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Erin Wright Writing
Writing-Related Software Tutorials
How to Use the Editor in Word for Microsoft 365 (Updated)
By Erin Wright
This tutorial shows how to use the Editor in Word for Microsoft 365. The Editor is an update to the spelling and grammar check available in older versions of Word.
If you are using an older version of Word that doesn’t have an Editor button, please see my other tutorial “ How to Use the Spelling and Grammar Check in Microsoft Word .”
This tutorial covers five topics:
How to Select Grammar Issues and Refinements
How to run the editor, how to review the suggested edits, how to finish the edit, how to run a fresh edit.
Attention Mac Users: The Editor is available in Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac. The basic steps are similar to those shown here. However, the process of selecting grammar issues and refinements is different, so we will cover the Editor in Word for Mac in a separate tutorial.
This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.
Watch more than 200 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel .
Are you looking for information about editing in Word with Track Changes instead of using the Editor? If so, visit “ How to Use Track Changes in Microsoft Word ” for a step-by-step tutorial covering ten editing tasks.
The Editor can check for over 150 grammar issues and refinements beyond spelling, including the following:
- hyphenation
- passive voice
- Oxford comma
All the grammar and refinement options are available in the Word Options dialog box. You should select from these options before running the Editor.
- Select the File tab in the ribbon.
- Select the Options tab in the Backstage view.
- Select the Proofing tab in the Word Options dialog box.
- Review the spelling and grammar options that affect how the Editor interacts with your document:
A. Ensure that Check spelling as you type and Mark grammar errors as you type are selected if you want issues to be marked in the text as you type.
B. Ensure that Check grammar and refinements in the Editor Pane is selected to include grammar and refinements.
C. (Optional) Ensure that Show readability statistics is selected to show your readability statistics after running the Editor.
D. Ensure that Hide spelling errors in this document only and Hide grammar errors in this document only are not selected.
- Select Grammar & Refinements or Grammar in the Writing Style menu. (Most users will want to choose Grammar & Refinements because it offers more options.)
- Select the Settings button.
- Select or deselect options from the Grammar Settings dialog box.
Defining each grammar option is beyond the scope of this tutorial. However, the Microsoft Office Support website provides a detailed explanation for many of the options sorted by language.
- Select the OK button to close the Grammar Settings dialog box.
- Select the OK button to close the Word Options dialog box.
Now that you have decided how you want Word to proof your document, you can run the Editor.
- Select the Home tab in the ribbon.
- Select the Editor button. (The Editor button is also available in the Proofing group on the left end of the Review tab.)
The Editor Pane will appear on the right side of your screen.
- Review your Editor Score. This score will change based on choices you make within the Editor Pane. Therefore, you may choose to disregard this number while working with the Editor.
- (Optional) Select a level of formality from the drop-down menu.
- Formal —The Editor will apply all the grammar and refinement rules, resulting in the most recommendations.
- Professional —The Editor will apply most of the grammar and refinement rules, resulting in fewer recommendations than the Formal option.
- Casual —The Editor will apply the fewest number of grammar and refinement rules, resulting in the fewest recommendations.
Your Editor Score will change based on your choice of formality.
- Select the Editor Score (see figure 12) to review each of the recommendations starting from the current placement of your cursor. Or, skip to step 4 to review by category.
- Select the Corrections or Refinements category you want to review. The available categories will depend on your selections in the Grammar Settings dialog box (see figure 7).
Categories with a checkmark don’t have any suggestions.
- Choose a suggestion to change the individual spelling error.
Or, open the drop-down menu for the suggestion and select Change All to change every instance of the spelling error.
You can also choose (a) Ignore Once to ignore that spelling one time, (b) Ignore All to ignore that spelling every time it appears in the document, or (c) Add to Dictionary to add the word with its current spelling to your custom dictionary .
If the Editor is unable to provide any spelling suggestions, it will still let you add the word to your custom dictionary, ignore the word once, or ignore all instances of the word.
After you select or ignore a suggestion, the Editor will automatically move to the next issue in that category or return you to the main view to chose a new category.
Grammar and Refinement Issues
- Review each grammar or refinement issue. In some cases, the Editor will suggest a way to rewrite the text.
Or, select (a) Ignore Once to ignore that instance of the issue or (b) Don’t check for this issue to stop checking for that type of issue in the rest of the document.
Open the drop-down menu above the text box if you want additional information about the issue.
Pro Tip: The navigation arrows on the right side of the pane let you move forward and backward to issues you have not yet addressed. The arrow on the left side will return you to the Editor’s main view.
The Editor Pane also provides options to search the web for similar text and give feedback to Microsoft about the Editor.
If you included readability statistics in your proofing options in the Word Options dialog box (see figure 4), the Readability Statistics dialog box will appear after you have accepted or ignored all the Editor’s suggestions.
- Select the OK button to close the Readability Statistics dialog box.
- Select the OK button in the dialog box stating that you have finished reviewing the Editor’s suggestions.
If you have updated your text since running the Editor, you may want to run a fresh check.
- Select the File tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
- Select the Options tab in the Backstage view (see figure 2).
- Select the Proofing tab in the Word Options dialog box (see figure 3).
- Select the Recheck Document button.
- Select the Yes button in the dialog box stating that the new spelling and grammar check (Editor) will recheck issues that you ignored during the last check.
- Select the OK button to close the Word Options dialog box (see figure 9).
Follow the steps in the How to Run the Editor section above to recheck your document.
Important Note: Microsoft plans to continually add new features to Word for Microsoft 365. Therefore, your version of Word may have different features than those shown here.
Related Resources
How to Change the Proofing Language in Microsoft Word
How to Use the Clipboard in Microsoft Word
How to Edit Your Custom Dictionary in Microsoft Word
How to Create an Exclusion Dictionary in Microsoft Word
Updated April 29, 2023
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Write great papers
Write great papers with microsoft word.
You may already use Microsoft Word to write papers, but you can also use for many other tasks, such as collecting research, co-writing with other students, recording notes on-the-fly, and even building a better bibliography!
Explore new ways to use Microsoft Word below.
Getting started
Let’s get started by opening Microsoft Word and choosing a template to create a new document. You can either:
Select Blank document to create a document from scratch.
Select a structured template.
Select Take a tour for Word tips.
Next, let’s look at creating and formatting copy. You can do so by clicking onto the page and beginning to type your content. The status bar at the bottom of the document shows your current page number and how many words you've typed, in case you’re trying to stay maintain a specific word count.
To format text and change how it looks, select the text and select an option on the Home tab: Bold, Italic, Bullets, Numbering , etc.
To add pictures, shapes, or other media, simply navigate to the Insert tab, then select any of the options to add media to your document.
Word automatically saves your content as you work, so you don’t have to stress about losing your progress if you forget to press Save .
Here are some of the advanced tools you can try out while using Microsoft Word.
Type with your voice
Have you ever wanted to speak, not write, your ideas? Believe it or not, there’s a button for that! All you have to do is navigate to the Home tab, select the Dictate button, and start talking to “type” with your voice. You’ll know Dictate is listening when the red recording icon appears.
Tips for using Dictate
Speak clearly and conversationally.
Add punctuation by pausing or saying the name of the punctuation mark.
If you make a mistake, all you have to do is go back and re-type your text.
Finding and citing sources
Get a head start on collecting sources and ideas for a big paper by searching key words in Researcher in the References tab of your document.
Researcher uses Bing to search the web and deliver high-quality research sources to the side of your page. Search for people, places, or ideas and then sort by journal articles and websites. Add a source to your page by selecting the plus sign.
As you write, Researcher saves a record of your searches. Just select My Research to see the complete list.
Keep track of all your sources by using Word's built-in bibliography maker. Simply navigate to the References tab.
First, choose the style you want your citations to be in. In this example, we’ve selected APA style.
Select Insert Citation and Add New Source .
In the next window, choose what kind of work you’re citing—an article, book, etc.—and fill in the required details. Then select OK to cite your source.
Keep writing. At the ends of sentences that need sources, select Insert Citation to keep adding new sources, or pick one you already entered from the list.
As you write, Word will keep track of all the citations you’ve entered. When you’re finished, select Bibliography and choose a format style. Your bibliography will appear at the end of your paper, just like that.
Make things look nice
Make your report or project look extra professional in the Design tab! Browse different themes, colors, fonts, and borders to create work you're proud of!
Illustrate a concept with a chart or a model by navigating to the Insert tab and choosing SmartArt . In this example, we chose Cycle and filled in text from the writing process to make a simple graphic. Choose other graphic types to represent hierarchies, flow charts, and more.
To insert a 3D model, select Insert > 3D Models to choose from a library of illustrated dioramas from different course subjects and 3D shapes.
Invite someone to write with you
If you’re working on a group project, you can work on a document at the same time without emailing the file back and forth. Select Share at the top of your page and create a link you can send to other students.
Now, everybody can open the same file and work together.
Keep learning
Check out more Microsoft Word training and support
Microsoft paper and report templates
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If you have updated your text since running the Editor, you may want to run a fresh check. Select the File tab in the ribbon (see figure 1). Select the Options tab in the Backstage view (see figure 2). Select the Proofing tab in the Word Options dialog box (see figure 3). Select the Recheck Document button.
Write great papers with Microsoft Word. You may already use Microsoft Word to write papers, but you can also use for many other tasks, such as collecting research, co-writing with other students, recording notes on-the-fly, and even building a better bibliography! Explore new ways to use Microsoft Word below.