Blog How to Use ProWritingAid It's Finally Here! The ProWritingAid Word Add-In for Mac

It's Finally Here! The ProWritingAid Word Add-In for Mac

Libby Bushill

Libby Bushill

ProWritingAid's Lifecycle Marketer

Published Oct 23, 2020

ProWritingAid Word Add-In for Mac

Mac users, it's finally here. The ProWritingAid Word Add-In is coming to Mac.

If you're used to working with your Word for Mac documents in the Desktop App, now there's another way (though the Desktop App will always be there for you!). With your Premium license, you'll can now download a ProWritingAid Add-In that sits in the Home tab of Word for Mac.

Download the ProWritingAid Mac Add-In now

Read on to find out how to install the ProWritingAid Mac Word Add-In.

Contents:
  1. How to Install the ProWritingAid Mac Word Add-In
  2. How to Use ProWritingAid's Word Add-in for Mac
  3. Launching the Full Editor
  4. How to Uninstall the Beta Version
  5. Final Thoughts
  6. Download the ProWritingAid Mac Add-In Now

How to Install the ProWritingAid Mac Word Add-In

Getting started with ProWritingAid's Mac Word Add-In is fast and simple. If you already have a Premium account, using the Mac Word Add-In is included in your subscription. If you are a free user, you can upgrade to Premium to get access to this integration, as well as many more, by clicking this link.

First, open Word and click "Insert" on the main menu. Then click "Add-ins," then "Get Add-ins."

Get Word Add-In

Find the search bar on the left side of the window and type "ProWritingAid" to locate the Add-In.

Open in word

Click "Add" and then click "Continue."

Once the Add-In is successfully installed in Word, you'll see a Read Only document confirming the successful installation and letting you know next steps.

Launch Add-In

To finalize the installation and log into your ProWritingAid account open a new document, then click on the ProWritingAid icon to the far right of the Word toolbar.

Toolbar

Once the toolbar is open, you'll see a welcome message prompting you to log into your account.

Sign in

Enter your Premium license information and then hit "Login". You're now set to use the ProWritingAid Word Add-In for Mac!

Login Premium


How to Use ProWritingAid's Word Add-in for Mac

To get editing, open a Word document and click on the ProWritingAid icon. Here, you will see a quick overview of your Grammar and Writing Style improvements in a sidebar.

Word for Mac Grammar and Style

You can click through these in the sidebar to correct them in your document. Clicking on the arrows to the right of the suggestion box will allow you to move on to the next suggestion in your document, like this:

Sidebar Improvements

This allows you to make quick improvements to your documents, fixing mistakes that Word's grammar checker doesn't catch.

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Launching the Full Editor

Once you've corrected your Grammar and Style mistakes, you can open the full editor to dive deeper into your edit. Click 'Open Full Editor' at the bottom of the sidebar to launch the full pop-up editor.

open full editor

This will bring up a new window with a full toolbar of all 20 ProWritingAid reports. This works in much the same way as the Desktop App. You can run each report on your writing and accept or reject suggestions. You can also produce a Summary report to learn more about your writing.

floating editor

You can extend the pop-up editor to fit your whole screen to make editing easier. If you can't see all of the reports in the toolbar right away, click on the three dots to the right of the editor to see a dropdown with the rest of the reports.

morereports

Once you've made your edits, click on 'Apply Changes' at the bottom of the editor. This will apply all of the edits you've made in the pop-up editor to your Word document. These changes will be reflected in the score you see in the top right-hand corner of the side bar.

With the Word Add-in for Mac, you can streamline the editing and writing processes by having all of your tools in one place.

How to Uninstall the Beta Version

If you are one of those helpful people who have been beta testing this for us over the last few months, you'll need to uninstall the beta version first here:

You can uninstall the app as follows:

  1. Open Terminal App

  2. Paste in the following command, and press the enter key on your keyboard to run it: curl https://cdn.prowritingaid.com/officeaddon/web/uninstall.sh | sh

  3. Restart Word for Mac

  4. Install the full version of the ProWritingAid Add-In using the instructions in this article.

Final Thoughts

One of our main aims at ProWritingAid is to allow you to edit wherever you write. Our users have been asking for this add-in for a long time - and we're so excited to finally release it!


Download the ProWritingAid Mac Add-In Now

Ready to start editing where you write? Click the button below to install the ProWritingAid Mac Add-In to your Microsoft Word application today.

Download the ProWritingAid Mac Add-In now

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Libby Bushill

Libby Bushill

ProWritingAid's Lifecycle Marketer

About Libby

Libby is ProWritingAid’s Lifecycle Marketer. When she’s not dreaming up our writing tips newsletters, she loves yoga, spending time outdoors, and trying new recipes.

Writing Experience

You’ll find Libby’s work on all things writing and grammar across the internet on writing blogs.

Education

After studying English Literature at University, she is living her dream working with words every day.

Published Works

Libby co-edited of The University of Reading’s A Room of Our Own project.

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This is exciting! Thank you, ProWritingAid Team.
Yay! We think so too! You're very welcome. :)
My version of Word came through my university. I purchased the Pro version only to discover that my university does not permit add-ins for Word. Any suggestions?
I'd suggest downloading our Desktop App - you'll be able to edit through the tool and your edits will be saved to your Word document. Give it a try!
Can you tell me if this works with Open Office? I use a MacBook Air and have the premium version of PWA?
Hi there! I think you're still better off using the Desktop App for Open Office files. If you have further questions, please feel free to reach out to us at hello@prowritingaid.com. :)
Cool! Thanks.
You're welcome! :)
I downloaded ProWritingAid for word Mac and it will not let me login or register it stays busy, help.
Thank you for reaching out about this! We have released a fix for this issue - you should be good to go now! If you're still experiencing trouble, please reach out to our support email: hello@prowritingaid.com. :)
YES!!!!!!!!!! This makes it worth renewing!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!
Yay!! We think so too!! Let us know how you like it! :)
When will you support Apple silicon versions of Word?
I believe that we already do! If you're having trouble with your download, please send us an email with your details to hello@prowritingaid.com. We'll be able to better help you from there! :)
The Mac version does not underline the words with suggestions. Will this feature be added in the near future? It is a bit frustrating having to guess what the sidebar suggestions are referring to. Thank you!
Does ProWritingAid work on Mac Office 365 Outlook?
Hi there! Thanks for asking about this. Unfortunately, the Mac Add-in does not extend to Outlook for a number of reasons. Maybe someday! But for now, the add-in only integrates directly with your Word program on Macs.
Hello, I can't seem to get the add in to work with the web version of word on my mac. Do I need to upgrade my version of word?
Hi there! Thanks for writing in about this. Our Word Add-in does not work with the web version of Word on Macs (nor on PCs). In order to use the add-in on your Mac, I'm afraid you will need to upgrade your Word to a version downloaded directly onto your computer.
I just got my mac and I went through the steps but the add-in isn't available on the microsoft appsource. I don't know if there is a temporary issue or if it is no longer available. Please let me know how I can get this plugin for my word 365. Thanks!
The plug freezes with every document after 3 revisions. I uninstalled and installed again. How can I fix this?
Hi! Thanks for reaching out. How long is the document? Typically our software works best with 10,0000 words, but if your document is shorter than this, feel free to reach out to us at hello@prowritingaid.com and we'd be happy to get you sorted.
New user here (premium version). I used this to edit an existing story, and although the reports were helpful (and accepting or rejecting suggestions intuitive), it was a total pain to go back and forth. If I uploaded my file (in sections), when I was finished with it, I had to go through all of the formatting, fonts, etc (which were lost). Now I'm experimenting with drafting a story in the app. Converting it from a txt file to a docx file - no can do. I have to open the txt file in MS Word (on my Mac) - even then, I get all of these really weird characters instead of normal punctuation, etc. It's not quite more trouble than it's worth, but close.
Hi Fred! To avoid this problem in the future, we recommend always uploading and downloading your document instead of copying and pasting. The latter can cause the sort of formatting issues that you have been struggling with. For more information about this please drop us a line at hello@prowritingaid.com and we will be happy to help.
Is there any for Outlook?
Yes, there is! You can download the outlook integration here: https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/Office.
I just purchased the premium pkg and activated my license, but when I click the button to install the add in for Mac, nothing downloads. When I got to the insert menu in MS Word 365 on my Mac and click Add-ins, the "get add-ins' option is greyed.
Hi there, I think we could fix this problem easily if you open the insert menu and click on "Store", search for ProWritingAid in the search field, and click Add. If this doesn't work, please e-mail hello@prowritingaid.com and we can try a few other fixes!
I went through the steps but the add-in isn't available on the microsoft appsource. I've been using Pro writing aid for a year and a half and I would love to be able to use it within my word document.
I'm sorry that you are having problems with this. Would you be able to email hello@prowritingaid.com with the specific details (computer type, any error message, the gen of Microsoft) and we can help you from there.
I have downloaded Microsoft word onto my MacBook. I then exported a chapter of my book into my word document and downloaded the editing tool in word. Here are my questions I am new to using word…I have not been able to get the editor to work as it did online. Do I need to purchase premium? I thought I was using a trial version but nothing seemed to happen. When I make changes in my word document will they also be reflected online? When I download my online document will I lose all changes I initially made?
Hey there! Thank you for your comment. Our support team will be happy to help you with these questions (and more)! Could you please send the questions to our team by emailing hello@prowritingaid.com?
I have just signed up for the free version. What is the difference between the free version and the paid version?
Hey there! You can read about the differences between free and Premium in our FAQ, accessible here: https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/FAQ
I cannot get the add-in to work in MS Word on my Mac. I have deleted the app and started again several times over. I tried contacting ProWritingAid support who keep telling me to do the same thing, but it does not work.
Hey there! We're so sorry to hear that you're having issues with this even after contacting support! Since this is a public forum, I won't ask for any personal info here. However, please let me know if you aren't having continued communication with support. Is someone actively helping you with this query via email?
I can get the ProWritingAid add-in to work in Word on my MacBook but is there an add-in for Outlook for macs? Don't know if it matters but I am running Office 365. Thanks!
Hey there! We do not yet have compatibility with Outlook for Macs. If this is something you'd like to see, could you please provide that feedback on our feedback website, Upvoty? Here is the URL: https://prowritingaid.upvoty.com/
I am not seeing any suggestions in sidebar, please help.
Hey there! We're sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue! Have you sent an email in to our support team at hello@prowritingaid.com?
Purchased Prowriting Aid but can only use in Google docs. How can I use it on my Mac?
Thank you for your comment! You can download the Mac version of our integrations by selecting "install for Mac" on the integration's download page. You can find our different integrations on this page: https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/Plugins

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