---
title: "Spell Checker Pro plugin"
description: "Check spelling as-you-type in TinyMCE."
canonical_url: "https://www.tiny.cloud/docs/tinymce/latest/introduction-to-tiny-spellchecker/"
md_url: "https://www.tiny.cloud/docs/tinymce/5/introduction-to-tiny-spellchecker/index.md"
version: "5"
last_updated: "2024-04-16T01:50:26Z"
tokens: 3135
---
Important This page documents TinyMCE 5. For new projects, Tiny recommends using the latest, most up-to-date version. [See TinyMCE 8 documentation](../../latest/introduction-to-tiny-spellchecker/).
# Spell Checker Pro plugin

> **Note:** This plugin is only available for [paid TinyMCE subscriptions](/pricing).
**Spell Checker Pro** adds spell checking as-you-type capabilities to TinyMCE. For information on the supported languages, refer to [this](#spellchecker_language) section.

**Example**

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea#spellcheckerpro',
  plugins: 'code tinymcespellchecker link',
  toolbar: 'spellchecker language spellcheckdialog',
  height: 500,
  spellchecker_language: 'en',
  content_langs: [
    { title: 'English (US)', code: 'en_US' },
    { title: 'English (US Medical)', code: 'en_US', customCode: 'en_US-medical' },
    { title: 'English (UK)', code: 'en_UK' },
    { title: 'English (UK Medical)', code: 'en_UK', customCode: 'en_UK-medical' },
    { title: 'Spanish', code: 'es' },
    { title: 'French', code: 'fr' },
    { title: 'German', code: 'de' },
    { title: 'Portuguese', code: 'pt' },
    { title: 'Chinese', code: 'zh' }
  ],
  content_style: 'body { font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px }'
});
```

## Cloud Installation

To enable the TinyMCE Enterprise Spellchecking plugin with [Tiny Cloud](../editor-and-features/):

1. If configured, disable the `spellchecker` plugin provided with TinyMCE, by removing it from the `plugins` list.
2. Add `tinymcespellchecker` to the `plugins` list.

With Tiny Cloud the server-side spellchecking component is automatically configured, so the `spellchecker_rpc_url` parameter does not need to be set.

### Example: TinyMCE Cloud Installation

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  spellchecker_language: 'en'
});
```

## Self-hosted Installation

To enable the TinyMCE Enterprise Spellchecking plugin:

1. If configured, disable the `spellchecker` plugin provided with TinyMCE, by removing it from the `plugins` list.
2. Add `tinymcespellchecker` to the `plugins` list.

For information on installing the server-side component for spell checking, please see the [server-side component installation guide](../introduction-to-premium-selfhosted-services/).

### Example: TinyMCE Self-hosted Installation

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  spellchecker_rpc_url: 'localhost/ephox-spelling',
  spellchecker_language: 'en'
});
```

## Usage

The TinyMCE Enterprise Spellchecking plugin activates automatically when users type content into the editor. To select a spelling suggestion for a misspelled word, right-click the misspelled word to open the contextual menu.

## Configuration Options

### `spellchecker_active`

This option enables or disables the spell checker when the editor is loaded. When set to `false`, the spellchecker will not be active when the editor is initialized. The toolbar button or the menu item will have to be selected by the user to start the spell checker.

**Type:** `Boolean`

**Default Value:** `true`

**Possible Values:** `true`, `false`

#### Example: Using `spellchecker_active`

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  spellchecker_active: true
});
```

### `spellchecker_dialog`

This option specifies the primary spell checking mode.

- When set to `true`, the [`spellcheck` toolbar button](#toolbarbuttons) will open a dialog that will step the user through each potential spelling error in the document.
- When set to `false`, the [`spellcheck` toolbar button](#toolbarbuttons) will enable or disable as-you-type spell checking and the [`spellcheckdialog` toolbar button](#toolbarbuttons) will open the spell checker dialog.

**Type:** `Boolean`

**Default Value:** `false`

**Possible Values:** `true`, `false`

#### Example: Using `spellchecker_dialog`

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  toolbar: 'spellchecker',
  spellchecker_dialog: true
});
```

### `spellchecker_language`

This option specifies the default language used by Spell Checker Pro.

**Type:** `String`

**Default Value:** `'en_US'`

#### Example: Using `spellchecker_language`

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  spellchecker_language: 'de'
});
```

#### Supported languages

The following languages are supported for the Spell Checker Pro plugin. All of the listed languages are supported for customers using TinyMCE version 5.9 or higher on Tiny Cloud.

| Language | Code | Pre-packaged with<br> TinyMCE 5.0+ | Supported Hunspell dictionaries<br> (TinyMCE 5.9 or newer) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Afrikaans (South Africa) | af_ZA | ✖ | ✔ |
| English (Australia) | en_AU | ✖ | ✔ |
| English (Canada) | en_CA | ✖ | ✔ |
| English (United Kingdom) | en_GB, en_UK, en_BR | ✔ | ✔ |
| English (United States) | en, en_US | ✔ | ✔ |
| Medical English (US) | en_US-medical | ✔ | ✔ |
| Medical English (UK) | en_GB-medical | ✔ | ✖ |
| Danish | da | ✔ | ✔ |
| Dutch | nl | ✔ | ✔ |
| Finnish | fi | ✔ | ✖ |
| French | fr | ✔ | ✔ |
| German | de | ✔ | ✔ |
| Hungarian | hu | ✖ | ✔ |
| Italian | it | ✔ | ✔ |
| Maori (New Zealand) | mi_NZ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Norwegian Bokmål | nb | ✔ | ✔ |
| Norwegian Nynorsk | nn | ✖ | ✔ |
| Polish | pl | ✖ | ✔ |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | pt | ✔ | ✔ |
| Portuguese (Portugal) | pt_PT | ✔ | ✔ |
| Spanish | es | ✔ | ✔ |
| Swedish | sv | ✔ | ✔ |
| Swedish (Finland) | sv_FI | ✖ | ✔ |

### `spellchecker_languages`

This option specifies the spellchecker languages that are available to the user, provided as a comma delimited string. For a list of available languages, see: [Supported languages](#supportedlanguages).

**Type:** comma-separated `String`

**Default Value:**

```
'English (United States)=en_US,English (United Kingdom)=en_GB,Danish=da,Dutch=nl,Finnish=fi,French=fr,German=de,Italian=it,Norwegian=nb,Portuguese=pt,Portuguese (Portugal)=pt_PT,Spanish=es,Swedish=sv'
```

#### Example: Using `spellchecker_languages`

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  spellchecker_languages: 'US English=en_US,UK English=en_GB,Danish=da,Dutch=nl,Finnish=fi,French=fr,German=de,Italian=it,Norwegian=nb,Brazilian Portuguese=pt,Iberian Portuguese=pt_PT,Spanish=es,Swedish=sv'
});
```

### `spellchecker_on_load`

> **Note:** Removed in Spell Checker Pro 2.0 (TinyMCE 5.2). Spell Checker Pro will now always run on editor initialization. To disable Spell Checker Pro on load, use [`spellchecker_active`](#spellchecker_active).
This option runs the spellchecker when the contents of the editor is loaded.

**Type:** `Boolean`

**Default Value:** `false`

**Possible Values:** `true`, `false`

#### Example: Using `spellchecker_on_load`

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  spellchecker_on_load: true
});
```

### `spellchecker_rpc_url`

This option specifies the URL of the server-side `ephox-spelling` service. For instructions on how to set up a Spell Checker Pro server-side component, see: the [server-side component installation guide](../introduction-to-premium-selfhosted-services/).

> **Note:** `spellchecker_rpc_url` is **not** required when enabling this plugin via [Tiny Cloud](../editor-and-features/)
**Type:** `String`

#### Example: Using `spellchecker_rpc_url`

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  spellchecker_rpc_url: 'localhost/ephox-spelling'
});
```

### `content_langs`

> **Note:** This feature is only available for TinyMCE 5.9 and later.
> The `content_langs` option replaces the `spellchecker_select_languages` option. The value of the `spellchecker_select_languages` option, or its default, are used as a fallback for `content_langs`.
This option sets the languages displayed in the `language` toolbar button and the `language` menu item. The option accepts an array of language specs. Each language spec is a JavaScript object defined using the following properties.

| Name | Type | Requirement | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `title` | String | required | The name shown for this language in the UI. |
| `code` | String | required | The language tag, as defined in [Tags for Identifying Languages (BCP47)](https://www.ietf.org/rfc/bcp/bcp47.txt), for this language. This language tag is placed in the `lang` attribute for elements formatted using this language. |
| `customCode` | String | optional | An alternative language tag, that does not need to be compatible with BCP47. This string is placed in the `data-mce-lang` attribute for elements formatted using this language, if it is defined. |

**Type:** `Array`

#### Example: Using `content_langs` to change spelling dictionaries

The Spell Checker Pro plugin will use the `code` property to determine which dictionary to use on the content, unless the `customCode` property is available. The language tag specified by `customCode` overrides the spelling dictionary, to allow for non-standard languages such as the medical dictionaries provided with Spell Checker Pro. For all languages, ensure that:

- The `code` property is valid language tag, according to [Tags for Identifying Languages (BCP47)](https://www.ietf.org/rfc/bcp/bcp47.txt)
- Either the `code` property is one of the [Supported Languages](#supportedlanguages) or the `customCode` override property is defined.
- The `customCode` property is one of the [Supported Languages](#supportedlanguages) if it is defined.

For example:

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea', // change this according to your HTML
  toolbar: 'language',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  content_langs: [
    { title: 'English (US)', code: 'en_US' },
    { title: 'English (US Medical)', code: 'en_US', customCode: 'en_US-medical' },
    { title: 'English (UK)', code: 'en_UK' },
    { title: 'English (UK Medical)', code: 'en_UK', customCode: 'en_UK-medical' },
    { title: 'Spanish', code: 'es' },
    { title: 'French', code: 'fr' },
    { title: 'German', code: 'de' },
    { title: 'Portuguese', code: 'pt' },
    { title: 'Chinese', code: 'zh' }
  ]
});
```

### `spellchecker_select_languages`

> **Important:** This option will be removed in TinyMCE 6.0.

> **Note:** The `spellchecker_select_languages` option was deprecated with the release of TinyMCE 5.9. The `content_langs` option should be used instead. This change was made to allow more control over the way languages are specified, and to reflect that the option can be used outside of spell checking.
This option specifies the languages that can be set for content when working with multi-language content. The specified languages will be available from the [`language` toolbar drop-down menu button](#toolbarbuttons).  For a list of available languages, see: [Supported languages](#supportedlanguages).

**Type:** comma-separated `String`

**Default Value:** `'en,es,fr,de,pt,zh'`

#### Example: Using `spellchecker_select_languages`

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  toolbar: 'language',
  spellchecker_select_languages: 'en,es,fi,fr,da,de,nl,it,nb,pt,sv,zh'
});
```

### `spellchecker_ignore_list`

This option specifies which words should be ignored by the spell checker. If an array of words is provided, the specified words will be ignored for all languages. If an object containing an array of words per language is provided, the specified words will be ignored for the specified languages.

> **Note:** Languages specified as keys in the `spellchecker_ignore_list` object must match the configured [Spellchecker Languages](#spellchecker_languages).
**Type:** `String[]` or `Object`

#### Example: Using `spellchecker_ignore_list` to ignore words in all languages

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  spellchecker_ignore_list: ['tinymce', 'TinyMCE']
});
```

#### Example: Using `spellchecker_ignore_list` for specific languages

> **Note:** This feature is only available for TinyMCE 5.7 and later.

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',
  plugins: 'tinymcespellchecker',
  spellchecker_ignore_list: {
    en_US: ['tinymce', 'TinyMCE'],
    es: ['tinymce']
  }
});
```