File requirements

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

  • less than 100MB;
  • has a minimum of 20 words; and
  • is less than 800 pages.

If the file only contains text, it must be less than 2MB.

If the assignment is set to allow only file types that Turnitin can check for originality, Turnitin will only accept files that can generate Originality Reports. This includes:

  • Microsoft Word® (.doc/.docx)

    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.

  • OpenOffice Text (.odt)
  • WordPerfect® (.wpd)
  • PostScript (.ps)
  • HTML
  • Hangul Word Processor file (.hwp)
  • Rich text format (.rtf)
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • Google Docs via Google Drive™

    If submitting with Google Drive™, third party cookies must be allowed in your browser, otherwise, any attempts to sign into Google to upload from Google Drive will fail. Note that Google Drive functionality is not supported with IE8 or below. Do not upload Google Doc (.gdoc) files directly to Turnitin; a .gdoc file does not store the document, but contains a reference to it online, in Google Docs

  • Adobe® PDF

  • Turnitin will not accept PDF image files, forms, or portfolios, files that do not contain highlightable text (e.g. a scanned file - usually an image), documents containing multiple files or files created with software other than Adobe Acrobat®.

  • Microsoft PowerPoint® (.pptx, .ppt, .ppsx, and .pps)

    It is possible to submit PowerPoint® files through Turnitin.com, TurnitinUK.com, Turnitin Basic integrations, newer versions of the Turnitin Direct integrations, and LTI compliant integrations only. Turnitin converts the PowerPoint® slide deck into a static PDF, leaving all text and images in their original format but leaving out features such as presenter notes, embedded video, and animations. Text with visual effects is not supported, and it is recommended that any visual effects such as shadows and 3D be removed prior to submitting to Turnitin.

  • Microsoft Excel® (.xls and .xlsx)

    The version of the file that can be viewed in the Document Viewer will look the same as it would if the Excel file had been saved as a PDF and submitted to Turnitin. We highly recommend that users pay attention to the image preview provided in the single file submission to verify that the file is presented in an acceptable manner. 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.

Turnitin will not accept the following to generate Originality 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 (i.e. .ods)
  • Text with visual effects

When converting a file to a new file format, users should rename their file with a name other than that of the original file. This is suggested to prevent permanent loss of the original formatting or image content of a file due to it being overwritten.