Harvey for Word: How to Use

Overview

The Harvey for Word add-in helps with everything from day-to-day edits to structured contract reviews. You can draft with AI, get real-time answers, or run your playbooks to enforce standard all right in Word.

A few practical ways to enhance your drafting and review process with Harvey:

• Run a query over specific portions or your entire document using Threads
• Get tailored suggestions from Harvey to edit a specific clause, or your full document
• Use custom agents to handle repeatable tasks, like drafting, editing, or analyzing, directly in your document
• Pull precedents from Vault
• Flag and review non-compliant clauses with Playbook review

Getting Started

The Harvey for Word add-in consists of three core features, which can be found in the navigation menu at the bottom of the add-in panel:

• Threads

  • Pull insights or generate suggestions
  • Generate redlines and suggested edits
  • Draft new content using natural language instructions
  • Dictate prompts by voice
• Agents - Find and launch your team’s custom agents directly against the document you're drafting in the Word add-in
• Library - Apply your organization’s workflows, playbooks, prompts, and clauses to your document

Harvey will suggest prompts based on your document to help you get started, or you can dive into a workflow or playbook from the bottom navigation bar.

Using Threads

The Harvey for Word Add-In is driven by an Agent that has powerful planning, reasoning, and reviewing capabilities.

In the Threads tab, you can ask questions and send queries to the Harvey agent. From your prompt, it will automatically determine the right approach for your request and builds a step-by-step action plan tailored to the document and task at hand.

You may experience a slower response on your first prompt as Harvey familiarizes itself with your document. Follow-up prompts in the same thread typically yield faster responses.

Analysis Use Cases

You can ask questions on highlighted text or the full document without needing to access Harvey in your browser.

Follow the steps below to get started:

1. Type your query in the prompt text box (e.g., "What are the risks with this clause?”) or choose a suggested prompt.
2. [Optional] Select the Add icon to include precedent documents from Vault or from a local folder to inform Harvey's responses. You may also have the option to select Web Search as a knowledge source if it’s enabled in your workspace.
3. [Optional] Select the Improve prompt icon to enhance your query so that results are more accurate and relevant.
4. Select the Send icon to run your query.

Editing Use Cases

In the Threads tab, you can make changes to your Word document through Harvey's suggestions and edits. Redline your document, either over specific text or over the full document. Then give Harvey natural language instructions, such as:

• Mark up this document to be more in line with the terms agreed to in the uploaded precedents
• Make updates based on meeting notes
• Replace all instances of Party X with Party Y
• Fill out this template in accordance with the precedent

Follow the steps below to get started:

1. In the Word document, highlight the text you’d like to edit, or place your cursor where new content should go.
2. Add your instructions in the Harvey for Word prompt text box.
3. [Optional] Select the icon to upload a precedent to guide Harvey’s suggestions. You may also have the option to select Web Search as a knowledge source if it’s enabled in your workspace. You can view sources of information in the thinking state dropdown.
4. Select the Send icon to run your query. Harvey will consider the specific legal context, jargon, and instructions provided to generate precise suggestions.
5. Review and apply changes. Auto-apply the suggestions, or review them individually to choose which ones to apply to the selected text.

   1. If Harvey has more than one reasonable option for a suggestion, alternate options will appear on the suggestion card. Review each and apply the one that fits best.
   2. Accepted changes are applied as redlined tracked changes in the document, while dismissed suggestions are not applied.

Drafting Use Cases

Use Harvey to create new documents in Word directly through Harvey’s drafting capabilities. This can be useful when starting from a blank document or when you want Harvey to generate a first draft based on your instructions.

For example, you can open a new Word document, ask Harvey to “draft a NDA,” and optionally upload a sample NDA for reference.

Using Agents

The Agents tab is where you can find and launch your team’s custom agents. You can run agents directly against the document you're drafting in the Word add-in.

When you select and run a custom agent, results will appear in your conversation with Harvey, including document suggestions and tracked changes.

Run a Custom Agent

1. Open the Harvey for Word add-in.
2. Choose a custom agent to run against your document:

   1. Select the Agents tab to browse the agents your workspace can run, or:
   2. When writing a prompt for Harvey, type @ followed by the name of the agent to include it in your query.
3. Run the agent. If Harvey needs more information mid-run, you can answer, decline, or skip the clarifying question that appears inline.
4. Review the agent’s output, including any document suggestions shown as tracked changes. You can cancel a run mid-stream, or reconnect if the task pane reloads.

Using Library

The Library is where you can find your organization’s workflows, playbooks and prompts to apply to your document.

Workflows

Apply a workflow to execute tasks more efficiently. Try one of Harvey’s pre-built workflows to get started:

Proofread

The Proofread workflow checks a document for spelling, grammar, and syntax errors. It can also identify incorrect substantive cross-references, such as references to the wrong section.

It does not rewrite, rephrase, or "improve" your wording. It also does not change your style, formatting, or structure, so your voice and your document stay intact.

Convert to Template

The Convert to Template workflow converts a document into a reusable template to standardize frequently used documents, such as engagement letters or NDAs.

Fill a Template

The Fill a Template workflow automatically edits a Word template with data you provide. Upload information, and the Harvey agent will populate the corresponding fields in your chosen template, saving you time on repetitive document setup.

Redact

The Redact workflow instantly anonymizes sensitive information across a document.

Translate

The Translate workflow automatically translates a Word document into a target language of your choice.

For US and EU workspaces, Harvey uses DeepL to deliver higher-quality results across supported languages. For AU workspaces, Harvey uses machine translation via Azure.

Playbooks

Playbooks in Harvey streamlines contract review in Word by automatically applying your company’s established positions on documents.

Learn how to apply them by reviewing Use Playbooks to Review Contracts.

Prompts

Prompts let you use a pre-saved question or instruction when querying in Harvey.

To use a Library prompt, follow the steps below:

1. In the Harvey for Word add-in, navigate Library → Prompts.
2. Select your desired prompt. It will populate as a new Thread.
3. Adjust your prompt as needed and select Send.

Thread History, Save to Vault, and Settings

You can use the icons at the top of the Harvey for Word add-in to view your thread history, save a document to a Vault, and adjust your settings.

Thread History

If you’d like to revisit or continue in-progress work, you can access your previous threads through Thread History.

1. Select the Thread History icon.
2. Choose one of your previous entries to continue working in the thread.

Continuing a Web Thread in Word

If you've been working on a document in the Harvey web app and then export and open it in Word, Harvey gives you the option to Continue conversation or Start new thread.

Choosing Continue conversation carries the following over into your new Word thread:

• Conversation context: The Word thread reads the full context of your web thread as background knowledge, so Harvey can reference what was discussed or decided earlier. Note that your previous messages will not be displayed word-for-word in the Word thread.
• Sources: Files and Vault selections attached in your web thread are automatically set as sources for the Word thread.

Continuing a Word Thread in the Harvey Web App

In the Harvey web app, you can continue working with threads that you started in Word. In the web app’s sidebar, select View history, then choose your Word thread from the list. Any additions to the web app thread will appear when you return to the same thread in Word.

Save to Vault

Quickly save your updated document to a Harvey Vault.

1. Select the Save to Vault icon.
2. Choose an available Vault, then select Save.

Settings

Select the Settings icon to adjust your settings for the Harvey for Word add-in.

• Theme: Change the add-in’s theme between Auto, Light, or Dark.
• Preferences: Adjust how the add-in behaves, such as automatically opening when you open specific documents.
• Memory: Change settings related to your personalized Memory in Harvey, including adding, editing, and deleting memories.

  • Note: Memory settings apply across all of your Harvey surfaces, including the web app and the Harvey for Outlook add-in.
• Sign out: Sign out of the current Harvey account.

Supported File Types and Size Limits

Size Limits

• While there is no formal document size limit when uploading to the Harvey for Word add-in, you may experience increased latency after 1 million characters

Supported File Types

You can use Harvey’s Word add-in with the following file types:

• .docx
• PDF

Other file types, such as .odt or .xml, are not compatible at this time.

FAQs