VSCode Spell Checker Extension

Jack Cornblum
3 min readJun 22, 2021

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If you have written code at any point, you probably know that some of the most common errors that occur are caused by improper spelling and typos. I know that I’ve messed up certain code plenty of times because I misspelled a method, or a variable when trying to reference it. Some of the hardest bugs to solve can result from just a small typo somewhere in your code. With the VSCode extension Code Spell Checker, the frequency of those typos is definitely less often.

Essentially, the extension does exactly what it sounds like it does: checks the spelling of variables, methods, and any other words in the dictionary files to see if they are spelled correctly. If something is being spelled incorrectly, the extension will underline that code with a squiggly line.

forEach method spelled incorrectly

In the example above, the spelling of the forEach array method is spelled with an extra “a”, which the spell checker extension recognizes as incorrect spelling and then underlines it with a squiggly line.

The extension also updates as you type, so if at first it does not recognize what you are typing, by the time you finish typing it should correct itself (Unless you did end up misspelling something).

To download, all you need to do is open up your VSCode application, make your way to the extensions, and search for “Code Spell Checker.”

After searching for “Code Spell Checker,” there are a few options for which extension you want, although they mostly achieve the same goal. After clicking on the extension you want, it should redirect you to the page for that extension. On the extensions page is a green button that says “Install”, to do so, click the button and wait for the extension to finish installing. After it has finished installing, you are all set to start coding and easily identify typos.

The list of supported languages includes:

  • AsciiDoc
  • C, C++
  • C#
  • css, less, scss
  • Elixir
  • Go
  • Html
  • Java
  • JavaScript
  • JSON / JSONC
  • LaTex
  • Markdown
  • PHP
  • PowerShell
  • Pug / Jade
  • Python
  • reStructuredText
  • Rust
  • Scala
  • Text
  • TypeScript
  • YAML

If you believe that the extension made a mistake, and that your spelling is how it should be, then you can just have the extension ignore it by adding it to the dictionary.

This easy to use extension is a must have if you are someone who finds themselves frequently making typos while coding.

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