Disable, Enable, and Set the Default Custom Dictionary in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac

Any custom dictionary that you create or edit within Word 2011 for Mac is used by all the other Office applications installed on your Mac. Also, any changes made to the list of words within a custom dictionary reflect in proofing tools of all Office applications.

You may add new dictionaries or edit them. However by default, each logged-in user has a default custom dictionary. Not surprisingly, this is a file called Custom Dictionary, and is stored in this folder:

Macintosh HD:Users:<username>:Library:Application Support:Microsoft:Office:Preferences:Office 2011

So, what exactly is a default dictionary? Let's assume you are running a spell check and encounter a word that PowerPoint (or another Office application) flags as misspelled. Since you know that the word is correctly spelled, you choose the Add option—any custom spellings that you similarly add are saved to your default dictionary.

Follow these steps to learn more about enabling and disabling custom dictionaries in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac:

1. Launch Word 2011 if it is not already open, and choose the Word | Preferences menu option, as shown in Figure 1.
2. 
   Figure 1: Choose Word | Preferences menu option
2. This opens the Word Preferences dialog box. Select the Spelling and Grammar option that you can see highlighted in red within Figure 2.
3. 
   Figure 2: Spelling and Grammar option within Word Preferences dialog box
3. This opens the Spelling and Grammar dialog box. In this dialog box, click the Dictionaries button (highlighted in red within Figure 3).
4. 
   Figure 3: Spelling and Grammar dialog box
4. This summons the Custom Dictionaries dialog box (see Figure 4). All loaded custom dictionaries are listed within the Custom Dictionaries dialog box. Note that we have four custom dictionaries and all of them have been enabled, which is indicated by the selected check-boxes in front of them (highlighted in red within Figure 4).
5. 
   Figure 4: Custom Dictionaries dialog box
Tip: You may have just one custom dictionary available. You can add a ready-made 3rd party dictionary or create a new dictionary to end up with multiple spelling dictionaries.
5. You can also disable dictionaries you do not use. To do that, just deselect the check-boxes preceding the particular custom dictionary name, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5. Then, click the OK button.
6. 
   Figure 5: Enable/disable custom dictionaries for spell check
7. If you want to enable any of the disabled custom dictionaries, just select the check-box preceding the particular custom dictionary name. Once done, click the OK button within the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.
6. This will take you back to the Spelling and Grammar dialog box, click the OK button here to apply the changes.
Note: Now, you can launch PowerPoint 2011 for Mac and check if the changes are reflected within the Spelling dialog box. Just click on the Add words to selection list. In this list you will not see any of the disabled custom dictionaries, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 6.

Figure 6: Result of Enabling/disabling custom dictionaries reflected within PowerPoint