Welcome to the Writefull for Overleaf User Guide! We're here to answer your questions. If you can't find what you're looking for, or if you have a question or complaint, please send our support team a message at
support@writefull.com!WelcomeFirst stepsWritefull ToolbarUsing Writefull Language check Sentence PaletteLanguage Search Find example sentencesFind synonyms in contextFind words in contextCompare words in contextCompare phrasesTitle GeneratorParaphraserAbstract GeneratorTexGPT (Premium feature)Upgrading to PremiumHow to Remove Writefull for OverleafContacting us
Welcome
Thank you for installing Writefull for Overleaf.
Writefull for Overleaf provides real-time language feedback in the Overleaf code editor. In addition to grammar, word use, punctuation, spelling (American or British), and style, you get advanced language edits such as phrasing and word order, for enhanced readability of your text.
Beyond language suggestions for your text, Writefull offers clever widgets to help you write:
⇒ Sentence Palette: a browsable list of very common academic phrases across the various sections of research papers, to paste directly into your own text.
⇒ Language Search: a database with authentic language of scientific texts, to see how words and phrases should be used in context.
⇒ Title Generator: a widget that automatically generates titles for your texts, based on your abstracts.
⇒ Paraphraser: a widget that produces rephrasings of your sentences, at three paraphrasing levels (depending on your editing needs).
⇒ Abstract Generator: a widget that automatically generates an abstract for your paper.
⇒ TexGPT (Premium): combining GPT’s and Writefull’s AI to help you write in LaTeX.
Writefull for Overleaf is currently supported by Google Chrome, Chromium, and Brave.
Writefull has been developed especially for researchers, and its feedback is tailored to scientific writing. For more information, see https://writefull.com/.
First steps
Once you have added Writefull to your browser, you will see the Writefull icon (yellow W) in the Overleaf toolbar. Click this icon to open the Writefull sign-up / sign-in screen:
In the opening screen (see below), you can sign in. If you don’t have an account, click
I don’t have an account yet. This will take you to the sign-up screen, where you can create an account.An activation email will be sent to the email address you provide. You must activate your account before logging in.
If you have an account but forgot your password, click
I forgot my password in the login screen.
Once logged in, the menu shows you the number of visible (free) and premium language suggestions, and a button 🏆 Upgrade to Premium. With a Premium account, you get to see all of Writefull's language suggestions.
If you decide to upgrade to Premium, make sure to enter the email address that is associated with your Writefull account on the checkout page.
Right below, you see a few switch buttons to:
- enable or disable Writefull's language check
- select the English variety of your choice (British vs American English)
- enable or disable Overleaf’s spell check
Writefull Toolbar
To return the Writefull toolbar to the Overleaf toolbar, please try making your browser window a bit larger, or shrink the PDF viewer in Overleaf a little. This should re-position the toolbar back to the position where you're used to seeing it. If that doesn't work, a quick refresh of your window might help.
Using Writefull
Once signed in, you can use Writefull’s language feedback and writing widgets. If you upgrade to Premium, you’ll see all of Writefull’s language suggestions, have a higher quota for the
Sentence Palette, Language Search, Title Generator, Abstract Generator, and Paraphraser, and you get access to TexGPT.Language check
Writefull's language check is very easy to use. Once you are signed in and your entire text has been processed (showing 100% progress on the Writefull icon), it highlights the pieces of your text that it has language suggestions for. To see the suggestions, click on the bits of your text that are highlighted in red.
Writefull offers rewrites of your entire sentence to improve readability. On top of local suggestions like grammar or spelling, it will suggest changes in word order and phrasing. Below is an example of a suggestion card showing the advanced language edits suggested by Writefull (in bold) in place of the original text from the author (highlighted in yellow).
You can accept or reject each suggestion as relevant, by clicking on either the yellow or white bar at the top, or the
Accept all or Reject all button if you want to accept or dismiss all suggestions in a given sentence. Those you accept will be instantly applied to your sentence.
You can also see the probability that each given suggestion is correct, to help you with reviewing the suggestions. The probability reflects the confidence level of Writefull's language models that the proposed edit is correct. In the above example, the very high probability (88%) suggests the edit can be accepted with confidence.Sentence Palette
The Sentence Palette is a collection of example phrases that are very commonly used in academic writing. Simply click
Sentence Palette in the menu and browse example phrases to convey a particular meaning within a specific section of a scientific paper (e.g. to introduce the aim of your study in your introduction), as shown below.
One of the sections in the Sentence Palette lists 'connectors'. Connectors are example words and phrases that you can use to frame the narrative of your paper, for example, when introducing a new line of argument, expressing a cause-and-effect relationship, or concluding a section.
Language Search
By searching a very large database of scientific papers, the Language Search shows you how certain words and phrases are typically used in academic writing, and in what contexts. You can click on
Language Search and type your chunk of text at the top (in Search academic texts...). Press Enter to see the search results.
You can do a range of different searches, as listed under
Examples, and as follows:Find example sentences
This search shows you how a particular chunk of text is used in scientific texts, and how often. Simply enter your text and find example sentences containing it, retrieved from Writefull’s database of scientific papers. You can browse through the sentences, and click each one to get expanded context. The chunk itself is in bold and highlighted in yellow. The example text below,
affected by the changes, has been found 351 times in the database.
To see expanded context for each example sentence, simply click it.
Find synonyms in context
This search shows you words that can be used instead of others in a given context, without changing the meaning of the sentence. This is very useful when you want to add variety to your vocabulary, to avoid using the same words too many times in your text.
Simply enter your chunk of text, with asterisks around the word(s) that you want to replace with a synonym. In the example below, Writefull shows you that synonyms of the verb
affect in the phrase to affect changes are control, modify, determine, guide, alter, etc.
Note that the list of synonyms appears in order of preference (from top to bottom) by Writefull, as also shown by the percentages on the right. The higher the percentage, the more confident Writefull is that the suggestion is the right synonym for your text. You should review these suggestions carefully - you may like the second or third suggestion better than the first in the context of your document!
Find words in context
This search shows you words that are commonly used instead of others in a given context, and how often. Unlike synonyms in context, those may not be synonyms - which means that using them as replacements may change the meaning of your sentence. This is a useful search to do when you have a chunk of text in mind, but don’t know what words would fit naturally within it.
To do this search, simply enter your text including an underscore in place of the word for which you want to get suggestions. In the example below, Writefull tells me that
affected is most commonly used before the phrase by the changes, followed by caused, driven, inspired, influenced, etc.
Some of these words have different meanings, so you should make sure that you choose a suggestion that conveys the right meaning for your sentence. It won’t always be the first!
Compare words in context
This search shows you how two different words are used in a given sentence, and how often. This is useful when you are not sure which of two words you have in mind fits better in a particular context. Some word pairs can be very confusing because they have the same meaning but different grammatical patterns (e.g. quantity/amount), or look and sound very similar (e.g. affect/effect).
To do this search, simply enter your text including the two alternative words separated by a slash. In the example below, Writefull tells me that
affected is much more commonly used than effected when followed by by the changes in the database. The 100% confidence percentage for affected shows very clearly which one of the two I should use in my sentence.
To see expanded context for each example sentence, simply click it.
Compare phrases
This search shows you how two different phrases are used in a given sentence, and how often. Similar to words in context, it is useful when you are not sure which of two phrases fits better in a given context (for example, if they look and sound similar).
To do this search, simply enter the two alternative phrases separated by
vs. In the example below, Writefull tells me that in conclusion is much more commonly used than to conclude in the database of scientific papers, so it is probably the better option at the beginning of a sentence. 
To see expanded context for each example sentence, simply click it.
Beware plagiarism when using the Language Search. You should avoid copying whole sentences from our database of academic texts into your own.
Title Generator
Writefull’s Title Generator produces AI-generated titles based on your abstract. Simply highlight your abstract and then click the Title Generator widget. You can then copy and paste your auto-generated title directly into your text.
Your abstract should be in English and between 150 and 2000 characters long.
Not happy with the title generated? You can try as many as you wish by re-clicking the
(RE)GENERATE TITLE button - Writefull will create a new title each time. Paraphraser
The Paraphraser enables you to rephrase your sentences. Simply select a sentence in your text and click the Paraphraser widget on the toolbar. You can regenerate the paraphrasing output or click replace to replace your text with the paraphrased option.
Make sure you select only one sentence, which is between 40 and 200 characters long and in English.
Objects such as footnotes, references, and special characters are converted to plain text in the paraphrasing process - so try to avoid those to keep your formatting intact.
Abstract Generator
Writefull’s Abstract Generator auto-generates abstracts using models that are trained on research papers. The Abstract Generator can be found on the Writefull for Overleaf toolbar (the last yellow widget icon). Click it and Writefull will parse your LaTeX source, fetch the relevant parts of your text, and give you an abstract.
Depending on the length of your text, the Abstract Generator can take from 30 seconds to several minutes.
TexGPT (Premium feature)
TexGPT uses GPT-3 and Writefull to help you write in Overleaf. It’s especially helpful when looking for ways to write things in LaTeX. Think of generating tables, figures, formulas, and more - all within your LaTeX source code. Find more use cases here: https://blog.writefull.com/texgpt-harness-the-power-of-chatgpt-in-overleaf/.
Access TexGPT by clicking the robot icon in the toolbar. This is a Premium feature, so if you don’t have a Premium account, you will be prompted to upgrade before you can use it.
If you are Premium, you can simply enter your query into the search box to get a response from TexGPT. You can choose to copy the response, or to directly insert it into your text.
Note that TexGPT isn't meant to write your papers for you. In fact, using TexGPT (or any generative AI) to write your work is considered plagiarism, and a violation of academic integrity. Please use this feature responsibly to more quickly compose, format, and structure your work.
Upgrading to Premium
To see all language suggestions, get a much higher daily quota for the widgets (in Overleaf, Writefull X, and Word), and use TexGPT, you need to upgrade your account to Premium. You can do so by clicking the
Upgrade to Premium button in the Writefull drop-down menu, as shown below.
You will be redirected to Writefull’s website where you can select a pricing plan that suits your needs, and then to our payment portal where you can purchase your chosen plan (using your Writefull account details).
Users with access to Writefull via their institution do NOT need to upgrade to Premium. This is because institutional licences already include the full Premium experience. The exception is TexGPT; at the moment, this widget is not available to institutions.
How to Remove Writefull for Overleaf
The process is simple: simply click the three dots icon in Chrome. Then click ‘Extensions’ and ‘Manage Extensions’.
Then, find Writefull for Overleaf and click ‘Remove’.
Confirm Removal by again clicking ‘Remove’.
Please then reload Overleaf.
Contacting us
We are always happy to hear your feedback. If you come across a bug, are missing a feature or just want to chat, drop us a line at support@writefull.com.