Microsoft is removing the Similarity Checker from Word. The feature, part of Microsoft Editor since 2020, will be switched off worldwide on October 3, 2026, the company announced. It will no longer be accessible through Word's Editor pane.
The Similarity Checker compared document passages against web content, showed the percentage of matches and highlighted findings directly in the text, letting users add suitable citations and source references. It was widely used in academia as a convenient first-pass plagiarism check.
Microsoft says it wants to concentrate on core writing features. The company stresses that AI assistants such as Microsoft 365 Copilot are not affected by the shutdown — but also notes that Copilot is not intended as a formal tool for checking similarity, plagiarism or originality. Spelling, grammar, clarity and style suggestions in the Editor remain available.
The tool had a mixed reputation: specialized services such as Turnitin were often considered more reliable for strict academic review, and repeated cloud outages — including a multi-day failure in 2023 — highlighted its dependence on an online service. IT administrators are being advised to review workflows and inform affected users before the October deadline, while universities and publishers can fall back on services such as Turnitin, iThenticate, Grammarly, Scribbr, Copyleaks or Quetext.
