A spell checking method presents a selectable list of similarly spelled words, when a misspelled word is selected by the user who wishes to find the correct spelling. One feature determines the “content” or “topic” of a document. Based on the content, the spell checker presents likely replacement words for a misspelled word. In another feature, for each letter in the word, the spell checker checks for “nearby” letters on keyboard keys to improve the spell checker's list of replacement words. The system also monitors a user's history of use with respect to nearby or key (i.e. lefter) substitutions and considers this information when presenting lists of alternative words. Another feature corrects spelling by monitoring a user's history of spell check corrections. Aggregate tables of corrections for more than one user may be maintained, shared, and provided by spell checkers. Various priorities may be used so that one approach is given favor over another. The priorities may be determined by manual input of a user or automatically provided by the system software. Another feature provides an auxiliary window that shows a user's most-frequently or most-recently misspelled words. The user can use a clipboard facility to copy and paste words of interest from the auxiliary window to a current document.