5 Must-Have Proofreading Tools For Writers

As you write something like a document, an email, a text message, etc., it’s important to make sure that the text is free of typos and errors. And, if you’re a proofreader or editor by trade, or do it as a hobby, having zero errors should matter to you. 

However, if you’re someone looking for your document to be proofread in a timely manner, hiring proofreaders and editors can be effective, since you’ll have an extra set of eyes looking at your work. Thus, these people can look over several documents at a time, and give you real-time feedback on what needs to be improved in the text.

So, if you’re a writer, a blogger, etc., chances are, you might slip up somewhere in your content, and your readers will notice. Instead of facing the embarrassment of having a typo in your work, why not try one of these five online proofreading tools that every writer should look into?

1. Grammarly

“Considered the most popular proofreading tool, Grammarly lets you spot errors on the go,” says Rachel Miller, a freelance writer. “Whether you upload (or paste) your document on the site, or install it as an add-on to your browser, Grammarly is useful when proofreading blog posts, emails, comments, private messages, etc. With sophisticated algorithms and up-to-date suggestions on how to fix something, it points out the possible errors for you, and lets you decide what to do with them.”

Therefore, whether you’re writing an important email, or simply texting a friend, Grammarly is there to help! 

Want more out of Grammarly? You can try the premium version, where it checks your documents to where it makes sure that there’s no plagiarism in it.

2. Hemingway Editor

The core focus of the Hemingway Editor app is to highlight questionable parts of your document, as listed here: 

Words and phrases that are hard to read

Complex words

Extra-long sentences

What tone of voice (passive or active)

What grade (reading level) your content may appeal to

While checking for readability and flow, Hemingway’s goal is to help make your writing more simplistic. (Though, this app may not be recommended for more scientific or academic content.) 

3. Thriving Writer

Thriving Writer is a writing service that lets you hire a professional proofreader to look over your documents. Now, this service is aimed at looking at academic papers mostly, and they do charge for their work. However, if you’re antsy about having a lot of errors in your academic paper that can be detrimental to your final grade in school or college, then Thriving Writer is a good investment, since they tend to take academia seriously. 

4. PerfectIt

“Health editors tend to use PerfectIt as their go-to proofreading software, because it’s compatible with Microsoft Word, and it has free apps that help you check abbreviations or spelling consistencies,” says Lydia Woods, a blogger. “And in the health industry, there is a demand for professional writing, meaning that typos and errors are virtually unacceptable. So, health professionals and writers would have to have something like PerfectIt to make their documents error-free and transparent.”

PerfectIt comes with unique features such as:

Ability to accept track changes

Ability to remove double spaces

Update cross-references

The only notable requirement for this software is to have a compatible version of Microsoft Word. Make sure that your version works with PerfectIt.

5. PolishMyWriting

A free and easy-to-use service, PolishMyWriting lets you copy and paste your text onto their user-friendly site. Then, once the text is analyzed, the service highlights all of the mistakes (if any) in different colors. Just keep in mind that the different colors mean something; so, be sure to read through the critique to get a better understanding of them, and what you need to do. You can even click on the highlighted text to see suggestions on how to fix that error. 

Conclusion

So, now that you’ve read through the five most useful proofreading tools, you can now make your work shine. Whether you use only one or all of these tools is up to you. Test them out, and see which ones work well for you. And don’t let another typo discourage you from writing in the future. Happy writing!