Microsoft Word Will Gain Text Predictions Next Month

In 2020, Microsoft announced it would be bringing text predictions to Word with the feature using Machine Learning to make suggestions based on the text being typed by the user. Shortly after that initial announcement, the feature was rolled out to about half of the Beta Channel users. Microsoft is now set to make the feature available to everyone according to the Microsoft 365 roadmap.

The roadmap shows that text predictions will be rolled out to all Microsoft Word users starting in March. Microsoft wrote in the roadmap that the feature would help users to "write more efficiently" by predicting the next text quickly, timely, and accurately. Word users will be able to tell when the feature is available because they will see gray predictions that can be accepted by pressing the tab key or rejected by pressing the escape key.

Microsoft says the offered text predictions will improve over time as the system, which uses machine learning, learns the user's writing style. For those who find text predictions to be annoying, they can be turned completely off. Another important note about text prediction is that Microsoft says no data will "leave the tenant boundary."

That means the text you are writing, which in the business world could be highly confidential, never leaves the user's computer. Microsoft also promises that no human will see the text being written unless the text is donated willingly via the feedback mechanism. Microsoft is also seeking feedback on the feature.

Feedback or complaints can be submitted via the Help – Feedback mechanism within Word. Microsoft Word isn't the first component of the Office suite to get text prediction, support for the feature rolled out to Outlook users earlier this month.