How to Download a Turnitin Similarity Report (Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard and Direct)
Turnitin lets you download your similarity report as a PDF, but the button sits in a different place depending on your platform and on which report view your institution uses. This guide covers every route, explains the download options, and shows what the finished PDF looks like.
Option 1: Download from Turnitin Feedback Studio
Feedback Studio is the classic report viewer, still used by many institutions through Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard and Brightspace. Turnitin's own steps are:
- Open the submission and its similarity report.
- In the Feedback Studio toolbar, select the download icon (a down arrow).
- Check which layers are active. Coloured layers are included in the download, and the Similarity layer must be on.
- For the similarity report alone, keep only the Similarity layer active and switch off QuickMarks and other feedback layers.
- Select Current View. The PDF includes the submission date, submission ID and word count.
- Stay on the page while the file is prepared. Large papers can take a few minutes, and leaving the viewer cancels the download.
The same menu offers Digital Receipt (proof of submission, not the report) and Originally Submitted File (your document without any highlighting). Neither of these is the similarity report.
Option 2: Download from the new Similarity Report view
Institutions on the newer Turnitin experience show an "Integrity Overview" page with match groups such as "Not Cited or Quoted". To download:
- Open the report from your assignment.
- Select the Download button in the top-right of the viewer.
- Choose the Similarity Report PDF option.
- Save the file. It opens with a cover page, an Integrity Overview, then your paper with matches highlighted.
That PDF has the same structure as our similarity sample below.
Option 3: From Canvas
- Go to Grades, or open the assignment and click Submission Details.
- Click the coloured flag or percentage beside your file. The report opens in a new tab.
- Use the download button in that tab, following Option 1 or Option 2 depending on which view appears.
Full walkthrough: how to see your Turnitin report on Canvas.
Option 4: From Moodle, Blackboard or Brightspace
- Moodle: open the assignment, find the similarity percentage beside your submitted file, click it, then download from the viewer.
- Blackboard: open the assignment link or My Grades, click the similarity score, then download from the viewer.
- Brightspace (D2L): open Assignments, select your submission, click the similarity percentage, then download.
Download a Turnitin report with comments or with the percentage
- With your instructor's comments: in Feedback Studio, switch on the QuickMarks and feedback layers as well as the Similarity layer, then choose Current View. Every active (coloured) layer is included, so comments, QuickMarks and highlights all appear in the PDF.
- With the percentage: any similarity report download includes the overall percentage on the overview page near the front, plus the percentage for each source. If your PDF shows no percentage, you downloaded the Originally Submitted File instead of the report.
For comments and QuickMarks, see Turnitin comments: how to see and download feedback.
What if there is no download button?
- The report is still processing. See how long a similarity report takes.
- Your instructor hid the report. Only they can change this.
- Your browser blocked the file. Allow pop-ups and downloads for turnitin.com and try again.
- You need the AI report. Students usually cannot download the AI writing report through their LMS, because it is visible to instructors only.
Need the report before you submit?
Most assignments generate a report only after you submit, and many hide the AI score from students. If you want a downloadable similarity report and AI writing report beforehand, you can get both from us as PDFs in the format shown here.
What a downloaded Turnitin similarity report looks like
Both screenshots below come from the same 24-page, 6,364-word paper. The similarity report found 1% overall similarity. The AI writing report flagged 51% of the qualifying text as likely AI-generated. Tap either one to see it full size.
Screenshots shown for illustration. Your own reports arrive as full PDFs in your dashboard.
Once you have your PDF, use our guide on how to read a Turnitin report to work through it section by section.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the download button greyed out?
Your instructor controls whether students can see the report. If viewing is switched off, there is nothing to download. A report that is still processing also cannot be downloaded.
Which download option gives me the full report?
In Feedback Studio choose Current View with only the Similarity layer active. In the new report view choose the PDF download of the Similarity Report.
Can I download several reports at once?
No. Turnitin lets you download one submission at a time.