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Set default language dictionary
Last updated on
Jun 2, 2026
Learn how to use the Character panel in Adobe InDesign to assign a dictionary for spell-checking and hyphenation.
InDesign uses Hunspell dictionaries for spelling and hyphenation and lets you assign languages to text or add custom words. You can set a default dictionary for one document or for all new documents. Changing the default in an existing document affects only new text, not text that has already been entered.
Before you begin
To set the default dictionary for the current document, open the document. To set the default dictionary for all new documents, start InDesign without opening a document.
Select the desired dictionary from the Language drop-down menu. To assign a language to specific text instead of setting a document-wide default, select the text with the Type tool, then select a Language.
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