Introducing Microsoft Editor – Bring out your best writer wherever you write
Published Mar 30 2020 08:30 AM 258K Views
Microsoft

h5>This blog post is co-authored by Lauren Nicholson and Megan Dohnal.

 

 

Bring out your best writer anywhere you write with Microsoft Editor, your intelligent writing assistant. Many of us are working or attending school remotely, and with so much communication happening through writing it is more important than ever that we communicate clearly. Microsoft Editor, an AI-powered service that enables you to write with confidence in 20+ languages, can help. Write polished prose, craft impressive emails, and post on your favorite sites like LinkedIn, Gmail, Facebook, and more.

 

Anyone can access the essential Editor capabilities, such as spelling and basic grammar across Word, Outlook.com, and the web for free with a Microsoft sign-in. However, Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers have access to advanced grammar and style refinements. Clarity, conciseness, formal language, vocabulary suggestions, and much more are included with your subscription.

 

Optimized for where you write most, Editor will be available in three main places: documents (Word for the web and desktop), email (Outlook.com and Outlook for the web), and across the web (through our new browser extension). While Editor will be available to help everyone with the basics for free, for Microsoft 365 users there are some additional powerful features that vary by endpoint.

 

Editor in Word

Formerly known as Ideas in Word, Editor in Word now pushes beyond the basics with AI and offers a myriad of ways to help you not only quickly catch mistakes, but to communicate clearly in more than 20 languages. And, because every language and market are unique, suggestions for each language are developed in partnership with native speakers and local linguists.

 

In addition to the 20+ languages in which Editor can provide suggestions, the Editor pane in Word is now available in French, Spanish, English and German. It can check your document for spelling, grammar and style refinements, all while making sure you’re in control. When you want additional assistance, simply open the Editor pane by clicking on the pen icon in the ribbon. Editor can analyze your writing and give you statistics on readability, distinct words, and time to read the document. Some new Editor features unique to Word are:

 

Similarity Checker

The web provides every writer with a huge amount of reference material, and it can be challenging and time-consuming to properly do citations. Similarity checker helps by identifying potentially unoriginal content and making it easy to insert relevant citations. This feature will be available in the coming months in Word for the web.

 

Rewrite suggestions

Last year we announced rewrite suggestions for short phrases, and today we are announcing that we have expanded its capabilities to full sentence rewrites. Rewrite suggestions make it even easier to optimize your writing for fluency, conciseness, or readability. To get started, just highlight a sentence, right-click on it, and then select "Rewrite Suggestions" from the context menu. Available in Word for the web in English only.

 

Editor in Outlook

Today we are also announcing that Editor’s capabilities have been expanded to Outlook.com and Outlook on the web. With Editor, you can save time and press “send” confidently knowing your message is clear and concise. We are offering Editor’s spelling and grammar capabilities for free to Outlook.com users, while more advanced style-oriented capabilities will be extended exclusively to Microsoft 365 subscribers1.  

 

Editor in the browser extension

With the release of Microsoft Editor’s standalone browser extension, Editor now moves with you across the web so you can easily write clear, accurate content anywhere you want. Whether you are posting casually on Facebook or LinkedIn or writing in depth for a site like Medium, you can create with confidence knowing Editor will flag misspelled words and grammatical errors. As with the other places Editor is available, your Microsoft 365 subscription will give you access to advanced recommendations on style, clarity, inclusive language, and much more in 20+ languages. The Microsoft Editor browser extension will release in both the Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge web stores in the next few weeks. When available, install and get started!

 

Conclusion

With the power of AI, we are bringing the Microsoft Editor experience to all the places you write, meeting you where you are, and helping you to easily bring out your best writer. No matter what language you are writing in, we have you covered. It is all part of our broader vision for Microsoft 365, a productivity experience that puts AI to work for you. Over time, Microsoft Editor will evolve, becoming more helpful and accurate as we incorporate feedback from our customers to make improvements.

 

Microsoft Editor will begin rolling out today, with general availability by the end of April. 

 

1 Office 365 will become Microsoft 365 beginning April 21.

115 Comments
Brass Contributor

The editor just started working one day recently - I have Microsoft 365 Family - and just stopped working recently.  No sign of it.   Do I have to install the extension or will it return without me adding more software to my PC?

Copper Contributor

I have subscription - both private and company, and I cannot see the Editor option on either account, or Word and Outlook. Only web extension works. I have the latest update of all apps. Any clue what I could do to get Editor?

Brass Contributor

@Pati_Pociecha - Mine suddenly appeared this morning on Word.

 

I think like a lot of these things, it does not (it cannot) update everyone at once. Hopefully you will see it in the next couple of days.

Silver Contributor

@Pati_Pociecha@CC Hogan is correct in that new feature are rolled out over time and not necessarily to everyone at once including not everyone at once in tenants sometimes.

Brass Contributor

I understand that product is rolled out incrementally - or not done all at once in any case.  My question was: without adding the extension, I had the Editor start working for about 7-10 days.  Then it just disappeared.

 

Now I have installed the Extension to Edge Chrome and the Editor is back.   I have a Microsoft 365 subscription so I have full functionality - as before.

 

I am more interested in knowing whether the functionality would have come back, at some point, without installing the Editor extension. 

 

As much as possible, I'd prefer not to have to add extensions.   :)

Copper Contributor

It mentioned that Editor will be available for personal & Home subscription, but will it be available for Pro Plus as well? I am holding 2 licences of office, one personal for myself and one Pro Plus I got from school. The active one is always the Pro Plus on my (personal) computer, and it does not have Editor yet

Copper Contributor

Can someone help setup MS Editor in Outlook Desktop app.

Copper Contributor

Is there a way to configure individual settings for enterprise deployment?

Copper Contributor

Will the UWP Mail app on Windows 10 get the feature?

Copper Contributor

Are there any plans to support VS code? I write markdown and LaTeX most in VS code. It's pretty common for researchers and programmers. Considering it's also a MS product, it's not a bad idea to make a VS code plugin.

Copper Contributor

just my 2c, maybe you should consider renaming this product. I tried to search for things like "Microsoft Editor API", or "Microsoft Editor Firefox", and come up with a whole lot of unrelated products from ... Microsoft. It's totally buried under mass background noise.

Iron Contributor

I made a quick review about Microsoft Editor, may be useful for you folks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EISAGVhUVRQ

Copper Contributor

would this be available offline when I'm not connected to the internet, like in WORD and OUTLOOK offline apps?

Copper Contributor

I have a personal microsoft 365 subscription, but I can not find editor in Word for desktop or for web yet. The chorme extension works, though. I have joined the insider program and updated my app. Still no sign of if . Any information on when it will be available for me?

Copper Contributor

Support for Outlook the application (as opposed to the webapps) would be very useful.

Copper Contributor

Hi, I am having a working office 365 personal account but this "editor" feature is not showing in my word (desktop application). How can I can this application/addin to work with my desktop application. 

Copper Contributor

great product. looking for a vs code extension to help me with markdown files.

Copper Contributor

I'm an Office 365 subscriber and can see it on my Windows 10 installation but not on my Mac OS installations...  should it be available already or will it be in a later release?

Copper Contributor

firefox support please as well

Copper Contributor

Is it not available for Word in Mac yet? Can't see the option in the Home tab. 

P.S.- I have a paid subscription to office 365.

Copper Contributor

@Sammmyyy, as per @Megan_Dohnal's comment on April 22nd, "For MacOS, we will follow-up on dates but it is planned shortly."

 

Hoping to hear something soon for Editor support on macOS!

Copper Contributor

A very interesting extension but I'd like to be able to add multiple custom words at a time or be able to have it link to my custom Word dictionary. 

Copper Contributor

@Megan_Dohnal I know the extra features are intended to sell more individual licenses, but I was wondering, are any of the new features that came out in April going to be made available to educators and students using the Office365 and Microsoft 365 Education plans through their institutions?

Copper Contributor

@Megan_Dohnal, it would great if this was available everywhere, but for now it seems like it will only available in Microsoft Word 365, Outlook on the web, outlook.com, and sites in Edge and Chrome via a browser extension.

Are there plans to expand this to the rest of the Office 365 applications, Office 2019 (or Office vNext), other browsers, and/or third party application developers?

We have a small Microsoft Access application we use internally, and our main application written mostly in .NET.  It would be awesome to have that functionality there, even if not the full advanced functionality.  It would be great help to stop the spelling and grammatical errors there. :smile:

Thank you

Brass Contributor

@Megan_Dohnal 

 

It is a core part of office 365 (Word initially) - so that would be for all licences I would think.

Copper Contributor

Ok, I guess I’m just having a hard time finding more than spelling and grammar in the applications, though I can see it in Chrome. 

Copper Contributor

F7 to bring up in Office365 Word

Copper Contributor

I have updated the MS word to latest version for Mac and yet I couldn't find editor.

Copper Contributor

When will the Editor option be available to Word for Mac, as well as for Student version of Word.

Copper Contributor

Hi,

 

There are any differences of Microsoft Editor between various Office 365 subscriptions (e.g. Family, Personal, Business etc.)? Or the only difference is between browser and word variant? 

Regards.

Copper Contributor

Is this available in GCC high? If not, any ETA?

Copper Contributor

Is there a timeline for when Editor is available on Word for Mac?

Deleted
Not applicable

The new Editor is brilliant but there are some teething issues. We previously had these options:

 

(1) "Add to dictionary".

I live in a village named Outlane and use the name a lot. But it just gets underlined in red as a typo. Why can't I 'Add to dictionary'?

 

(2) "Use  [or Switch to?] the English (UK) version".

A few examples are 'colourise'/'colorize'  -  and analise/analyze. That option doesn't appear in Word nor outlook.com

Deleted
Not applicable

PS I have Office365 Home.

Copper Contributor

I have Microsoft 365 Family, I don't see Editor in my Mac. Please help. Its there in Windows PC and web. 

Copper Contributor

Microsoft Editor seems like it supports 21 languages (based on the description found at MS Addons webpage https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/hokifickgkhplphjiodbggjmoafhignh ), however Ukrainian language is not one of those 21 languages. When will Microsoft add support for Ukrainian?

Brass Contributor

@Megan_Dohnal 

 

Hi, Megan, I have a frequent problem with semi-colons and Editor.  This is an example.

 

"Former guards stepped from their hiding places; their faces grim." 

 

Editor flags a problem:

 

"A semi-colon isn't usually used in this situation."  And it suggests a comma.

 

So I replace it with a comma, and Editor reports:

 

"Both clauses can stand alone, so a semi-colon works best."

 

Erm.....

 

It appears to be a word order problem.  So if I rewrite it:

 

"From hiding places stepped former guards, their faces grim."

 

Then it says the comma is right and the semi colon wrong and doesn't contradict itself.

 

It looks like it is having issues with different writing styles.  Any thoughts?

 

I get this in both Word desktop and Word on the web.

Copper Contributor

CC,

I think, in this case, the editor is right. In your example, "Former guards stepped from their hiding places; their faces grim." You don't have 2 complete clauses, so the use of a semi-colon is not the proper punctuation. "grim" is an adjective, leaving your second clause lacking a verb. If you made it, "their faces were grim," for example, the semi-colon would be fine. When you fix it and add in a preposition, you then have 2 incomplete clauses, and the comma works fine.

 

Just my two cents.

Brass Contributor

@Christine_Wilson 

 

Hi, Christine, 

 

The problem is not what is the correct grammar but that Editor is correcting BOTH. If you read my post again, you will see that if I use a comma it says I should use a semi-colon. But if I use a semi-colon, it says I should use a comma.

 

It can't make up its mind. :lol:

Copper Contributor

I see, so basically it doesn't know when to use a semi-colon in the case of a sentence? Gotcha.

Brass Contributor

Is there somewhere we can post any oddities Editor comes up with for the devs?

 

For instance, I have this in a sentence:

 

"She took a long breath, jumped off the wall, and...."

 

Editor underlines "off the wall" and suggests "bizarre."

 

So the AI is obviously not recognising the structure correctly and only picking up on the phrase "off the wall."

 

Since I am writing a ten-book series and generating a lot of wordage, I come across quite a few strange bits.

Deleted
Not applicable

Previously, if we made a typo (a spelling mistake), the system gave us choices such as

suggesting the correct word 

use English UK - not English USA - as in colourise/colourize

'add to dictionary'.

 

We no longer have these options. We need them - can we have them back, please?

 

(I have several other examples showing the AI has simply got it wrong  by suggesting complete nonsense. I'll post them later. Thanks.)

Brass Contributor

@Deleted 

 

Are you talking about on Word desktop, online?

 

On right click the desktop version, I am given alternatives, add to dictionary, and ignore.  Likewise in the Editor panel.

 

However, I don't think I have ever had a language option on right click. That has always been on the bottom bar of the Word window.

Copper Contributor

Hi there,

Every day I'm writing Outlook messages in French or US English depending on who I'm writing too.

Is there a way like with Gmail, to select more than one single language for grammar and spelling proofing?

That would be REALLY great!

 

Thanks

-Gabriel

Silver Contributor

Hi @Megan_Dohnal I replied to a Editor question in the community and it lead to another question I couldn't answer as I haven't found a way of doing it. Is it possible to control the settings in Editor for all users as you can with ADMX templates for example. Let's say I want to mark all check boxes for 'inclusiveness' under "Grammar and Refinements" for all users as a default setting, is that possible or is it managed by the end-user only? @Michael Martel 

Microsoft

@ChristianBergstrom  @Kenichiro Chiba  could you answer this for our customers?

Copper Contributor

I've an active Office 365 Institute subscription. But I'm not able to add Editor in Microsoft word, I really need this for my research writing Please Help me out to fix this Issue!

Copper Contributor

@Megan_Dohnal 

 

There still is no response to the question asked by raynirola on July 4th: Where is Microsoft Editor for Mac Word? All implications are that it should be available & it does appear in the Ribbon Preferences but not in the actual Ribbon. Many users in the Mac Word Community would like a straight answer but everyone from Microsoft seems to skirt the issue. Can you provide an explanation?

Brass Contributor

@Bob_Jones_Cybertaz 

 

I think it is for Microsoft 365, including the Mac Version, but it might not be on the stand alone. 

 

See this: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/check-grammar-spelling-and-more-in-word-0f43bf32-ccde-40c...

 

Copper Contributor

@CC Hogan

 

Thanks for replying but unfortunately that doesn't answer the question. Microsoft has been dancing around this issue as well as others ever since they adopted this two-faced marketing ploy... Office 365 [now Microsoft 365] is used to refer to both the Windows product as well as Mac but the parity they seem to perceive is but a figment of their own corporate imagination... Yet they refuse to make clear-cut statements regarding the components which are available for one but not the other.

 

AFAICT Editor still has not been implemented on the Mac - subscription or perpetual - but there has been absolutely nothing more offered on the matter... not even the courtesy an official reply to my direct inquiry.

 

Happy New Year!

Co-Authors
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