How To Use Track and Changes
How To Use Track and Changes
Did you know that Microsoft Word has built in tools to track your changes, edits, and comments
while you’re reviewing a document? If you want to return an edited document to someone with
your changes highlighted, and so they can accept or reject or your suggested changes, Track
Changes is for you.
Display for Review is an option that lets you see Simple Markup, All Markup, No Markup, or
Original.
Simple Markup: Collapses markup and shows changes integrated into the text. The only
indication that a line has been changed is a red bar to the left of the affected lines.
All Markup: Shows all markup, including balloons for formatting changes.
No Markup: Shows changes integrated into the text with no indications of where the
changes were made. This and Simple Markup are great if you want to toggle to a “clean”
version of the changed document and read through it without the distraction of the markup.
Original: Shows the original text before any markup was made. This is a great way to toggle between
your edited and unedited document versions to see how they differ .
SHOW MARKUP
There is a second option for adjusting which types of edits you see markup for. Say, for example, that you
don’t care about seeing formatting changes, but you do want to see insertions and deletions and
comments.
When you click on the Show Markup option, the drop down list has options to turn markup on or off for:
• Comments
• Ink (changes made with the Draw options in Word, such as on a tablet)
• Insertions and Deletions
• Formatting
You can also use Balloons and Specific People options on the list to change if some markup appears
inline or in balloons out at the sides of the document, and to focus on only certain reviewers if your
document has been marked up by more than on person.
4. You can also use the Previous and Next buttons on the Ribbon to move from one change to the
next.
5. To immediately accept or reject the current change, click the top half of the buttons (and no drop-
down options will appear).
6. Remember, you can always turn off Track Changes whenever you don’t need it anymore. Just go
back to the Track Changes button on the Ribbon and click it again so it is no longer selected.
Hopefully this handy tool will help you with your editing and reviewing process!