Text predictions being tested in Word and Outlook

Feb 22, 2021 16:58 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has announced a new feature available for testers that enables predictions in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook.

The feature works exactly as you’d expect it to work, as it offers predictions based on your text, all in an attempt to help type faster and reduce spelling and grammar errors. You can easily press Tab to accept a suggestion or just press escape to ignore it and continue typing the word in full.

The new feature is currently available only for English, and is live for 50 percent of the Windows Beta channel running Word version 2020 build 13301.20004 or later and is now rolling out to Microsoft 365 SKUs on Word on the web except for Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 F3, Microsoft 365 A1, Microsoft explains.

For Outlook users, the predictions are live for English users in North America on Outlook.com and Outlook on the web.

“We typically release features over some time to ensure that things are working smoothly. This is true for Insiders as well. We highlight features that you may not have because they’re slowly releasing to larger numbers of Insiders. Sometimes we remove elements to further improve them based on your feedback. Though this is rare, we also reserve the option to pull a feature entirely out of the product, even if you, as Insiders, have had the opportunity to try them,” Microsoft explains.

Fully focused on privacy

If you’re concerned about your privacy, Microsoft says the words you type aren’t exposed to anyone else.

“Your data does not leave the tenant boundary. Text predictions use a machine learning model to make suggestions based on the text you have typed in the current document or email. The content is not stored or seen by any human unless donated as part of the feedback mechanism,” it says.

Of course, the feature comes with dedicated settings in both Word and Outlook should you want to disable it completely.