Microsoft Word's new Editor pane helps bad writers write good

By Al Sacco
published

Microsoft plans to replace the current Spelling & Grammar pane in Word 2016 with a new Editor pane that will offer more grammar and writing suggestions, in addition to spelling tips, and help users write well … or at least better.

If you write in Microsoft Word, you can expect to eventually see a new Editor pane that will expand the grammar and writing suggestions the app provides in the current Spelling & Grammar pane, according to a blog post on Microsoft's Office blog (opens in new tab).

The new Word Editor pane will replace the current Spelling & Grammar pane, and though its functionality will be similar, the Editor pane will offer additional tips to streamline and improve your writing.

From Microsoft:

The new Editor pane gives you additional information from its advanced spelling, grammar and writing style recommendations. It also makes it easy to scan your whole document. This experience replaces the Spelling & Grammar pane and incorporates inclusive design best practices to be accessible for the visually impaired.

The new feature is currently only available for Word on Windows desktops, for users in the Office 365 Office Insider (opens in new tab) Fast ring. However, Microsoft will presumably make the feature official to all Word 2016 for Windows and Mac users in the future.

The Editor feature itself isn't new and is available now in Word 2016 for Windows and Mac. Today, the Editor feature offers spelling, grammar and writing tips via a set of colored lines (red, blue or gold) that appear on screen in documents, beneath words or phrases. Users can then right-click those underlined words to see the app's suggestion. The upcoming Editor pane provides a quicker way to scan an entire document for potential spelling, grammar and writing improvements.

You can learn more about Microsoft Word's Editor functionality on the company's Office support website (opens in new tab).

For more related stories, visit our Office 101 page, which is packed with how-tos, tutorials and help articles.

Al Sacco
Al Sacco

Al Sacco is content director of Future PLC's Mobile Technology Vertical, which includes AndroidCentral.com, iMore.com and WindowsCentral.com. He is a veteran reporter, writer, reviewer and editor who has professionally covered and evaluated IT and mobile technology, and countless associated gadgets and accessories, for more than a decade. You can keep up with Al on Twitter and Instagram.

18 Comments
  • Write well?
  • betterer
  • I think you meant more better
  • Me like to be writing gooder.
  • I like to write wellerer
  • Myself like subtle humor.
  • Lol. I think he did that on purpose. See the sub heading "Me No Write Good". I thought it was clever.
  • He obviously did it on purpose: Microsoft plans to replace the current Spelling & Grammar pane in Word 2016 with a new Editor pane that will offer more grammar and writing suggestions, in addition to spelling tips, and help users write well … or at least better.
  • If only schools would actually focus on this sort of thing rather than computers having to make up for a person's deficiencies.
  • Yep... I know my spelling has significantly deteriorated in the past 10 years. Of course it wasn't that great to begin with. You forget that US schools are too busy trying to rewrite history books to worry about silly things like grammar. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rewriting-history-texas-tackles-textbook-deb...
  • This needs to be embedded into the web browser.
     
  • Sounds interesting. I wonder about support for other languages...?
  • One day my book will be finished , one I'm fluent in English.
  • That headline be brilliant! We'll done, sir.
  • Write well? I'm surprised it doesn't say, "This is what ME and the others say." (Always putting yourself first.) "ME and ..." Oh well, "yawn" (without covering my open gaping mouth). I guess we can only expect so much from Microsoft Word.
  • I hope that "write good" was a joke.
  • The headline made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to loose it.
  • I just hope this feature is better than the old one for multi lingual documents. I often have both Danish and English texts in my documents and this really confuses Office apps (all of them) they guess the language is Danish for English and English for Danish. It is horribly time consuming to change - And the spellchecker does not learn from the changes O_o!