How to humanize AI text in Microsoft Word

Windows and Mac steps

1. Save the document, then save a copy of it (File, then Save a Copy or Save As) so the original stays untouched for Compare.
2. In the working copy, select one section of up to 200 words and copy it: Ctrl + C on Windows, ⌘ + C on a Mac.
3. Paste it into this guide's box, then click Continue in Humaniser.
4. Click Humanize, check the score with Detect AI if you want one, and copy the result.
5. Back in Word, with the same section still selected, paste as text only:
   • Windows: press Ctrl + Shift + V, Word's Paste Text Only shortcut.
   • Mac: press ⌘ + Shift + V. Microsoft added it in Word for Mac version 16.67, and its Word for Mac shortcut list now names it Paste text only.
   • Any version: paste normally, then click the Paste Options button that appears beside the text (or press Ctrl on Windows) and choose Keep Text Only.

Keep Text Only, in Microsoft's words, discards all formatting and non-text elements. That is what you want here: the words take on the style of the paragraph they land in.

Word for the web

The copy and paste steps are the same in a browser, and Microsoft says the Paste Text Only shortcuts work for every Word for the web user. Three things differ:

• No Compare. Microsoft's feature table lists Compare and merge as desktop only. If you need it, open the file in the desktop app.
• Track Changes instead. It works in the browser too, and it is the quickest way to see what you replaced (next section).
• Version history. Select File > Version History to open or restore an earlier copy. It only works for files stored in OneDrive or SharePoint in Microsoft 365.

Working on a Chromebook? Word for the web runs in Chrome, and the Chromebook clipboard menu lets you paste copied parts one at a time.

Quick check with Track Changes

Turn on Track Changes before you paste the humanized text back, and Word marks the old section as deleted and the new one as inserted, so you can read both side by side. It works on Windows, on a Mac and in Word for the web.

1. On the Review tab, turn on Track Changes (on Windows it sits under Tracking).
2. Select the original section and paste the result over it.
3. Read the marked-up text. Fix anything that changed a fact, then accept the change: on the Review tab, open Accept and choose Accept All Changes once you're happy with every section.
4. Turn Track Changes off again when you're done.

Track Changes treats a pasted section as one deletion and one insertion, so it shows what you replaced rather than which words differ. For a word-by-word check, use Compare.

See every change with Compare

Compare builds a new document that marks every word Humaniser changed, without touching either file. In desktop Word:

1. Open the Review tab and select Compare. On a Mac, choose Compare > Compare Documents.
2. Under Original document, pick the copy you saved before you started.
3. Under Revised document, pick the working copy with the humanized sections, and select OK.

Example: reading a Compare result

Take a made-up project update. The original sentence was: "The team successfully leveraged cross-functional collaboration to deliver the migration ahead of the March 14 deadline." The humanized working copy reads: "The team finished the migration before the March 14 deadline by working closely with design and support."

Compare marks what was taken out and what was put in, roughly like this:

"Migration" and "March 14 deadline" stay unmarked, and those unmarked words are your proof that the facts came through. Now look hard at the additions. If "design and support" isn't true, change it back: a rewrite can turn a vague phrase into a concrete one, and only you know whether the detail is right.

Footnotes, tables and text boxes

Send body paragraphs only. Everything else in a Word file either doesn't survive a plain-text trip or shouldn't be reworded:

• Footnote and endnote markers: leave the numbers in the sentence where they are, and check after pasting that each one still follows the right claim. If a footnote's own text is long prose, copy it from the footnote area and humanize it as a separate run.
• Tables: don't send them. Cells arrive as loose lines. Edit a cell by hand if it really reads as AI, or humanize the paragraph that introduces the table.
• Text boxes and captions: they sit outside the main run of text. If one needs a rewrite, copy it on its own, humanize it as a separate run and paste it back into the same box.

Keep your styles

Plain-text pasting means you reapply structure at the end, and Word's own shortcuts make that quick on Windows:

• Heading 1 / Heading 2: Ctrl + Alt + 1 or 2.
• Bulleted list: Ctrl + Shift + L.
• Link: Ctrl + K.

On a Mac, paste with ⌘ + Shift + V and reapply styles from the Home tab's Styles gallery. For bold, links and lists, see what survives the trip to Humaniser. If your Word file started life as a PDF, first join the lines a PDF breaks. Writing in Docs instead? The steps for Google Docs match these, and the steps for slides and speaker notes in PowerPoint cover decks. Start with the free tool on the home page.