Microsoft KB Archive/925597

Knowledge Base

How to customize the color of the spelling and grammar checker underlines in Word 2007

Article ID: 925597

Article Last Modified on 10/15/2007

---

APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Office Word 2007

---

Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

INTRODUCTION

This article describes how to customize the color of the spelling and grammar checker underlines in Microsoft Office Word 2007. These underlines indicate the following items:

• Spelling errors
• Grammar errors
• Contextual spelling errors
• Smart tags

MORE INFORMATION

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To change the color of the wavy underline that indicates spelling errors, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Proofing Tools

3. If the SpellingWavyUnderlineColor entry exists, go to step 6.
   
   If the SpellingWavyUnderlineColor entry does not exist, go to step 4.
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. In the right pane, type SpellingWavyUnderlineColor. This is the name of the new entry.
6. In the right pane, double-click SpellingWavyUnderlineColor.
7. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Hexadecimal.
8. In the Value data box, type the hexadecimal number that represents the color that you want to use, and then click OK.
9. Repeat steps 3 to 8 to change the underline color for other proofing tools. Use the registry entry that corresponds to the underline color of the proofing tool that you want to change instead of the SpellingWavyUnderlineColor registry entry, as follows:
   • To change the color of the wavy underline that indicates grammar errors, use the GrammarWavyUnderlineColor registry entry.
   • To change the color of the wavy underline that indicates contextual spelling errors, use the ContextualSpellingWavyUnderlineColor registry entry.
   • To change the color of the dotted underline that indicates smart tags, use the SmartTagUnderlineColor registry entry.
10. Exit Registry Editor, and then restart your computer.

The registry uses eight-digit hexadecimal values to define colors. The values for some common colors are indicated in the following table.

Color	Red	Green	Blue	Registry Value
White	255	255	255	00FFFFFF
Black	0	0	0	00000000
Red	255	0	0	00FF0000
Green	0	255	0	0000FF00
Blue	0	0	255	000000FF
Cyan	0	255	255	0000FFFF
Magenta	255	0	255	00FF00FF
Yellow	255	255	0	00FFFF00
Dark Gray	127	127	127	007F7F7F
Light Gray	191	191	191	00BFBFBF
Dark Red	127	0	0	007F0000
Dark Green	0	127	0	00007F00
Dark Blue	0	0	127	0000007F
Teal	0	127	127	00007F7F
Purple	127	0	127	007F007F
Tan	127	127	0	007F7F00

Additional query words: WD2007 Word2007

Keywords: kbhowto kbinfo kbexpertisebeginner KB925597

---

Send feedback to Microsoft

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.