How to Use Track Changes in Microsoft Word

Collaborating on a document with multiple authors can quickly result in confusion. If someone emails you a revised version of a report, reading through the entire document to spot their subtle edits is highly inefficient and prone to error.

Microsoft Word solves this problem with a feature called Track Changes. When enabled, every insertion, deletion, and formatting change made to the document is visually recorded. This allows the original author to review the edits one by one, accepting or rejecting them as they see fit, ensuring complete control over the final draft.

How to Enable Track Changes

Before you begin editing someone else’s document, you must turn the feature on.

1. Open the document in Microsoft Word.
2. Click on the Review tab in the top ribbon menu.
3. In the “Tracking” group, click the Track Changes button. It will become highlighted, indicating that tracking is now active.

Pro Tip: You can quickly toggle Track Changes on and off by pressing Ctrl + Shift + E (Windows) or Command + Shift + E (Mac).

How Edits Are Displayed

Once Track Changes is active, Word will visually alter the text as you type to show what has been modified.

• Deletions: When you delete a word, it does not disappear. Instead, it remains on the screen but is shown in a different colour with a strikethrough line through it.
• Insertions: New text you type will appear in a different colour and will be underlined.
• Formatting: Changes to font size, bolding, or paragraph alignment are usually tracked and displayed in a small balloon in the right-hand margin.

Word automatically assigns a unique colour to each author. If three different people edit the document, you will see red, blue, and green markup, making it easy to see who made which change.

Choosing How Much Markup to See

If a document has been heavily edited, the sheer volume of coloured text and strikethroughs can make it incredibly difficult to read the actual sentences.

You can control how the tracking is displayed using the Display for Review dropdown menu (located right next to the Track Changes button in the Review tab):

• All Markup: Shows every single edit in detail (the default view).
• Simple Markup: Hides the strikethroughs and underlines. The document reads cleanly as if the edits were already accepted, but a small red line appears in the left margin next to any paragraph that contains a change. Clicking the red line expands it to “All Markup.”
• No Markup: Shows the final version of the document, hiding all evidence of tracking. (Note: This does not delete the tracking; it just hides it from view).
• Original: Shows the document exactly as it was before Track Changes was turned on.

How to Accept or Reject Changes

When an edited document is returned to you, your job is to review the markup and finalise the text.

1. Open the document and ensure you are on the Review tab.
2. Place your cursor at the very beginning of the document.
3. In the “Changes” group, click the Next button. Word will jump to the first tracked edit and highlight it.
4. You now have two choices:
   • Click Accept to keep the edit. The red markup will disappear, and the text will integrate normally into the document.
   • Click Reject to discard the edit and revert the text to its original state.
5. After clicking Accept or Reject, Word will automatically jump to the next edit in the document.

Accepting All Changes at Once

If you trust the editor completely and do not want to review fifty separate comma placements, you can accept everything instantly.

1. Click the small downward arrow directly below the Accept button.
2. Select Accept All Changes.
3. To accept all changes and simultaneously turn the tracking feature off, select Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking.

A Warning About Hidden Markup

Track Changes is stored securely within the document file. If you switch your view to “No Markup,” the document looks clean, but the tracked edits are still there.

If you email this document to a client or publish it online as a Word file, anyone who opens it can turn on “All Markup” and see every deleted paragraph, private comment, and corrected mistake you made during the drafting process.

To ensure a document is truly clean before sharing it publicly, you must use the Accept All Changes function to permanently remove the revision history from the file.