When multiple people are collaborating on a single document, emailing versions back and forth named “Draft_Final_v3_Bob_Edits.docx” leads to total chaos. Text gets deleted without explanation, and merging everyone’s changes manually is a nightmare. To solve this, Microsoft Word includes a powerful collaboration tool: Track Changes.
When enabled, Track Changes records every single addition, deletion, and formatting tweak made by any user, displaying them as coloured markups. The document owner can then review these suggestions one by one, choosing to accept or reject them. In this guide, you will learn how to use Track Changes effectively.
How to Enable Track Changes
Before you begin editing a document for a colleague, you must turn the feature on so your edits are recorded.
- Open the document in Microsoft Word.
- Navigate to the Review tab on the Ribbon at the top of the screen.
- In the Tracking group, click the large Track Changes button. The button will turn grey, indicating it is active. (Alternatively, you can press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + E).
From this point forward, every keystroke is recorded. If you delete a word, it will not vanish; instead, it will appear crossed out in red ink. If you type a new word, it will appear underlined.
Customising How Markups are Displayed
A heavily edited document can quickly become unreadable due to the sheer volume of red text and crossed-out paragraphs. You need to adjust the display view.
- On the Review tab, look for the dropdown menu next to the Track Changes button (it usually says “All Markup” by default).
- Click the dropdown to select a different view:
- Simple Markup: This is the best view for reading. It hides the crossed-out text and shows the document as it would look if all changes were accepted. A vertical red line in the left margin indicates where a change was made. Clicking that red line expands the view to show the exact edits.
- All Markup: Shows every deletion, addition, and formatting change in full detail.
- No Markup: Shows the final document with all changes accepted (but does not actually accept them).
- Original: Shows the document exactly as it was before Track Changes was turned on.
Adding Comments for Context
Sometimes you do not want to rewrite a colleague’s sentence; you just want to ask a question or suggest an alternative. You should use Comments for this.
- Highlight the specific text you want to discuss.
- On the Review tab, click New Comment.
- A speech bubble will appear in the right-hand margin. Type your feedback there.
- Other collaborators can click the “Reply” button on your comment, creating a threaded conversation directly alongside the text.
How to Review (Accept or Reject) Changes
If you are the document owner and your colleague has just emailed the file back to you, you must systematically review their edits to finalise the document.
- Ensure you are on the Review tab and set the view to All Markup.
- Place your cursor at the very beginning of the document.
- Click the Next button in the Changes group on the Ribbon. Word will automatically highlight the first tracked edit.
- You have two choices:
- Click Accept to approve the change. The red markup will disappear, and the text will become permanent.
- Click Reject to discard the suggestion. The document will revert to exactly what you originally wrote.
- Once you click Accept or Reject, Word automatically jumps to the next edit in the document. Continue this process until a dialogue box informs you that the document contains no more tracked changes.
Accepting Everything at Once
If you trust the editor completely and do not want to review 500 minor punctuation fixes individually, you can click the small downward arrow underneath the Accept button and select Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking.
By enforcing the use of Track Changes across your team, you eliminate version control disasters and ensure every collaborator’s input is clearly visible and accounted for.