From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Mon, 2/16/2026 11:56 AM, J. P. Gilliver wrote:   
   > On 2026/2/16 16:43:51, Frank Slootweg wrote:   
   >> J. P. Gilliver  wrote:   
   > []   
   >   
   >>> I couldn't find (using Everything) any .dic, .exc, .dub, or .lex file   
   >>> with a Date Modified of this year.   
   >>   
   >>   Don't look for a Date Modified, but just look at   
   >>   
   >> [Rewind/repeat:]   
   >>>>> C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Spelling\neutral\default.dic   
   >>>>> C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Spelling\en-US\default.exc   
   >>   
   >> and in your case (like in mine) probably (also) en-GB   
   >   
   > As I said, I used Everything, and couldn't find _any_ - anywhere - .dic   
   > or .exc - files with a recent-enough date.   
   >>   
   >>   On my (Windows 11) system most of the files are rather olda (2023),   
   >> but the .exc files are recent (14th and 16th of this month), probably   
   >> due to my use occasional use of Notepad. (I don't use any spelling   
   >> functions, but probably Notepad does by default.)   
   >   
   > Just checked again - no .exc file dated later than 2025.   
   >   
   > Maybe Windows 11 Notepad does use something, but W10 doesn't. Certainly,   
   > when I tried typing some random character lumps into a text file, I   
   > didn't get the wiggly red underline (which surprised me, as I'd thought   
   > I would).   
   >>   
   >>   BTW, I just did a Google search on 'where are windows spelling   
   >> dictionaries' and both Google's 'AI Overview' and the results gave quite   
   >> useful information.   
   >>   
   >>   Anyway, as mentioned, there isn't just one single dictionary, which is   
   >> used by all programs.   
   >   
   > No, that was my error; since they worked so similarly (between e. g.   
   > Thunderbird and Edge), I had thought they were using a common function   
   > (I'm still fairly new to 10, so haven't learnt that much about it); I've   
   > learnt (in this thread) that they don't.   
   >>   
   >>   As you've found, multi-platform programs like Thunderbird have to   
   >> implement their own spelling/dictionaries system, because there isn't a   
   >> multi-platform one which they can use.   
   >>   
   >> [...]   
   >   
   > I suppose I'd thought they were using a common one where it was   
   > available. Either they aren't, or W10 doesn't provide one.   
   >   
      
   I expect there is some relationship between files being put   
   in place, and the switch setting in the Notepad preferences.   
   Notepad has a spell check slider. Maybe the correct files   
   are pulled in, when the function is turned on or something.   
      
   And Win10 and Win11 may not be using the same kind of   
   executable, maybe a win32 in one case, a Metro.App in the   
   other case or a UWP (Universal Windows Program). I think   
   while running Windows 11, I could reach into the C: drive for   
   Windows 10 and run the program on that partition as my Notepad.   
      
   When you see the red wiggly lines, the medicine is working...   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)