Grammarly is one tool that you can always rely on to make sure your written content is crisp and correct. The human eye can undoubtedly miss things, which is why this automated tool (improved with AI) literally sits on the right-hand side of Microsoft Word windows. Many writers and Windows users have become so reliant on Grammarly to the point that they don’t feel their work is ever complete without running the tool. So, imagine what happens when it stops showing in Word.
If you’re one of those users who are experiencing this issue, you’ve brought yourself to the right place. We’ll show you the right steps to take to fix the problem and make your articles error free again.
Why Did Grammarly Stop Working in Microsoft Office Word?
Grammarly is designed to fit seamlessly into the writing process for anyone using Microsoft Word on macOS. Suggestions will appear in the right margin of your document, and you can apply them to your text with a click of your mouse. Best of all, Grammarly’s comprehensive writing feedback reaches way beyond grammar and spelling, so your.
Grammarly’s coverage extends across multiple platforms, with a web editor, a Chrome extension you can install along with a Firefox and Edge counterpart, various desktop apps for Windows and Mac, a mobile keyboard for Android and iPhone, as well as a plug-in for Microsoft Word. Any corrections Grammarly offers come with a quick explanation. Grammarly has different tools and add-ons which will help you in various ways. If you are MS Word user, then you can simply integrate Grammarly add-on to your ms word, with this add-on you can check errors and if you want to access the Grammarly while chatting then you can make use of web browser extensions. Grammarly is popular, but you don’t need it to add grammar checking to Word. Word itself contains a free alternative to Grammarly. Word itself contains a free alternative to Grammarly. The grammar checker is part of all modern versions of Microsoft Word, including Word for Office 365, Word 2019, and Word 2016. Grammarly has a new app (also called an add-in) for Microsoft Office that enables Walden students to add Grammarly’s checks directly to a Microsoft Word document. Instead of submitting your paper to Grammarly through Grammarly’s website, you can simply enable Grammarly once your document is ready to check.
Grammarly for Windows isn’t a stand-alone program. After installation, it’s embedded into Microsoft Word as an add-in. When turned on, it appears on the right-hand side, displaying errors and corrections that can be applied to the text.
When something goes wrong, Grammarly disappears from Word and its tab is nowhere to be found. That’s the issue we’re dealing with. So, what if Grammarly for Microsoft Office has disappeared? In this case, you can’t correct your work! You have to take the necessary steps to get the tool back in Word.
There are different issues that could explain the program’s disappearance. For starters, the problem could be as basic as you turning off the add-in. Sometimes, when you open Word, the add-in doesn’t launch on its own.
Other possible reasons for the problem include:
- Disabled Grammarly add-in
- Software conflicts
- Broken Grammarly installation
- Antivirus interference
- Windows is blocking Grammarly’s installation
How to Fix the Grammarly Missing Issue from Office Word
Sure, there’s a solution to the problem. What isn’t available is one solution for everyone. You have to tackle the root cause of the issue on your system before you can see Grammarly again in Word. So, apply the fixes we’ve put together below in chronological order.
Can You Use Grammarly In Microsoft Word
The fixes include:
- Enabling Grammarly
- Restarting your PC
- Checking your antivirus program
- Reinstalling Grammarly
- Enable User Account Control
- Reinstalling Microsoft Word
- Update Windows
Solution 1: Enable Grammarly
Grammarly might not be showing in its usual spot because it’s not activated. Normally, the add-in should load automatically whenever you launch Word. However, in some situations, it won’t. So, head to the top of the window and click on Grammarly. Under the Grammarly tab, click on Open Grammarly.
If you can’t find the Grammarly tab in the menu bar, then it’s possible that the add-in has been removed. You have to add it back to Microsoft Word. If you don’t know how, follow these steps:
- Open Microsoft Word.
- After Word opens, click on File in the top-left corner of the window.
- Go to the bottom of the left pane and select More, then click on Options. In some Word versions, you just have to click on Options.
- Go to the left pane of the Word Options dialog window and click on Add-ins.
- Now, navigate to the Add-ins tab (on the right).
- Go to the bottom of the tab, select COM Add-ins from the Manage drop-down menu, and then click on the Go button.
- When you see the COM Add-ins dialog box, make sure the box beside Grammarly is selected.
- Click on OK, and then restart Word.
- Grammarly should now be visible.
Solution 2: Restart Your PC
If you haven’t already, turn off your system and turn it back on or simply use the Restart function in the Start menu. As a Windows user, you know how effective a simple reboot can be. Apart from that, it’s possible that Grammarly didn’t initialize properly. So, restarting your system could do the trick.
If restarting the PC didn’t work, follow the next solution.
Solution 3: Check Your Antivirus Program
Your antivirus program might be blocking Grammarly’s files because it considers the program to be a threat. You can easily resolve the problem here by preventing the security application from scanning Grammarly’s folder in the future. Once Grammarly is free from your antivirus program, it should show up in Word again.
There are different ways to prevent Grammarly from regular scans, and the method you’ll need depends on the antivirus you’re using. If you use a third-party antivirus, you can check the website of its developers to find out how to go about this. If you don’t use any antivirus program apart from Windows Security, however, follow the steps below:
Can You Use Grammarly In Word
- In the taskbar, right-click the Windows logo to open the Power User menu.
- After the Power User menu appears on the left side of your screen, select Settings.
- You can also tap Windows + I to open the application.
- When the home screen of the Settings app shows up, click on the Update & Security icon.
- Go to the left pane of the Update & Security page and click on Windows Security.
- Next, switch to the right pane (the Windows Security tab) and click on Virus & Threat Protection in the Protection Areas section.
- On the Virus & Threat Protection screen, scroll down to the Virus & Threat Protection Settings section, and then click on Manage Settings.
- After the Virus & Threat Protection Settings interface opens, scroll down to the Exclusions section.
- Click on the “Add or remove exclusions” link.
- Once you get to the Exclusions interface, click on Add an Exclusion.
- In the menu that drops down, click on Folder.
- Now, navigate to Grammarly’s installation folder in the Select Folder dialog box and single-click it to select it.
- Click on the Select Folder button.
- Launch Word and check if Grammarly shows up.
If that doesn’t resolve the problem, try turning off your antivirus program temporarily. The process is easy. For Windows Security:
- Go to the Virus & Threat Protection tool.
- Scroll to Virus & Threat Protection Settings and click on Manage Settings.
- Toggle the switch under Real-Time Protection to Off.
- Launch Grammarly and check for the problem.
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If Grammarly works with your antivirus program turned off, consider going for another security application. It doesn’t make sense to keep your system vulnerable because you want to have error-free texts. You can have that and still keep your system protected. We recommend that you go for Auslogics Anti-Malware. The tool is an excellent malware remover that works well alongside Windows Security and any other antivirus program.
Solution 4: Reinstall Grammarly
You might be dealing with broken installation files. If Grammarly isn’t displayed on the COM Add-ins dialog box, then it’s an indication that it wasn’t installed properly. Perhaps, something has tampered with its files. Something like your antivirus program. So, remove the program and install it properly, and then check if that takes care of the problem.
Your first move will be to remove Grammarly. You can follow the steps detailed above if you use Windows Security. If you use a third-party application and don’t know what to do, visit the website of the app’s developer to find a guide that will show you the process. That said, this is the common way remove Grammarly:
Launch the Run dialog box by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Run in the Power User menu or by pressing Windows + R.
- Once Run opens, type “control panel” (don’t add the quotes) into the text field and press the Enter keyboard button.
- In the Control Panel interface, locate Programs.
- Click on Uninstall a Program. The Programs and Features interface will now appear.
- Locate Grammarly for Microsoft Office Suite in the Programs and Features interface, under the “Uninstall or change a program” list.
- Once you see the program, double-click it or right-click it and select Uninstall.
- Click on Yes in the first confirmation dialog that you see.
- If Microsoft Word is running, another dialog will pop up, asking you to close the open program. Do that.
- The program will now be uninstalled.
- Check the box beside “Remove user settings and login information,” then click on the Finish button.
- Right-click on the Start button and click on Run in the Power User menu or press Windows + R.
- After Run opens, type “%localappdata%” (don’t add the quotes) into the text box and click on OK.
- Once the Local folder appears, search for the Grammarly folder and delete it.
- Restart your system.
Can I Use Grammarly In Word
After removing the program, take the necessary steps to reinstall it. Follow these steps:
- Go to Grammarly’s website and download the setup for Windows.
- Once you’ve downloaded it, go to your Download folder.
- Locate the GrammarlyAddInSetup.exe file and right-click it.
- Click on Run as Administrator in the context menu and select Yes in the User Account Control dialog box.
- Once the “Welcome to Grammarly” interface opens, press and hold the Shift and Ctrl keys, then click on Get Started.
- The Advanced Settings window will now open.
- Select “Install for all users,” and then click on Next.
- Allow the installation to complete, then restart your system and check if the issue has been resolved.
Solution 5: Enable User Account Control
User Account Control is an implementation that helps regulate how changes are made to your computer. It always pops up to notify you when an application is trying to perform an advanced operation on your system that might potentially cause harm. You can then deny or approve. As it turns out, UAC might be connected to the issue you’re facing with Grammarly.
For many users, enabling the security feature fixed the problem. So, try enabling it and check if Grammarly shows up in Word again. The following steps will show you what to do:
- Launch the Run dialog box by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Run in the Power User menu or by pressing Windows + R.
- Once Run opens, type “control panel” (don’t add the quotes) into the text field and press the Enter keyboard button.
- After Control Panel opens, click on System and Security.
- On the System and Security interface, select Change User Account Control Settings under Security and Maintenance.
- After the User Account Control Settings dialog opens, use the selection steps from Always Notify to Never Notify to select any security level of your choice and click on the OK button.
- It is not recommended to choose “Never notify.”
- Open Word and check if the issue persists.
Solution 6: Update or Reinstall Microsoft Office
Your Office installation might be out of date and may no longer support Grammarly. So, try updating MS Office and check if that resolves the problem. The following steps will help:
- Connect to the Internet.
- Launch Microsoft Word and open a document. Even a blank document will do.
- Go to the top-left corner of the window and click on File.
- On the next screen, click on Account at the bottom of the left pane.
- Under Product information, click the Update Options button and select Update Now in the menu that drops down.
- The application will now search for updates and install them.
- If your installation is up to date, you will be notified.
If updating doesn’t do the trick, then you might have to reinstall Microsoft Office, as bad installation files could be at play. Follow these steps to remove the program:
- Launch the Run dialog box by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Run in the Power User menu or by pressing Windows + R.
- Once Run opens, type “control panel” (don’t add the quotes) into the text field and press the Enter keyboard button.
- In the Control Panel interface, locate Programs.
- Click on Uninstall a Program. The Programs and Features interface will now appear.
- Locate Microsoft Office in the Programs and Features interface, under the “Uninstall or change a program” list.
- Once you see the program, double-click it or right-click it and select Uninstall.
- Click on Yes in the first confirmation dialog that you see.
- Follow the subsequent prompts.
- You can download Office from Microsoft’s website or use your normal installation package to reinstall the product.
- After that, run it and check if the problem is resolved.
Solution 7: Update Windows
Downloading and installing important Windows updates could do the trick. Your system should have been updated by now if Windows Update is doing its job as it should. However, there are times when you have to initiate the update process by yourself.
Follow these steps to check if your system is up to date:
- Open the search bar next to Start. To do that, click on the magnifying glass in the taskbar or press Windows + S.
- Once the search bar opens, type “Updates” (don’t add the quotes) and click on “Check for updates in the results.”
- Once the Windows Update screen appears, the utility will automatically check for pending updates for your system.
- If updates are available, it will list them out.
- You can click on the Download button to begin the process if the tool doesn’t start downloading the updates automatically.
- Once the download process is complete, the installation should begin. However, in most cases, you’ll be required to click on the Restart Now button to allow the tool reboot your PC and install the updates.
- Your PC might restart several times before the process is complete.
- After installation, your computer should boot up normally.
- You can now run Word and try checking if Grammarly will open normally.
Conclusion
If you resolved the issue, and we’re sure you did, let us know how did it in the comments section below!
It’s true.
Microsoft Word has its own built-in grammar editor.
For some authors, writing on a word document is everything — especially if they’ve been writing with MS word for long.
But here’s the thing:
It’s not always good. And it lacks many basic native features (like plagiarism) that most professional writers or editors can’t live without.
If you happen to be bad with grammar rules or tend to overuse passive voice, well, Microsoft Word won’t help you either.
If you need to write an article or edit a document with a few grammar mistakes, it’s all good. But what if you need a professional proofreading or grammar checker?
So while it might be one of the most popular writing apps on the market today, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best.
Not straight out of the box, anyway.
That’s why there’s Grammarly for Word. It plugs these gaps to help shore up your writing style across all Microsoft Office apps (including Outlook).
And fortunately, it’s also simple to use. Here’s a quick guide to get you started within the next five minutes or less.
Our Verdict
Create a Grammarly account. Simply type or edit as usual. Click on the Grammarly icon when you need it. Then hit “Save” and get on with the rest of your day.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Getting Started with Grammarly for Word
Login to your Grammarly account and head over to “Apps” in the left-hand sidebar. (Get a free account here if you don’t already have one.)
Under there, you’ll should the Microsoft Office add-on…
Except if you’re on a Mac, like the image above. You may go for Google docs or Quip, instead.
Unfortunately, the Microsoft Office app is only available on Windows devices at this time.
Windows users will find the free download there, though. So install like any other software.
Once installed, you’ll be able to open any Microsoft Office product. For example, open up Outlook and start typing out an email like usual.
You’ll find the Grammarly icon over to the right-hand side. Click on it and it’ll instantly proofread your email, pointing out common misspellings or misplaced punctuation.
The Grammarly Office ribbon will also offer up a slew of features to check, like grammar checking, sentence structure or style, too. So not only will your emails be accurate, but recipients might actually look forward to reading them as well.
Here’s how to use Grammarly for Word to check longer passages of text.
How to Use Grammarly App for Word’s Editor to Check Grammar Mistakes
Installing Grammarly in Word will add a new option on the far right-hand side. Look for it in between “Help” and the search feature. You can also click on the “Open Grammarly” option a little further out to the right.
The grammar checking options will be off by default. So after opening Grammarly on Word, you can click on each individual attribute to fire it up and start proofing your content.
If you suck at grammar like me, you’ll quickly notice the issues pile up. They’ll be highlighted throughout the text, and clicking on them will open up each specific issue.
My favorite part is that they’ll even recommend a few potential solutions for each issue, so all you have to do is click on the best one. No thinking required!
It’ll also give you a quick background about the problem, helping you actually learn the root cause so you can remember this issue the next time (and slowly but surely cut down on the number of errors you make).
Grammar’s not the only thing it’ll catch, though. Grammarly for Word goes into A LOT more detail. Here are some of the other reporting features it’ll uncover.
Grammarly for Word Reports
Each Grammarly Word report is called a “check.” I don’t know why, exactly. That’s just how you find them:
The Vocabulary enhancement one will flag all overused or cliched words. This is especially helpful for also finding those favorite sayings you use over and over and over again. Thankfully, they’ll recommend a few alternatives.
The Style check is a little more nuanced. For example, they’ll flag common writing mistakes and spelling errors like slang right out of the box. Here’s an example where they didn’t like the word “ain’t.”
But slang or jargon isn’t always wrong. So this is where you can update your personal dictionary or adjust the settings to determine how strict each check should be.
Next up is the Sentence structure check, which checks… you guessed it: sentence structure!
This one does not like sentence fragments:
Punctuation is fairly common, highlighting hiccups like placing a period outside of quotations.
This is also where your language setting comes into play, as there might be slight discrepancies between American and British English… besides the fact that British English is wrong. 😉
Contextual spelling is another one of those ‘it depends’ kind of questions. For example, if you’re purposefully writing something informally, you might want to keep improper words, odd spelling, and other little interesting tidbits.
So Grammarly will flag all of these issues. But you’re able to hit “Add to Dictionary” button on each if you want to let Grammarly know not to mark it in the future.
Grammarly for Word also comes with a default content type. You can toggle between different versions to change what they’re grading (or how severe their grading is).
How To Use Grammarly In Word Youtube
How to Check Plagiarism on Word with Grammarly
Microsoft Word’s built-in grammar feature is OK. But it completely lacks any plagiarism check.
That’s where this Grammarly integration pays for itself several times over.
The Plagiarism check is on the far right side.
Click it, and your text will start highlighting seconds later.
The Grammarly window on the right will show you the source for each flagged section, along with different recommendations for how to properly cite the material (if you’re still intent on using it as-is).
It’ll also flag the total number of plagiarized issues. The only downside here is that you don’t get an aggregate percentage score if you’re trying to compare several documents or keep a simple-to-remember benchmark to grade against.
You can get access to that stuff if you login back on the web app version of Grammarly, though.
How to Uninstall Grammarly on Word
If you want to uninstall Grammarly, no problem!
Just follow these five simple steps:
- Go into Settings
- Look for Apps
- Click on “Apps & features”
- Find Grammarly for Microsoft Office Suite
- Click “Uninstall”
It couldn’t be easier!
- 86% out of 86% accuracy
- 16+ billion database
- 150k+ word limit
- Includes plagiarism support
- Responded within an hour
- Only supports English
- $11.66/month (more expensive)
Conclusion
Microsoft Office comes with a spelling and punctuation checker.
But it’s kinda pedestrian if we’re being honest.
Plus, there is no built-in plagiarism checker of any kind.
So chances are, you’re going to need to take whatever Word doc you’re working on and still run it through at least one or two other tools.
Thankfully, Grammarly for Word alleviates this problem.
It adds a lot of your favorite functionality, like plagiarism but also style or contextual spelling checks, directly into the Word interface so you never have to navigate away.
Create a Grammarly account. Simply type or edit as usual. Click on the Grammarly icon when you need it.
Then hit “Save” and get on with the rest of your day.