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How to Add the UK English Spell Check Option in Windows Live Mail

Windows Live Mail includes the English (UK) spell check dictionary built-in, but the option is not exposed for some unknown reason. To enable the English (United Kingdom) spell check dictionary, using one of the methods below. Method 1 tells you how to manually add the UK English Spell check option in Windows Live Mail, and Method 2 uses a VBScript that I wrote to automate the task.

Credits to Bob Lucas for this excellent tip.

Method 1

Copying the files

Copy the files spell.ini, mssp3en.lex, MSSpell3.DLL from the following folder:

%ProgramFiles%\Windows Live\Mail\Proof\prf0009\2\

to the following folder:

(Windows XP)

%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\Proof\prf0809\1

(Windows Vista)

%localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\Proof\prf0809\1

Note that the destination path does not exist by default and you need to manually create the folders up to the level above. To access the above location, simply type the path in the Address bar in Windows Explorer or in Start Run dialog.

More Information: Where the numeric 809 in the above path represents the hex value for English (UK) language. Its decimal equivalent is 2057. The list of Locale IDs are available at Microsoft Website.

Edit the Spell.ini file

After copying the files, you need to edit the spell.ini file (using Notepad) in the destination path, and set the Lang value to 2057, which is the Locale ID decimal for English, United Kingdom. Save the file. The spell.ini file should now show the following contents:

[Spellchecker]
Engine=MSSPELL3.DLL
Lex=MSSP3EN.LEX
Lang=2057

Method 2

Download ukspell_wlm.vbs and save to Desktop. Double-click the file to run it. The script carries out the steps listed in Method 1 quickly and you’ll see a message box when it’s complete.

Setting English (United Kingdom) as the default

English (United Kingdom) should now be added to the list of available languages in Windows Live Mail.

1. Start Windows Live Mail

2. Use ALT+T keyboard shortcut to access the Tools menu

3. Click Options

4. Select the Spelling tab

5. Select English (United Kingdom), click Set Default and click OK.

The UK Spell check dictionary really works!


Copyright © 2008 Ramesh Srinivasan. All rights reserved.

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14 Responses to “How to Add the UK English Spell Check Option in Windows Live Mail”

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  1. 14
    Barack Says:

    Script works great, doesn’t seem to sell off my credit card details ;)
    Thankyou for creating this, simple and effective,
    Cheers :)

  2. 13
    Simon Goode Says:

    Thanks a lot, a simple solution to one of my biggest frustrations, less than a minute to install. Briliant!

  3. 12
    Mark Says:

    Thanks very much. This is a brilliant tool and has solved one of the bugs which has been drving me mad!

  4. 11
      Windows Live Writer Dictionary Fix by Roundtrip Solutions Blog Says:

    [...] Windows Live Writer Dictionary Fix [...]

  5. 10
    roo Says:

    Thank you - worked really well

  6. 9
    Donald Lowe Says:

    If only all solutions worked that easily and that well!

    Much appreciated!

  7. 8
    Pasha Says:

    Thank goodness, US english was driving me up the wall!

    Just stumbled accross Bob’s useful tip while trying to find out if Windows Live has a bounce/redirect copy message option that preserves the original headers? I often recieve messages that should have been cc’d to colleagues as well and don’t want to just forward message so it looks like its from me. Can anyone help? Will probably post this as a separate thread query.

  8. 7
    David Says:

    Perfect. Thanks.

  9. 6
    Michelle Leonard Says:

    It’s ok, I sorted it - I reloaded the page in Intenet Explorer rather than firefox as I tried to originally, and managed to download. It works perfectly. Thank you

  10. 5
    Les Says:

    Great, really easy. Thanks so much to this blog and especially Bob Lucas! (color did come up as error for me with colour ok)

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