Add and Remove Proofing Dictionaries for Foreign Languages in PowerPoint 365 for Windows

PowerPoint includes proofing tools (spelling dictionaries, thesauri, and grammar rules) for more than one language. For example, if you use English as your main language, then Spanish and French dictionaries may already be installed. This enables you to spell check Spanish and French words.

To proof text in a foreign language, you need to install and enable proofing tools for the language you require. When these tools are installed, you can tell PowerPoint if a particular text placeholder or text box needs to be proof-read as a foreign language. We will cover the actual process of proofing in a foreign language later in a subsequent tutorial. First, you need to learn how you can ascertain which proofing tools are installed on your computer, and how you can add proofing tools for languages besides English within PowerPoint.

Follow these steps to add and remove proofing dictionaries for other languages in PowerPoint 365 for Windows:

1. Launch PowerPoint, and access the Review tab of the Ribbon, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: Review tab of the Ribbon
2. Within the Review tab, click the Language button, highlighted in green within Figure 1, above. Doing so brings up a drop-down menu, as shown in Figure 1. Within the drop-down menu click the Language Preferences option, highlighted in blue within Figure 1.
3. This action summons the PowerPoint Options dialog box along with the Language option selected in the sidebar, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2, below.
4. 
   Figure 2: Language options within PowerPoint Options dialog box
5. Within the Office authoring languages and proofing section, you can see which proofing dictionaries are currently available, with the preferred language listed on the top, as shown highlighted in green within Figure 2, above.
6. To install more dictionaries, click the Add a language button, highlighted in blue within Figure 2, above.
4. Doing so will bring up the Add an authoring language dialog box, as shown in Figure 3, below. Within the languages list, scroll down to see which other languages are available, and click the language of your choice. For this tutorial, we chose French (France), as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3.
5. 
   Figure 3: Add an authoring language dialog box
5. Next, click the Add button, highlighted in blue within Figure 3, above to include the new language to the proofing list.
6. In our case, the French (France) proofing language was instantly installed, as can be seen in Figure 4, below. Compare with Figure 2, shown previously on this page.
7. 
   Figure 4: Selected language installed
8. For some languages that are already installed, you may see a link called Proofing available, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 4, above. Clicking this link downloads additional files to enable proofing for this language.
6. You will end up with adding the selected language dictionary to your proofing list, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5, below. Compare with Figure 4, shown previously on this page.
7. 
   Figure 5: Proofing available changed to Proofing installed

What Changes When You Add a New Proofing Lanfuage?

Adding a proofing language only enables a spelling dictionary of that language for proofing. No keyboard layouts or menu options change. Those options are beyond the scope of this tutorial. Also, any proofing languages you add are available across all Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, Outlook, etc., and are not limited to PowerPoint alone.
7. To remove any proofing tools you might have installed in the past, select the editing language you want to remove and then click the Remove button, highlighted in green within Figure 5, above. At this point, you can set any of the installed proofing tools as default by clicking the Set as Preferred button, highlighted in blue within Figure 5.