when you right-click into a text field, is there a check mark next to "Check Spelling"?

Type about:config<Enter> in the address bar. If a warning screen comes up, press the Be Careful button. This is where Firefox finds information it needs to run. At the top of the screen is a search bar.

Type: layout.spellcheckDefault Its values are; 0 Spell Checker Off 1 Check Only Multi-Line Input Boxes. 2 Check Multi And Single Line Input Boxes.

Also, check the spellchecker.dictionary entry.

Do you have a dictionary installed and selected?

You can see which dictionary is selected if you right-click in a text area and open the Languages submenu. At least one dictionary should be installed and have a check mark to indicate that it is selected.

• Open the "Add Dictionaries" link to install a dictionary if you do not have one.
• Make sure that [X] "Check Spelling" in the right-click context menu is check-marked.

You can enable or disable spell checking globally:

• Tools > Options > Advanced : General: Browsing: "Check my spelling as I type"

You can look here for dictionaries:

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/language-tools/

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

• Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
• Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes