Word has a readability checker built in. It shows a Flesch reading ease score and a Flesch-Kincaid grade level, but it doesn't tell you which sentences pulled the score down. Paste your document's text above to get both scores, your average sentence length, an estimate of passive voice and every sentence over 20 words, longest first.
How to turn on readability statistics in Word
- Microsoft 365 on the Current Channel: select the Home tab, choose Editor, then Document stats.
- Older Word for Windows: go to File > Options. Under When correcting spelling and grammar in Word, select Check grammar with spelling, then select Show readability statistics. Run Spelling & Grammar, correct or ignore what it finds, and the Readability Statistics window opens.
- Word for Mac: go to Word > Preferences > Spelling & Grammar, then select Check grammar with spelling and Show readability statistics. Run Review > Spelling & Grammar and the window opens when the check finishes.
Microsoft says the Document stats button is only available to Microsoft 365 customers receiving updates on the Current Channel. If you can't find it, the File > Options route still works.
From Microsoft's support page on readability statistics, read in October 2026.
What the scores mean
| Score | Range | What Microsoft recommends |
|---|---|---|
| Flesch reading ease | 0 to 100, higher is easier | Between 60 and 70 for most standard files |
| Flesch-Kincaid grade | A US school grade, so 8.0 means an eighth grader can follow it | Around 7.0 to 8.0 for most documents |
If your document mixes languages, Word scores only the text in the last language it checked. Paste just one language at a time here too, since the Flesch formulas were built for English.
Why paste it here as well
Word gives you a number. This checker gives you the same numbers plus the list of sentences over 20 words, longest first, so you know where to start cutting. Split the top few, paste again and watch the reading ease go up.
It doesn't open .docx files, and it won't edit your document. Copy the text out of Word, paste it in, and make your changes back in Word. If the document is already published, you can check the live page by URL instead.
This readability checker is free with no signup. SearchBlueprint, who make it, sell SEO planning for websites: which searches each page should answer.