Will My Professor Know If I Pre-Check on Turnitin? What’s Visible, What’s Logged, and What Isn’t

Hi, Jordan here. I’m an academic advisor, and for 5+ years I’ve helped students deal with the submission maze: unclear Turnitin settings, policy questions, and that deadline-week stress spiral.

This question shows up constantly (usually 48–72 hours before the due time):

“If I pre-check… will my school know?”

You’re not asking because you’re trying to hide something. You’re asking because you want to avoid surprises, and you’ve heard a lot of contradictory advice online. Let’s make it simple and honest.

If you want the full “safe pre-submission workflow,” read the main guide: How to Check Your Turnitin Score Before Submitting (What’s Safe & What Isn’t).

1. Students' understanding of “know’’ is threefold

 In my experience, “Will my school know?” is really one (or more) of these:

● Visibility: Is my instructor aware I ran a check, or submitted a draft?

● History: Do they see any earlier drafts to compare and resubmissions?

● Future matching: Will my final match my earlier draft because it got saved somewhere? (That’s the one you care about if there’s no repository.)

Let’s go one by one.

2. What you see in a class Turnitin submission

The key to what you see (and why you’re scratching your head) are the assignment settings

A lot of the frustration comes from this simple truth: students don’t manage the Turnitin settings. Instructors do. In fact, Turnitin’s help center explicitly says if you can’t see Similarity Reports (when you should be able to), it’s almost always because they’re restricted in the assignment settings.

“Generate reports on due date” is the most common reason you see nothing

If you’ve set the assignment to generate reports on the due date, Turnitin says you won’t be able to see the Similarity Report until the due date has passed. And, instructors can restrict students from ever seeing the report at all.

My practical takeaway:

If you can’t see your report, don’t automatically assume you’re “flagged.” It’s almost always just a setting.

Resubmitting probably scrubs the old version

One of the biggest myths: “If I resubmit, everything will be visible to them (all my drafts).”

In many workflows, the new submission overwrites the previous one. Turnitin’s student guidance says resubmitting will overwrite your “current submission”:

And Turnitin’s help center is no gentler than: “Note that previous submissions, including previous reports and feedback, cannot be restored if they were overwritten.”

If you’re using Turnitin Clarity, their guide is even more direct: every new submission will overwrite all the old ones, including previous reports and feedback.

In plain Words: your instructor isn’t necessarily keeping a clean archive of all the drafts you ever may have submitted – often, they just replace the old ones. (I’m careful about absolute statements as different policies and tools exist, but this is the most common truth.)

3. Draft Coach privacy: what students actually want to know

Draft Coach gets misunderstood because it feels like Turnitin—but it’s a different workflow.

What Draft Coach is (and isn’t)

Turnitin describes Draft Coach as a way to use Turnitin tools in Google Docs to help you work toward the final draft before you submit to your teacher.

So think “drafting support,” not “official submission report.”Can instructors see your Draft Coach Similarity report?

Turnitin’s own instructor-facing Draft Coach guidance answers this directly:

Only the student that has run the report will be able to see their results (see Turnitin Draft Coach FAQs).

That’s exactly why I like Draft Coach when it’s available: it gives students a place to learn from similarity and citation feedback without turning drafting into a high-stakes performance.

Does Draft Coach store your draft in a repository?

Turnitin’s help center says running a similarity check in Draft Coach will not add your document to their repository, so it won’t be used to match against your final paper later.

This directly addresses one of the biggest student fears: “Did I accidentally create a self-match by checking my draft?”

4. “No repository” in plain English: what it’s worth (and what it isn’t)

 If you know “no repository,” you might think it means “invisible.” That’s not what it means.

Turnitin’s formal optional assignment settings describe “Do not store the submitted papers” as follows:

A Similarity Report will be generated and the submission will not be stored in the default repository or your institution’s repository for future comparison(see Turnitin optional assignment settings).

That is the main value of “no repository” when it comes to drafts: it lowers the probability that your draft will be a matching source in the future.

Myths vs Facts (quick)

Myth: “No repository means nobody can see it.”

Fact: A Similarity Report can still be generated; this setting is about storage for future comparisons, not “who can view the assignment.”

Myth: “No repository guarantees my professor won’t know I submitted a draft.”

Fact: Visibility depends on the course workflow and settings. “No repository” changes what gets stored for matching later.

5. What’s typically visible vs not (by workflow)

Here’s the cleanest way I’ve found to explain it to students:

This table is based on Turnitin’s documentation on student report visibility, due-date generation, resubmissions/overwrites, Draft Coach visibility, and repository settings.

6. Common myths I hear every week (and what I tell students)

Myth 1: “If I pre-check, my professor will think I’m cheating.”

If you’re using school-approved drafting tools (draft assignment, writing center, Draft Coach), you’re doing exactly what institutions want: improving citation and writing quality. Draft Coach is explicitly framed as a tool to help students work toward a final draft before submitting.

Myth 2: “If I can’t see the Similarity Report, I’m in trouble.”

Turnitin lists very normal reasons: reports may be set to generate on the due date, or student viewing may be restricted.

Myth 3: “If I resubmit, my instructor can review every version.”

In many cases, resubmission overwrites the prior file, and Turnitin says overwritten submissions can’t be restored.

Myth 4: “No repository means private / invisible.”

No repository is about not storing submissions for future comparison, while a Similarity Report can still be generated.

Myth 5: “Draft Coach will store my draft and self-match my final.”

Turnitin explicitly says Draft Coach similarity checks don’t add your document to their repository and won’t be used to match against your final paper.

7. What I recommend (safety-first, no guessing)

The 30-second decision check

1. Did you pre-check by submitting to a class assignment?

Assume it’s part of the course workflow—if you’re unsure what’s visible, it’s controlled by assignment settings.

2. Did you use Draft Coach?

Draft Coach results are typically student-only, and Draft Coach checks don’t add your draft to Turnitin’s repository.

3. Are you mainly worried your final paper will match a draft later?

That’s a “repository/storage” question—look for “Do not store” / “no repository” language in official settings and policies.

A respectful message template to your instructor

If you need clarity, here’s what I’d send:

Hi Professor, quick question about the Turnitin settings for this assignment:

Will students be able to view the Similarity Report before the deadline, or is it set to generate on the due date?

I’m asking so I can double-check citations and paraphrasing before submitting my final version. Thank you!This keeps it professional and aligns with academic integrity goals.

8. Closing (my honest view)

Pre-checking isn’t suspicious. Unclear workflows are what make students panic.

If you stay inside school-approved routes (draft submissions, Draft Coach when available, writing center support) and focus on improving citations/paraphrasing, you’re doing the “boring, correct” thing, and boring is good in academic policy.

9. FAQ

Will my professor see that I ran a pre-check?

If your “pre-check” is a class assignment submission, it’s in the course workflow and visibility depends on settings. If your pre-check is Draft Coach, Turnitin’s guidance says only the student who ran the report can view the results.

Can instructors see my Draft Coach Similarity report?

Turnitin’s Draft Coach guidance for instructors says only the student who ran the report can see their results.

Will Draft Coach store my draft and affect my final submission?

Turnitin states that running a similarity check in Draft Coach does not add the document to their repository and won’t be used to match against your final paper.

Why can’t I see my Similarity Report until the due date?

Turnitin notes this can happen when the assignment is set to generate reports on the due date (or student viewing is restricted).

What does “no repository” actually change?

Turnitin’s settings explain that a Similarity Report can be generated, but the submission won’t be stored in the standard or institution repository for future comparison.