I am not sure what to attribute the problem to. I use Earthlink - I know, I'm a sap. They had a release recently, with no warning, and its far worse than the previous version. Innumerable errors and lags. Spam handling got worse, and it wasn't great. They might be preventing the spellcheck from working. Their own spell checker was never great, but was rendered demented in the new release. It flags every plural word as a misspell, for one instance. The code was clearly untested. I just don't like Gmail because you can't sort anything. The fonts are thread-like - intended for the young. Not for imperfect minds. The effect is 'our way or *** you.' Earthink's folder system is somewhat reminiscent of Outlook Express, which I loved. Since they killed it, I don't want to use Microsoft db products, lest they hold my stuff hostage one day, or leave me in the lurch. There should be a universal format, forever readable, is one so chooses. I just right clicked in this window, composing my plea, and the spell check is there. So my inability to access it must be another 'gift' from Earthlink, the firm with the worst designers and programmers of any I've encountered. They have arranged to bury consumer complaints, and have concocted a way to make false claims appear in search returns. Their site is covered with 'best' badges that can't possibly be deserved, or have been given. As a customer since 1997, I feel some authority to say what I'm saying, as a witness to their devolution and ever more blatant unconcern. If you only knew. I'd go to Thunderbird except you withdrew support for it for a time, I think I read, which makes it untrustworthy to me. Is there any way I can access the spell check function other than a browser input window ? I don't know if can 'force' earthlink to use it only in my compose windows, but it is running with Firefox. Anyway, thanks for any help you can give me.