlook 2013 with office 2007.
That worked perfectly. Thanks!
hi, i have office 2010 & outlook 2013. i don’t have or can’t find an office 12 file, but i do have an office 14 & office 15 files. i copied the winword.exe file from 14 to 15 and restarted outlook but this didn’t work. any suggestions?
thanks.
Brilliant solution. Using that methodology, I managed to access the options on a machine running Outlook 2007 and Word 2003 – so that it works with mixed install. Bravo – because other sites suggest installing a ‘compatible’ version of Word. No need!
SOOOO HELPFUL! Thank you!!!
Awesome solution! Worked like a charm for me with Outlook 2010 & Word 2007. Thanks!
I have Outlook 2013 and Word 2010. I copied as described but can’t get mine to work. I restarted computer as well. Any ideas?
I also have Outlook 2013 and Word 2010. It took me a while to find the right folder to put the winword.exe file because I had multiple folders labeled Office 15. Here’s the one that worked:
Program Files > Microsoft Office 15 > root > office15 because this is the one where outlook.exe was located. Hope that helps you!
That worked! I had it in Program Files > Microsoft Office 15. Didn’t know about the subdirectories.
Brill…. 19/11/16 and it still works … thanks
March 2016 and it still works on Outlook2013/Office2010. Copy winword.exe to outlook.exe folder and voila. Thank you!!
Worked great for me with Office 2013 (less Outlook) and Outlook 2010 (less everything else).
This worked on some of my client machines, but one of my clients does not have the WINWORD.exe in her Office12 folder. Rather, she has only the WINWORD application file itself. This is also the case in the Office 2014 folder. However, spell check is still unavailable in Outlook 2013. Help?
Maybe it’s the 64-bit version of office that is installed in “program files” folder?
if not, i would check if Word application is installed properly first.
Worked like a charm. Thank you!
This fix also works when running Outlook 2013 and Office/Word 2016. Good find!
I have Outlook 2013 and Word 2016, and it works !!!
thank you very much
This works great for Outlook 2016 & Office 2013 (minus Outlook). Thank you!
That actually worked. Thank you .
I have MS Outlook — a stand-alone copy, but no longer have any otherMS Office products like Word, Excel, etc. (This was due to my hard drive being wiped clean, so I lost my copies of MS Office.
SO …. with running ONLY MS Outlook, how can I fix the auto-correct options being grayed-out?
All you need is a version of WinWord.exe file in Outlook folder…so maybe copy one from another computer? Obviously, it violates the user agreement with Microsoft.
Another option is to use a plugin like Grammarly.
Works !!! thanks so much! my WINWORD.exe was in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12. do the SEARCH is the way to go!
i have the same issue , my word version is 2007 . is there a way i ca fix this ?
does this solution work if my word is 2007? can you help me sort this out pls
Yes, it still works.
My version all my office apps ar 2010. But I’m running windows 10. Could this be why my options are grayed out?
No, it’s possible that the spelling component is not installed.
Thank you. this resolved problem for me. Office 2016 (Word 2016 not installed) and Word 2013.
I have windows 7, Office 2016 and outlook 2013. This worked for me. Thank you
Many thanks! Fixed the problem perfectly.
Great solution…. _/\_ Thank you.
Excellent. Thanks so much
Same issue. Word 2016 and Outlook 2010. I copied the Winword.exe file from my Office16 folder and pasted in all other Office folders, restarted Outlook, and problem was solved. THANKS FOR THE HELP!
Worked! Thank you
you are a magician!!!!
Wow… this worked perfect! Thanks!
This is amazing! Thank you so much! Just for reference, it worked for me using Word 2010 with Outlook 2016.
It Works. Thank you so much 🙂
I do not have multiple versions of office so maybe someone else could try this: instead of copying the winword.exe file to the other directory, put a shortcut there and make sure it’s named winword.exe (nothing with “shortcut to”.
Didnt work. I do not see a winword.exe in program files/ms office/office12
look at under profile files (x86) folder.
What if I don’t have word?
still works in 2020 but you need to use the search option in windows explorer at a fairly high level in program files (x86) and look for winword.exe
Outlook 2010, rest of the MS Office is 2013 (everything except the outlook). Trick works fine.