Change dictionary preferences

Last updated on Jun 2, 2026

Learn how to specify language dictionaries and hyphenation settings for spelling and text composition in Adobe InDesign.

Dictionary preferences control spelling and hyphenation across languages in InDesign and apply to all text unless overridden. InDesign uses Hunspell dictionaries by default, with support for third-party options if installed.

Select Edit > Preferences > Dictionary (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Dictionary (macOS).

Select the language whose settings you want to modify from the Language drop-down menu.

Create, add, or remove user dictionaries.

Select the non-Adobe components you have installed from the Hyphenation and Spelling drop-down menus.

Select an option from the Compose Using drop-down menu in the Hyphenation Exceptions section:

User Dictionary: Uses exceptions from your external user dictionary.
Document: Uses exceptions stored within the InDesign document.

Select Merge User Dictionary into Document to add the exceptions list stored in the external user dictionary to the exceptions list stored within the document, or deselect it to keep custom dictionaries separate when working with multiple clients or partners.

Select Recompose All Stories When Modified to have InDesign automatically recompose all text when dictionary settings change.

Select OK.

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