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The spell checker on Firefox tells me that my US spelling (with a US setting) is incorrect with British alternatives.

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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The spell checker on Firefox tells me that my US spelling (with a US setting) is incorrect with British alternatives. If I type anything that has a different British spelling, the spell checker highlights the word. When I check for corrections, they are all British spellings of the same word. When I try to change the setting to see if it has become flipped, I can't get the menu of options. I'm using Ubuntu 16.10 on a HP Pavilion DV6500 with a full boot.

The spell checker on Firefox tells me that my US spelling (with a US setting) is incorrect with British alternatives. If I type anything that has a different British spelling, the spell checker highlights the word. When I check for corrections, they are all British spellings of the same word. When I try to change the setting to see if it has become flipped, I can't get the menu of options. I'm using Ubuntu 16.10 on a HP Pavilion DV6500 with a full boot.

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What spelling dictionary is selected?

You can see which dictionary is selected if you right-click in a text area and open the Languages sub menu. 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.

The spelling checker is enabled if [X] "Check Spelling" in the right-click context menu has a checkmark.

You can enable or disable spell checking globally:

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

You can look here for dictionaries:

Note that on Linux Firefox may find dictionaries that are installed via the repositories of your distribution.

You can check these locations for globally installed dictionaries:

/usr/share/hunspell/
/usr/share/myspell/

(on 64 bit Linux these folders may differ)