As a favor for a friend, I posted a job opening on a popular website. What I didn’t realize is the anonymous email address sends the resumes to me. In looking through these documents, I noticed people who used the word “manger”. Perfectly good holiday word except if you meant to use “manager”. One way to limit these mistakes is to create an exclude dictionary file in Microsoft Word.

Microsoft Word allows three different types of dictionary files.

Dictionary Type	Purpose	Example File Names
Main	Large default dictionary for your language.	mssp3en.lex
Custom	When you click Add during a spell check, that word is added to the default custom dictionary. You can also buy industry specific custom dictionaries.	custom.dic medical.dic
Exclude or Exclusionary	Exception file of words, which prompts the spell checker. These entries override the main dictionary.	mssp3en.exc ExcludeDictionaryEN0409.lex

What to Include in an Exclude Dictionary

I think there are two groups of words that go into this file. The first set includes words that you use, and if misspelled, could create an embarrassing scenario. These include words where a letter has been dropped or you pressed the wrong key that results in an entirely different word. Here are some others I spotted:

• pubic (meant public)
• parent (meant patent)
• suing (meant using)

A second set of words are situational. For example, you’re a businessperson dealing with Myanmar. In some situations, you may wish to use “Burma” or vice versa. You don’t always use one term over another. If you did, AutoCorrect would be a better solution.

Unlike the main dictionary, the words you place in this exclude file prompt Word’s spell checker. The idea is you’ll look at the highlighted word, put it in context, and catch a potential mistake.

Finding Your Main Dictionary File

Note: The steps below are for Word 2003 or Word 2002. The procedure for Windows 2007 is different. There is a Microsoft KB article that provides instructions. In Word 2007, this file is called “exclusion dictionary”.

Before you build your exclude dictionary, you need the name of your main dictionary file. You also need to make sure Windows Explorer can see hidden files and folders.

The file name of your main dictionary and location varies. It's based on your Microsoft Word version and your language. For most users, the file name will be some version of mssp*.lex and can be found at:

[drive]:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\PROOF

It’s common when you search for mssp*.lex to see multiple files:

• MSSP3EN.LEX
• MSSP3ENA.LEX

These files are the main dictionaries for English as indicated by the EN. However, the second file is for Australia. If you’re using French, you might have MSSP3FR.LEX

Creating the Exclude Dictionary

Once you’ve found your main dictionary, you’re ready to add words to the exclude dictionary. There are a few rules. The first is all words must be lower case. You also can’t have spaces or exceed 64 characters per word.

1. Close all Office programs except Microsoft Word.

2. From the Tools menu, select Options…

3. From the Options dialog, click the Spelling & Grammar tab.

4. Click the Custom Dictionaries… button.

5. In the Custom Dictionaries dialog, click New…

6. In the Save as type: field, select All Files (*.*).

7. In the File name: text box, type your main dictionary file name but use the *.exc file extension. As example, if your main dictionary were MSSP3EN.LEX, you would type MSSP3EN.EXC

8. Click Save. You should see your file listed in the Dictionary list with a check.

9. Click your dictionary and then click Modify…

10. A dialog opens where you can add your words.

11. When done adding, click OK three times.

12. Restart Microsoft Word.

13. Create a document and test out your words. Word should show your added items in the Spell Check. If they don’t appear, make sure the exclude file is checked in your dictionaries list. Another possibility might be your word also appears in the custom dictionary file. If so, delete the entry from the custom dictionary.

Adding terms to your Microsoft Word exclude dictionary won’t guarantee you a job. However, it is an extra verification step that can save you some embarrassment or distinguish you from others.

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