This tutorial shows how to use the Editor in Word for Microsoft 365.
[Typewriter sounds]
Hello, my name is Erin.
Today’s tutorial shows how to use the Editor in Word for Microsoft 365.
The Editor is the name of Word’s spelling and grammar check.
Microsoft recently revamped the Editor.
So, today’s tutorial is a full update to my previous tutorial of the same name.
We’re going to cover 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
And, how to run a fresh edit
If you are using an older version of Word that doesn’t have an Editor button,
please see my other tutorial titled “How to Use the Spelling and Grammar Check in Microsoft Word.”
Also note that the Editor is available in Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac.
The basics steps are similar to those shown here.
However, the process for selecting grammar issues and refinements is different,
so we will cover the Editor in Word for Mac in a separate tutorial.
The Editor can check for over 150 grammar issues and refinements beyond spelling,
including hyphenation, passive voice, the Oxford comma, and clichés.
You can just use the default options Word has selected,
or you can customize your options before running the Editor.
To begin, select the File tab in the ribbon.
Then, select the Options tab in the Backstage view.
Next, select the Proofing tab in the Word Options dialog box.
Now, 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.
Also ensure that "Check grammar and refinements in the Editor Pane" is selected to include grammar and refinements.
You can also select "Show readability statistics" to show your readability statistics after running the Editor.
Note that this is the only way to see your readability statistics.
In addition, ensure that "Hide spelling errors in this document only"
and "Hide grammar errors in this document only" are not selected.
Before we move on, I do advise always running the Editor, even if you have spelling and grammar issues marked as you type,
because you may not always notice all the in-text edits.
Plus, the Editor seems to be more thorough than the check provided as you type.
Next, select Grammar & Refinements or Grammar in the Writing Style menu.
Most users will want to choose Grammar & Refinements because it offers more options.
Now, select the Settings button.
When the Grammar Settings dialog box appears, select or deselect the issues you want the Editor to address.
Due to time restricts we can’t discuss all of the options shown here.
However, I have linked to an article in the description box below from Microsoft Support
which provides a detailed explanation for many of these options sorted by language.
When you’re finished, select the OK button.
And then select the OK button to close the Word Options dialog box.
To run the Editor, begin by select the Home tab in the ribbon.
Then, select the Editor button.
Alternatively, you can select the Review tab,
and select the Editor button from there.
Either way, the Editor Pane will appear on the right side of your screen.
When the Editor Pane appears, you can review your Editor Score.
This score will change based on choices you make within the Editor Pane.
Therefore, you might choose to disregard this number while working with the Editor.
Next, select a level of formality from the drop-down menu.
If you choose Formal, the Editor will apply all the grammar and refinement rules that we just selected
in the Grammar Settings dialog box, resulting in the most recommendations.
If you choose Professional, the Editor will apply most of the grammar and refinement rules,
resulting in fewer recommendations than the Formal option.
And if you choose Casual, the Editor will apply the fewest number of grammar and refinement rules,
resulting in the fewest recommendations.
Note that your Editor Score will change based on your choice of formality.
I recommend using the Formal writing option for the strictest edit even on less formal writing
because you can always ignore suggestions—but you can’t ignore suggestions you never see.
Now, you can select the Editor Score to start reviewing each of the recommendations
starting from the current placement of your cursor.
Or, you can select the Corrections or Refinements category you want to review.
The available categories will depend on your selections in the Grammar Settings dialog box.
Categories with a checkmark don’t have any suggestions.
If you have a spelling error, choose a suggestion to change the individual occurrence.
Or, open the drop-down menu for the suggestion and select Change All to change every instance of that error.
You can also choose Ignore Once to ignore that spelling one time,
Ignore All to ignore that spelling every time it appears in the document,
or 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 within that category
or return you to the main view to choose a new category.
If you have a grammar or refinement issue, the Editor will try to suggest a way to rewrite the text, which you can select here.
However, in some cases it isn’t able to provide a suggested rewrite.
If you want to leave the text as it is,
you can select Ignore Once to ignore that instance of the issue
or Don’t check for this issue to stop checking for that type of issue in the rest of the document.
You can also open the drop-down menu above the text box if you want additional information about the issue.
The navigation arrows on the right side of the pane let you move forward and backward to issues you have not yet addressed.
And, 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,
the Readability Statistics dialog box will appear
after you have accepted or ignored all the Editor’s suggestions.
When you’re finished reviewing this information, select the OK button.
And then select the OK button in the dialog box stating that you have finished reviewing the Editor’s suggestions.
If you've updated your text since running the Editor, you may want to run a fresh check.
To begin, select the File tab in the ribbon.
Followed by Options in the Backstage view.
Next, select Proofing in the Word Options dialog box.
And then select the Recheck Document button.
A dialog box will appear stating that the spelling and grammar check, which is the Editor,
will recheck issues that you ignored during the last check.
Select the Yes button.
Finally select the OK button to close the Word Options dialog box.
You can now run the Editor as we did just a few moments ago.
I have created many other videos about Microsoft Word including “How to Create a Custom Dictionary in Microsoft Word.”
And, “How to Create an Exclusion Dictionary in Microsoft Word.”
Please see the complete list in the playlist titled “How to Use Microsoft Word” which is linked in the description box below.
All the steps we just performed are listed with images on erinwrightwriting.com,
along with all my other writing-related software tutorials to help you succeed at work and in the classroom.
Feel free to leave me a comment if there’s a specific topic that you would like me to talk about in the future.
And please subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss future tutorials.
And give this video a thumbs-up if you found it helpful.
Thank you so much for watching!
[Typewriter sounds]