---
title: "Settings: Proofing"
html: Settings_Proofing.html
---

# Settings: Proofing

Options in the Marked Settings > Proofing pane:

![Settings: Proofing][1]

[1]: images/screenshots/preferences-Proofing.jpg @2x width=689px height=1031px class=preferencepane-scroll

Always open new documents in proofing mode
: New documents will default to showing keyword highlights.

Enable CriticMarkup automatically
: Enable [CriticMarkup](CriticMarkup.md) processing automatically when appropriate syntax is detected.

Highlight Markdown syntax errors
: Highlight broken Markdown links and other markup that may have converted improperly.

Show comments sidebar by default
: Open the comments sidebar when a document with comments or annotations is loaded.

Include footnotes in comment sidebar
: When the comments sidebar is open, include footnotes alongside comments. When disabled, only comments (CriticMarkup, Fountain, Word, and similar) appear in the sidebar.

Reading Speed (wpm)
: This number (words per minute) is used to calculate the reading time in text statistics displays. The average reading speed for adults is 200-300 words per minute.

### Keywords

[Define lists of keywords to be highlighted](Keyword_Highlighting.md). Use the tabs to edit each list:

Avoid
: Words and phrases (one per line) to flag as overused or worth revising. Matches are case insensitive and must be complete words or phrases.

Use Alternate
: Suggest alternate wording for listed phrases.

Highlight
: Highlight arbitrary words or phrases for emphasis while proofing.

Ignore Repeats
: Words to exclude from **Visualize Word Repetition** analysis (one per line).

Restore Default Phrases
: Reset the current keyword list to Marked's defaults (for example, the [Plain English Campaign](http://www.plainenglish.co.uk) avoid list).