How did I not know about Microsoft Editor? I just recently learned Microsoft was now offering this addon for Chrome, so I decided to download it and try it out. If you’ve been following this blog, you know that I’ve been using Grammarly for over a year now and find it extremely helpful and easy to use.

Since most of my students use Microsoft Office, however, I wanted to try Editor. That way when they ask me which they should use, I can give them an informed answer.

Installing MS Editor was a bit annoying; I had to remember my Microsoft Account login, which is not something I use everyday. I’m very thankful for my Google Password Manager, so I don’t have to keep up with those, too.

Of course, to sign into my Microsoft account I had to use the authenticator app on my phone. That is annoying – just an extra step I don’t have time or patience for.

Installing was super easy, though. Inviting videos made me a little more eager to try the product. The process was quick and straightforward once I had logged into my Microsoft account.

Would it show up automatically on my Microsoft Word? To see, I opened a recent cover letter I’d written. Microsoft Editor and Grammarly both showed up in the banner menu. I clicked on Editor and very quickly received an Editor Report giving me corrections, refinements, and an editor score. Corrections were easy to see and make.

It wasn’t as colorful as the Grammarly report I receive, and the explanations for the suggested corrections were not as detailed or clear as those on Grammarly. But for me, it worked quickly and well.

So, which would I recommend to my students? If you are a beginning academic English writer, I’d suggest Grammarly. It’s much less intimidating, more approachable, and gives more detailed explanations for the suggestions made.

If you are an experienced academic English writer, however, I’d recommend Microsoft Editor. It’s faster and gets to the point more quickly. It feels remarkably similar to the editor built-in to Microsoft Word.

My only caveat would be to be sure you go in and select whether you want your information shared with Microsoft. While some reviewers had difficulty turning it off, Microsoft has since updated and repaired this issue and it worked great for me.