The Red Sea
Google Docs features a built-in, real-time spell checker. As you type, the application constantly cross-references your words against its internal dictionary. If it detects a word it does not recognize, it automatically underlines it with a jagged, bright red squiggly line. While helpful for writing standard emails, this feature is incredibly distracting if you are writing a fantasy novel filled with made-up character names, or a technical document loaded with complex medical jargon or coding syntax. A document covered in hundreds of bright red error lines makes it extremely difficult to focus on the actual content and formatting of the text.
Hiding the Distractions
To clean up your writing environment and stop Google Docs from automatically highlighting unrecognized words with red squiggly lines, you must disable the visual spell check indicator.
You can turn this off globally for the entire document with two clicks. Go to the main menu bar at the top of the Google Docs window and click on Tools. In the drop-down menu, hover your mouse over Spelling and grammar to expand the sub-menu. Look for the option labelled Show spelling suggestions. By default, there will be a checkmark next to it. Click on Show spelling suggestions to uncheck it. Instantly, every red squiggly line in your document will vanish. (Note: You can still run a manual spell check later by clicking Tools > Spelling and grammar > Spelling and grammar check).