Collaborating on a document used to involve printing it out, grabbing a red pen, crossing out sentences, and physically handing the paper back to the author. Today, Microsoft Word replicates this exact process digitally using a powerful feature called Track Changes.
When Track Changes is turned on, every single edit you make to a document is recorded and visually highlighted. If you delete a word, Word doesn’t actually remove it; instead, it puts a red strike-through line across it. If you add a new sentence, Word highlights the new text in a different color. This allows the original author to review the document and see exactly what you altered before they decide to permanently accept or reject your edits.
How to Turn On Track Changes
Before you make a single edit to a document you are reviewing, you must activate the feature.
- Open the document in Microsoft Word.
- Look at the Ribbon at the top of the screen and click on the Review tab.
- In the “Tracking” section (usually located near the middle of the ribbon), click the large button labelled Track Changes.
- The button will become highlighted (usually shaded grey), indicating that the feature is now active.
Now, simply start editing the document normally. Any letters you type will appear in a different color (usually red or blue), and any text you press backspace on will remain on the screen but will be crossed out.
To turn the feature off and return to normal typing, simply click the Track Changes button on the ribbon a second time.
How to Change the View (Simple Markup vs. All Markup)
If you are heavily editing a document, the screen can quickly become a chaotic, unreadable mess of crossed-out red text and colorful insertions. To make the document easier to read while you are working, you can change how Word displays the tracked changes.
- Go to the Review tab.
- Right next to the Track Changes button, you will see a drop-down menu that likely says All Markup.
- Click this menu to reveal four options:
- Simple Markup: This hides all the messy crossed-out text. It shows you the final, clean version of your edited text, but places a small red line in the left margin next to any paragraph that contains an edit. This is the best mode for reading.
- All Markup: This shows every single deletion, insertion, and formatting change in full color. This is the best mode for seeing exactly what was changed.
- No Markup: This completely hides all tracked changes and shows the document as if the edits were permanently accepted.
- Original: This hides all your edits and shows the document exactly as it looked before you turned Track Changes on.
How to Accept or Reject Changes
When you receive a document back from an editor with Track Changes enabled, you must review their work and decide which edits to keep and which to discard. You cannot simply turn off Track Changes to make the red text go away. You must formally process each edit.
- Open the edited document.
- Go to the Review tab.
- Place your blinking cursor at the very beginning of the document.
- In the “Changes” section of the ribbon, click the Next button. Word will immediately jump to the very first edit the reviewer made.
- Review the highlighted change.
- If you agree with the edit, click the large Accept button on the ribbon (it has a green checkmark). Word will make the change permanent, remove the red coloring, and automatically jump to the next edit.
- If you disagree with the edit, click the Reject button (it has a red ‘X’). Word will delete the reviewer’s suggestion, restore your original text, and jump to the next edit.
Repeat this process until a pop-up appears stating “There aren’t any tracked changes in your document.” At this point, the document is completely clean and ready to be printed or published.
The Fast Method
If you trust your editor implicitly and want to accept every single change they made at once, you do not need to click “Accept” fifty times. Click the small drop-down arrow below the Accept button and select Accept All Changes. The entire document will be instantly finalized.