AutoSummarize determines key points by analyzing the document and assigning a score to each sentence. Sentences that contain words used frequently in the document are given a higher score. You then choose a percentage of the highest-scoring sentences to display in the summary.

You can select whether to highlight key points in a document, insert an executive summary or abstract at the top of a document, create a new document and put the summary there, or hide everything but the summary.

If you choose to highlight key points or hide everything but the summary, you can switch between displaying only the key points in a document (the rest of the document is hidden) and highlighting them in the document. As you read, you can also change the level of detail at any time.

You can summarize documents written in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese , English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, or Swedish.

AutoSummarize generates a summary based on the language in use when you install Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office. If a document is written in a language other than the default language, AutoSummarize uses that language instead.

If a document contains text in more than one language, AutoSummarize generates a summary in the language used most frequently in the document. Word may attempt to automatically install the files it needs to create the summary. (You may need to purchase these files separately. To obtain language files, contact your local Microsoft subsidiary and ask for proofing tools in the language you want.)