• 4-minute read
• 10th August 2026

Five Passive Voice Checker Tools

The passive voice is one of the most challenging aspects of writing to identify and correct. While the passive voice can be useful in some circumstances, the active voice typically produces clearer, more direct sentences. This is especially true in business contexts, where communications need to convey information with precision.

To spot passive constructions in your own writing can be difficult, even when you understand the concept. Grammar tools can help, but not all tools perform equally well. Below are five options to help you detect the passive voice, along with their strengths and limitations.

Use Microsoft Word’s Built-In Checker

Microsoft Word includes a passive voice checker, but you may need to enable it manually. To do so:

● Open the spelling editor panel

● Choose Options

● Check Passive Voice in the options

Once you activate it, this feature highlights instances of the passive voice throughout your document. This feature is especially helpful to use when you proofread a document you plan to share with colleagues or clients.

Try Sapling for Quick Detection

Sapling is a free, browser-based tool. Paste your text into the interface, and the tool identifies passive constructions. Sapling also offers a passive-to-active converter that rewrites sentences it flags from the passive to the active voice. This makes it a convenient option for quick edits to emails, summaries, or short-form content.

Analyze Your Text With Datayze

Datayze specializes in detecting the passive voice, and it also includes a readability detector. The tool uses a “zombies” method to identify the actor in each sentence. This visual approach helps you understand how to restructure sentences into the active voice, which can be particularly useful to revise longer documents.

Highlight Passive Voice With Hemingway

Hemingway is an online editor that checks for sentence complexity, adverb use, reading level, and passive voice. It uses color-coded highlights to flag each of these elements. You can see at a glance where passive constructions appear and address them immediately. For teams that produce content or client-facing communications, Hemingway offers a fast way to improve readability before final review.

Prompt ChatGPT for Suggestions

ChatGPT can assist with various aspects of editing, including being able to identify passive voice and suggest active alternatives. However, because developers trained ChatGPT on broad internet data, its suggestions are not always accurate. It may miss nuanced passive constructions or introduce errors to the meaning of the text. Treat its output as a starting point rather than a final edit.

Understand the Limitations of These Tools

Although these tools are valuable aids, none of them replace careful human review. We put Hemingway and ChatGPT to the test and found that the text still required human editing after running it through these systems. Both tools often missed issues with clarity. They also failed to catch more complex passive constructions that a trained editor would identify.

Automated tools work best as a first pass. They can flag obvious passive sentences and speed up your revision process, but they lack the contextual judgment necessary to determine when the passive voice is appropriate (for example, in scientific writing or when the actor is unknown). They also cannot evaluate whether a sentence rewritten by the tool preserves the original meaning.

Work With a Professional Editor

A misidentified passive construction or an awkward rewrite can undermine the credibility of your content. If you want precise, reliable editing that goes beyond what automated tools can offer, a human editor is the best investment. Proofed’s team of expert editors can identify and correct passive voice constructions across all of your business documents. Our editors also ensure your writing is clear, consistent, and ready for publication. Check out our range of professional services that will take your business communications to the next level.