Articles on: TURNITIN

File requirements for submitting your assignment to Turnitin

This guide is for students submitting work to Turnitin. Learn which file types are accepted and how to prepare your documents so your submission uploads correctly and can be checked for similarity.


Overview[](https://guides.turnitin.com/hc/en-us/articles/22047038689037-File-requirements-for-submitting-your-assignment-to-Turnitin#h_01KC1VQMJ29BS038EK6WAR38PW)

If an assignment is set to allow any file type, Turnitin will accept any file that:

  • is less than 100MB
  • is less than 800 pages

If an assignment is set to allow only files that Turnitin can check for similarity, Turnitin will only accept files that can generate Similarity Reports. This includes:

  • files less than 100MB,
  • files with a minimum of 20 words
  • file less than 800 pages
  • Microsoft Word (.doc and .docx)
  • Corel WordPerfect
  • HTML
  • Adobe PostScript
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • Rich Text Format (.rtf)
  • Portable Document Format (.pdf)
  • OpenOffice (.odt)
  • Hangul (.hwp and .hwpx)
  • PowerPoint (.pptx)
  • Google Docs via Google Drive


If you are using an unsupported word processor, you may need to save your plain text file as .txt or .rtf in order to upload to Turnitin.


Adobe PDF[](https://guides.turnitin.com/hc/en-us/articles/22047038689037-File-requirements-for-submitting-your-assignment-to-Turnitin#h_01HH2DR15ETCZGQC9Y3CYCZ0D1)

  • Turnitin supports Adobe PDF (.pdf) files for assignments set to "allow only file types that Turnitin can check for similarity." Turnitin will not accept PDF image files, forms, portfolios, files that do not contain highlightable text (e.g., scanned documents that are images), or documents containing multiple embedded files.
  • To determine whether a PDF contains actual text, copy and paste a section of the content into a plain-text editor such as Microsoft Notepad or Apple TextEdit. If no text appears, the file does not contain selectable text and will not be accepted.
  • Turnitin recommends making your PDF using Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Word 365. These programs create PDFs that Turnitin can check for similarity. PDFs made with other tools may not work and could be rejected if they have non-selectable text, extra files inside them, or formatting that Turnitin can’t read.


Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx, .ppsx, and .pps)[](https://guides.turnitin.com/hc/en-us/articles/22047038689037-File-requirements-for-submitting-your-assignment-to-Turnitin#h_01HH2DR5QJN9B7QAP12QNKRHAK)

  • You can submit PowerPoint files through Turnitin.com, Turnitinuk.com, LTI tools, the Moodle Plagiarism Plugin, Moodle Direct V2, and D2L V2. Turnitin changes the PowerPoint into a static PDF. It keeps your text and images but removes presenter notes, videos, and animations. Turnitin also cannot read text with visual effects, so remove shadows, 3D effects, and similar styles before you submit.
The .ppt extension does not work with integrations. Use .pptx instead.


Microsoft Excel (.xls and .xlsx)[](https://guides.turnitin.com/hc/en-us/articles/22047038689037-File-requirements-for-submitting-your-assignment-to-Turnitin#h_01HH2DRCD1N23PC1CGQRRZ1H9B)

  • The version of the file shown in the Document Viewer will look the same as if you had saved the Excel file as a PDF and submitted it to Turnitin. We recommend checking the image preview during single-file submission to make sure your file appears the way you want.
  • Users can adjust the way the file looks by editing the page setup and print area settings for the file prior to saving it and submitting it to Turnitin. Please ensure that all content intended for submission is fully within the defined page boundaries and print area. Off-page content (such as text, tables, or objects located outside the printable area) can prevent .xlsx files from generating properly and may result in a failed submission. Reviewing and correcting the page layout before uploading will help ensure that the file is processed successfully.


File types not checked for similarity[](https://guides.turnitin.com/hc/en-us/articles/22047038689037-File-requirements-for-submitting-your-assignment-to-Turnitin#types-not-checked)

Turnitin will not accept the following to generate Similarity Reports:

  • Password-protected files
  • Microsoft Works (.wps) files
  • Microsoft Word 2007 macros-enabled .docm files
  • OpenOffice Text (.odt) files created and downloaded from Google Docs online
  • Document (.doc) files created using OpenOffice, as they are not 100% Microsoft Word equivalent
  • Apple Pages
  • Spreadsheets created outside of Microsoft Excel (e.g., .ods)
  • Text with visual effects




Source: https://guides.turnitin.com/hc/en-us/articles/22047038689037-File-requirements-for-submitting-your-assignment-to-Turnitin

Updated on: 23/04/2026

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