Microsoft Word includes a built-in plagiarism-checking tool that lets you check for similarities to already published content with just a couple of clicks. Whether you are submitting an essay, preparing a business report, or creating a resume, checking your content is not only important for your authenticity but also to protect your reputation and avoid negative impacts on your academic and professional career.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to check for plagiarism on Word for free using the built-in plagiarism checker tool to make sure your content is original and provide proper attribution in case of citations or unintentional plagiarism. Let’s get started.
Before You Start
- The built-in plagiarism tool is only available in Microsoft Word 365.
- Checking for plagiarism requires an active internet connection.
Steps to Check for Plagiarism on Word
- Open the Word document.
- Click the Home tab on the command bar.
- Click the Editor option in the “Home” tab.
- Click the “Check for similarity to online sources” option under the “Similarity” section.
- Once the check is complete, potentially plagiarized content is highlighted with a red dotted underline.
- Click the underlined text to see options.
- Select Add in-text citation to properly attribute the source.
- To dismiss a similarity alert, click the Ignore icon at the bottom of the pop-up.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, open the Word document. You can do it by double-clicking on the document itself. Once it opens, click the Home tab on the command bar.
In the “Home” tab, click the Editor option. You’ll typically find this option on the right side of the ribbon.
In the Editor panel, scroll down to the “Similarity” section and click the “Check for similarity to online sources” option.
As soon as you click the option, Word scans the document and checks for plagiarism using online sources. Depending on how big your document is, it will take some time to complete the checks. Once done, it will show the number of similarities it found with already published content.
You will see that the potentially plagiarized content is highlighted with a dotted underline.
Click the underlined text to see more options. To add citation to the similar or plagiarized content click the “Add in-text citation.”
This will add a citation right next to the highlighted content.
Alternatively, you can click the Copy full citation to copy the citation and link to the source to your clipboard. You can paste it (Ctrl + V) where you want in the document.
If you want to dismiss or ignore the alert, simply click the Ignore icon (looks like the stop sign) at the bottom.
If you have multiple highlighted items, review each one individually. You can choose different actions for different highlighted sections as needed.
That’s it! You’ve now successfully checked your document for plagiarism in Word.
Note: If no similarities are found, Word will inform you that your document appears to be original.
Troubleshooting Steps
Cannot find the Editor option in Word
The Editor option is only available for Microsoft 365 subscribers. If you can’t see this option, you’re likely using a different version of Word (such as Word 2019 or Word 2016). Make sure you’re using the latest version of Microsoft 365 Word and that your subscription is active.
Cannot find the Similarities section in the Editor panel in Word
Sometimes, the Similarities section might not load correctly. To fix it, save the document and re-open it. Alternatively, change the document access mode from Editing to Reviewing and then back to Editing again. To do this, click the Editing dropdown menu in the upper right corner and select Reviewing. This should fix the issue and make the Similarities section visible in the Editor panel.
Wrapping Up — Using Microsoft Word’s Free Plagiarism Checker Tool
As you can see, thanks to the built-in plagiarism tool in Word, it is a fairly simple task to check and make sure your work is original and plagiarism-free. While the tool is handy, like any other plagiarism tool, it is not perfect. That might miss or add wrong citations. So, double-check and even do multiple passes to cover your bases.
If you have any questions, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.
