Working with tracked changes in Microsoft Word
How to review an edited document: accept, reject, compare and finish cleanly.
Professional edits arrive as tracked changes, so you can see and approve every change. Here is how to review them.
Reading the markup
- Deleted text is struck through.
- Added text is underlined, in colour.
- Comments appear in the margin, with questions or explanations.
- A line in the margin shows where something changed.
Review one change at a time
- Open the Review tab.
- Choose Next to jump to the first change.
- Choose Accept or Reject. Word moves to the next one.
- Read each comment; some ask you to decide something.
Accept everything at once
If you are happy with the edit, open the Accept menu on the Review tab and choose Accept All Changes. Read the comments first.
Choose a view
| View | Shows |
|---|---|
| Simple Markup | the edited text, with a line where something changed |
| All Markup | every insertion, deletion and comment |
| No Markup | the text as it would look if you accepted everything |
| Original | your text before the edit |
Finish cleanly
Before you send the document anywhere:
- accept or reject every change, so none remain;
- delete comments (Review → Delete → Delete All Comments in Document);
- turn Track Changes off.
Other programs
Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer and Apple Pages open Word files and show tracked changes, though the buttons are named differently.
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