How to use Desktop Everywhere for Mac

Once you install Desktop Everywhere for Mac, it seamlessly integrates with all your favorite writing apps on your Mac. That includes Microsoft Word, Scrivener, Apple Pages, Notion, and more. So, what do you do next? Our guide on how to use Desktop Everywhere for Mac will help you get the most out of its features.

Start typing in your writing app

As soon as you start typing, our Realtime Checker gets to work. You’ll see words with color-coded underlines for issues and suggestions to improve your writing. Simply hover over the underlined word to see all relevant suggestions. Select the option that suits your writing best.

The Realtime Checker highlights possible spelling and grammatical issues, as well as stylistic suggestions to rephrase your writing and improve readability.

Look out for the ProWritingAid Desktop Everywhere icon

Whenever ProWritingAid Desktop Everywhere is active, you’ll see the floating ProWritingAid icon.

Helpful tip: You can click on the six dots next to the icon to drag and drop it on any edge of your window.

The icon is color-coded to help you see what’s happening at a glance:

• Gray means Desktop Everywhere is not analyzing text because there isn’t any text or you’re not currently working in that app.
• Pink means Desktop Everywhere has discovered suggestions or issues.
• Green means Desktop Everywhere has not discovered suggestions or issues.

You can click on the floating ProWritingAid icon to see the Realtime suggestions in a draggable pop-up.

Open the icon menu

Hover over the Desktop Everywhere icon and a sidebar will appear.

This gives you access to a range of features and reports to improve your writing, as well as settings to suit your preferences.

Run reports on writing style

The first option in the sidebar is a document icon. Click on it to open the Reports menu.

This gives you access to 25+ reports including our Summary, Core, and Structure Reports, as well as checks for Readability, Consistency, and Plagiarism.

When you click on a report, it will analyze all text in your document. Once complete, you will see a list of possible suggestions and issues. The report will also underline these in the text while it is open.

Get story-level feedback

The second option in the sidebar is a comment icon. Click on it to open the Critique menu.

Here you can get direct feedback on a single chapter or your full story by using Chapter Critique, Manuscript Analysis, and Virtual Beta Reader. You can also view your previous feedback.

Hide underlines for distraction-free writing

The third option in the sidebar is an eye icon. Click on it to hide all underlines in your visible text. The main floating icon will change into a closed eye.

This feature is particularly helpful if you just want to focus on writing for the moment. When you’re ready for feedback again, simply click on the closed eye icon. It will change back to the Desktop Everywhere icon, and underlines will appear in your text again.

Select your settings

The fourth option in the sidebar is a cogwheel icon. Click on it to open the Settings menu. Here you can choose to disable Desktop Everywhere temporarily (for one hour) or permanently in the app you are using. You can also select your preferred language (English variants), toggle dark mode on or off, and send feedback.

ProWritingAid works wherever you do—in Word, Google Docs, Scrivener, and more. Read more about our integrations.