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How to Track Changes in Microsoft Word: A Step-by-Step Guide

Word 2021 - GGKEYS

Enable Track Changes

  • Open your Word document.
  • Go to the Review tab at the top of the screen.
  • In the Tracking section, click on Track Changes to turn on the feature.
  • Once enabled, Word will begin to track any changes you make, highlighting them for easy identification.
Step 1
Step 2 - Insert Comment
Step 2
Step 3

2. Set Tracking Preferences

  • Click the small arrow next to the Track Changes button to open additional options.
  • Select Change Tracking Options to customize how changes are displayed.
    • Markup: Choose how changes (insertions, deletions, and formatting) appear in the document (e.g., with colored text, in balloons, or inline).
    • Balloons: Decide if changes should appear in the margins as balloons.
    • Formatting: Control how changes to formatting (like font or paragraph style) are tracked.
  • Once you’re happy with your settings, click OK to save.

3. Make Edits

  • Now, as you make changes to the document, Word will track them:
    • Insertions: Any text you add will appear underlined or in a different color.
    • Deletions: Text you remove will have a strikethrough.
    • Formatting Changes: Changes in font size, style, or other formatting will be highlighted.
    • Comments: You can add comments by selecting text and clicking New Comment in the Comments section of the Review tab.
  • Each change will show who made it and when.

4. View Tracked Changes

You can choose how to view the tracked changes:

  • Simple Markup: Shows the final version of the document with a red line in the margin to indicate changes.
  • All Markup: Displays all changes—insertions, deletions, and comments—in the document.
  • No Markup: Hides all tracked changes, showing only the final version.
  • Original: Shows the original version of the document before any changes.
  • Choose your preferred view under the Tracking section in the Review tab.
View Tracked Changes

5. Accept or Reject Changes

  • Once you’ve reviewed the changes, you can either accept or reject them:
    • Go to the Review tab and look for the Changes section.
    • Use the Accept or Reject buttons to apply or remove individual changes.
    • You can also click Accept All or Reject All to apply or remove all changes at once.
Accept or Reject tracked changes<br>

6. Turn Off Track Changes

  • When you’re finished tracking changes, turn off the feature:
    • Go back to the Review tab and click Track Changes again to disable it.
  • Note: Turning off Track Changes doesn’t delete previously tracked changes. You still need to accept or reject them before finalizing the document.

7. Save the Document

  • After finishing your edits, save the document. If you’re sharing it, save it as a new file or keep it in its current format so that tracked changes are preserved for others to review.

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