# WRepeatfind

> Free software that finds the phrases your writing repeats.

WRepeatfind is a free, open-source Windows program by Louis A. Bloomfield (University of Virginia) that finds the phrases, sentences, and paragraphs a single document, or a book made of chapter files, repeats. It helps writers, journalists, editors, and students catch accidental repetition, such as a paragraph that was moved but never deleted from its original place. Current version: 1.0.1, released September 24, 2026. Download: https://github.com/lab3e/WFindApps/releases/download/WRepeatfind-1.0.1/WRepeatfind-1.0.1-win-x64.zip

Key facts:

- **Privacy: writing never leaves the user's computer.** WRepeatfind works entirely on the local PC and does not use the internet. Nothing is uploaded, stored in the cloud, or analyzed remotely; no account is needed. Pasted text is saved only as a local file.
- Finds repeated passages of at least 6 words by default, allowing up to 2 differing words in a row (so lightly edited copies are found). A passage appearing several times is reported once, with all its copies.
- Checks chapters in order as one work, finding repeats between chapters, or checks documents separately.
- The report is a web page showing the whole text with each repeat highlighted in its own color; clicking jumps between copies; intentional repeats can be dismissed, and dismissals persist across re-checks.
- Reads .docx, .doc, .txt, .htm/.html, and text-based .pdf, or pasted text. Works with languages that separate words with spaces.
- Differs from grammar checkers, which examine one sentence at a time. Companion program WCopyfind (https://wcopyfind.wfindapps.org/) compares different documents with each other.
- Free for any purpose; GNU General Public License version 3 or later; source code at https://github.com/lab3e/WFindApps. Runs on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 with no installation. Has a command-line mode.
- Contact: bug reports and suggestions at https://github.com/lab3e/WFindApps/issues; the author, Louis A. Bloomfield (Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Virginia), at lab3e@virginia.edu. More at https://wfindapps.org/contact.html.

## Pages

- [WRepeatfind Version History](https://wrepeatfind.wfindapps.org/changelog.html): What changed in each version of WRepeatfind.
- [Download WRepeatfind](https://wrepeatfind.wfindapps.org/download.html): Download WRepeatfind 1.0.1, free software that finds repeated phrases in your writing, for Windows 10 and 11. No installation, and your documents never leave your computer.
- [WRepeatfind FAQ](https://wrepeatfind.wfindapps.org/faq.html): Answers to common questions about WRepeatfind: privacy (your writing never leaves your computer), what it finds, file types, languages, books, pasted text, and how it differs from grammar checkers and WCopyfind.
- [WRepeatfind User Guide: How to Find Repetition in Your Writing](https://wrepeatfind.wfindapps.org/guide.html): A step-by-step guide to WRepeatfind: checking a document, a book of chapters, or pasted text for repeated phrases; choosing settings; and using the report to fix or dismiss each repeat.
- [How WRepeatfind Works](https://wrepeatfind.wfindapps.org/how-it-works.html): How WRepeatfind finds repeated passages within a document: turning words into numbers, sorting them, pairing each repeated word with its earlier copies, growing matches across small edits, and grouping copies into repeats.
- [WRepeatfind: Find Repeated Phrases in Your Writing](https://wrepeatfind.wfindapps.org/): WRepeatfind finds the phrases, sentences, and paragraphs your article, thesis, or book repeats, even with small edits. Free for Windows, and private: your manuscript never leaves your computer.
- [Finding and Fixing Repetition in Your Writing: Tips for Writers and Editors](https://wrepeatfind.wfindapps.org/tips.html): Why repeated passages creep into articles, theses, and books, how to use WRepeatfind in your editing routine, which settings suit which job, and what to do about intentional repetition.
- [WRepeatfind Troubleshooting](https://wrepeatfind.wfindapps.org/troubleshooting.html): Solutions for common WRepeatfind problems: SmartScreen warnings, no repeats found, too many repeats, files that can't be read, garbled characters, and reports that don't open.

## Related

- [WFindApps](https://wfindapps.org/): home of both apps
- [WCopyfind](https://wcopyfind.wfindapps.org/): compares documents with each other to find shared phrases (plagiarism detection)
- [WRepeatfind](https://wrepeatfind.wfindapps.org/): finds phrases repeated within one document or book
- [Source code](https://github.com/lab3e/WFindApps) (GNU GPL v3 or later)