Grammar checking for Outlook on the Mac, without an add-in.
WriteNative underlines mistakes in the Outlook email you are writing, explains each one in your language, and turns an email you draft in your language into natural, formal English.
How it works in Outlook
WriteNative is a Mac app that reads the message you are composing through macOS Accessibility. In Outlook for Mac it checks the body of new emails, replies and forwards. There is no add-in to install and nothing for your IT team to approve.
- Spelling and grammar mistakes are underlined as you write.
- Click an underline for the fix, the reason, and what the word means, in your language, with its pronunciation.
- Accept puts the fix into your email; "Fix all" corrects a whole sentence at once.
- The WriteNative button in the corner shows how many suggestions there are and how the email reads.
Formal English, automatically
WriteNative knows Outlook is for email and suggests more formal wording there, while it stays casual in chat apps. Select a paragraph and press ⌥ twice to make it more formal, friendlier, shorter or clearer.
Write the email in your language first
Press ⌥ twice in the message body with nothing selected and write what you want to say in your language. The English appears as you type; press Return and it is inserted into Outlook at the cursor.
Good to know
Outlook has its own spell check, so a typo can get two underlines: Outlook's and WriteNative's. Click the word to see WriteNative's card; if you prefer one set, turn off Outlook's spelling check in its settings. In Outlook, fixes go in when you click them; automatic typo fixes as you type are for native Mac apps such as Notes and Messages.
Questions
- Does it need an Outlook add-in?
- No. WriteNative runs on your Mac and works in Outlook's compose window directly, so there is nothing to install in Outlook or approve in Microsoft 365.
- Does it work with Outlook.com, Microsoft 365 and Gmail accounts in Outlook?
- Yes. It checks the email you are writing, whatever account it is sent from.
- Does it work in Outlook on the web?
- Outlook on the web in Chrome is a text box like any other web page, which WriteNative checks. We test the Mac app first.
- Are my emails stored?
- No. Only the paragraph being checked is sent, and nothing is kept or used for training. With the On-device plan nothing leaves your Mac.
Check your next Outlook email.
Free to download. Works in Outlook as soon as you allow Accessibility.