Summary
Claude Desktop offers no in-app setting to choose the spellchecker language. The Chromium spellchecker is stuck on en-US, so every word typed in another language is flagged as a misspelling. A French or bilingual user sees their entire text underlined, with no way to fix it from the application.
Type
Feature request (Claude Desktop, Windows / Electron).
Environment
- Claude Desktop (Windows), Electron/Chromium
- UI/session language set to French (
fr-FR)
Details
- The spellchecker is Chromium's, controlled by the
spellcheck.dictionaries key in %APPDATA%\Claude\Preferences, defaulting to ["en-US"].
- The app declares
"locale": "fr-FR" in its own config.json, but the spellchecker ignores it.
- Changing the Windows display language or environment variables has no effect; the internal Chromium spellchecker does not consult them.
- The only workaround is editing the
Preferences file manually. The app rewrites this file on a clean exit, so the edit only sticks if the app is force-quit before relaunch.
Comparison
Obsidian, also Electron-based, exposes the spellchecker language in its settings. Same underlying engine; only the access to the option differs.
Request
Expose a spellchecker language selector in Claude Desktop settings, ideally multi-language (e.g. French and English simultaneously for bilingual users), and preferably defaulting to the app's locale.
Accessibility impact
Permanent, incorrect underlining is a real cognitive load, especially for users sensitive to visual and structural consistency. The gap directly degrades comfort of use in any non-English language.
Summary
Claude Desktop offers no in-app setting to choose the spellchecker language. The Chromium spellchecker is stuck on
en-US, so every word typed in another language is flagged as a misspelling. A French or bilingual user sees their entire text underlined, with no way to fix it from the application.Type
Feature request (Claude Desktop, Windows / Electron).
Environment
fr-FR)Details
spellcheck.dictionarieskey in%APPDATA%\Claude\Preferences, defaulting to["en-US"]."locale": "fr-FR"in its ownconfig.json, but the spellchecker ignores it.Preferencesfile manually. The app rewrites this file on a clean exit, so the edit only sticks if the app is force-quit before relaunch.Comparison
Obsidian, also Electron-based, exposes the spellchecker language in its settings. Same underlying engine; only the access to the option differs.
Request
Expose a spellchecker language selector in Claude Desktop settings, ideally multi-language (e.g. French and English simultaneously for bilingual users), and preferably defaulting to the app's
locale.Accessibility impact
Permanent, incorrect underlining is a real cognitive load, especially for users sensitive to visual and structural consistency. The gap directly degrades comfort of use in any non-English language.