Keep ONLYOFFICE Spell Check on the Language You Choose

To make ONLYOFFICE Docs keep using the spelling language you choose, set the language on the document or on the selected text using the language controls in the editor’s status bar. Then confirm spell checking is enabled. The interface language, proofing language, and dictionary availability are separate settings, so changing the menus’ display language will not fix spelling for the text.

Illustrative example: Jordan is editing a bilingual English-Spanish project report in ONLYOFFICE Document Server. Jordan changes the document to Spanish, but English text still gets flagged and a new paragraph appears to use English again. This is a hypothetical example, not a reported support case or test result. The steps below show how Jordan can identify which setting is mismatched.

First, identify which language setting is wrong

ONLYOFFICE has a document-wide language setting and a Text Language setting for selected passages. The document-wide control applies the chosen language to the whole document; the text selector applies a different language to a selected passage. Spell checking can also be turned off, and a server administrator may need to add a dictionary if the required locale is not available.

For Jordan’s report, changing the whole document to Spanish would also mark its English sections as Spanish. Instead, Jordan should set the document’s main language, then assign English specifically to English passages. This is useful for bilingual documents because spelling rules belong to the text, not just to the editor interface.

Set the document or selected passage language

1. Set a language for the whole document. Click the Set Document Language control on the status bar. In the dialog, choose the required language and click OK. The selection applies to the entire document. Jordan can use Spanish here if most of the report is Spanish.

2. Set a different language for a passage. Select the complete paragraph or other text range first. Then use the Text Language selector on the status bar and choose that passage’s language. Jordan selects each English paragraph and assigns English (United States), leaving Spanish paragraphs set to Spanish.

Do not select only the insertion point when you mean to correct an existing passage. The language may follow the formatting at the cursor or the text run you are typing into. Select the full paragraph when you need to repair its existing language, and check that the status bar shows the intended choice before continuing.

ONLYOFFICE’s Document Editor spell-checking instructions describe both language controls and how to enable checking. The language assigned to text is also stored as a text property; developers who set up documents programmatically can review the ONLYOFFICE SetLanguage API reference.

If the language changes back while you type

In Jordan’s case, the first practical check is whether the whole paragraph or just the document default was changed. If the paragraph is part of a mixed-language file, select it and assign Text Language directly. Then type a test word in that paragraph and verify the status bar still reflects the intended language.

If Jordan is actually using ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors rather than Document Server in a browser, there is a version-specific caveat: ONLYOFFICE’s current desktop troubleshooting page says there is no simple built-in way to change the default document language when it switches back as a character is typed. The page points to a third-party workaround. That note is about Desktop Editors and does not establish the same limitation for every server deployment. For a shared server document, first verify the language on the affected text; avoid relying on a browser or application display-language change to override its text properties.

Also confirm spell checking is on. Click the Spell checking icon on the status bar, or open File > Advanced Settings, select Turn on spell checking, and apply the setting. Misspelled words should then be underlined in red when the selected language’s dictionary recognizes the spelling difference.

As Jordan checks the Spanish and English sections, a red underline is a useful signal, but it is not a translation or grammar verdict. A name, technical term, or regional spelling may be absent from the dictionary even when the language assignment is correct.

If your language is missing or no words are checked

If the language does not appear in the selector, or the correct language is selected but spell checking has no effect, ask the ONLYOFFICE administrator to verify that the server has the required dictionary. ONLYOFFICE provides a separate procedure for custom server dictionaries; it is an administrator task, not a user preference toggle.

The official procedure uses /var/www/onlyoffice/documentserver/dictionaries/ on Linux. Create a locale-named folder, such as es_MX, and place the matching .dic word list, .aff affix rules, and .json configuration in it. The configuration needs the locale’s LCID code, and the files must use matching locale names. The administrator then runs ONLYOFFICE’s dictionary update script from the server’s dictionaries directory, restarts ONLYOFFICE services (or the Docker container), and clears the browser cache. Follow the exact ONLYOFFICE custom dictionary instructions; do not rename an unrelated dictionary to make its locale appear.

Verify the language change

Return to Jordan’s report, select a known English paragraph, and confirm the status bar’s Text Language is English. Select a Spanish paragraph and confirm it is Spanish. Check that spell checking is on, type a harmless test word in each passage, and confirm the status bar language remains appropriate. If only one locale is missing or unrecognized, send the administrator the locale name and the relevant server version so they can check the matching dictionary files.

For a separate reference, the ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors troubleshooting page documents the default-language reversion limitation mentioned above. Its scope matters: Jordan’s hypothetical example concerns a server-based editor, so desktop-specific behavior should not be assumed to explain a Document Server issue.