Track Changes is Microsoft Word’s built-in review tool. When it’s switched on, every edit made to the document is recorded — additions, deletions, formatting changes — and displayed in a way that lets anyone else reading the document see exactly what was changed and by whom. It’s the standard way to collaborate on a document when more than one person needs to review or edit it, and it’s far more reliable than emailing different versions back and forth hoping nobody overwrites anyone else’s work.
What Track Changes Actually Does
When Track Changes is active, Word marks up the document rather than silently making changes. Inserted text appears underlined (and usually in a different colour). Deleted text appears as strikethrough. Formatting changes are noted in the margins. Each change is tagged with the name of the person who made it and a timestamp.
The document owner (or anyone with edit access) can then go through the changes and either accept them — making them permanent — or reject them, restoring the original text. Until a change is accepted or rejected, it exists in a kind of limbo: it shows in the document but hasn’t been committed.
How to Turn Track Changes On and Off
Go to the Review tab in the ribbon and click Track Changes. When it’s active, the button will appear highlighted. Every change you make from this point forward will be tracked.
The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + E — useful if you switch tracking on and off frequently.
To turn it off, click the Track Changes button again (or press Ctrl + Shift + E again). Changes you make after this point will not be tracked. Any changes already recorded remain in the document until accepted or rejected.
Locking Track Changes On
If you’re sending a document out for review and you want to make sure the reviewer can’t quietly turn off tracking and edit without leaving a record, you can lock it. Click the dropdown arrow beneath the Track Changes button and choose Lock Tracking. You’ll be asked to set a password. Anyone without the password can still edit the document, but Track Changes will remain on and cannot be disabled.
How Changes Appear in the Document
By default, Word displays changes inline with revision marks visible:
- Insertions — underlined text, usually in a colour assigned to that reviewer
- Deletions — strikethrough text, in the same reviewer colour
- Formatting changes — noted in a balloon in the right margin (e.g. “Formatted: Bold”)
- Moves — double-underline for text moved to a new location, double-strikethrough for where it came from
If multiple people have reviewed the document, Word assigns a different colour to each reviewer automatically, so you can see at a glance who made which changes.
Accepting and Rejecting Changes
In the Review tab, the Accept and Reject buttons let you process changes one at a time or all at once.
Accepting or Rejecting One Change at a Time
Click on a tracked change in the document to position your cursor there, then click Accept or Reject in the Review tab. Word will move automatically to the next change. Alternatively, right-click directly on a change and choose Accept or Reject from the context menu.
Accepting or Rejecting All Changes at Once
Click the dropdown arrow under Accept and choose Accept All Changes to commit every tracked change in the document in one go. Similarly, click the dropdown under Reject and choose Reject All Changes to discard every tracked change and revert to the original text throughout.
A common workflow is to read through the document, accepting most changes as you go, and only pausing to reject the ones you disagree with. Use the Next and Previous buttons in the Review tab to navigate between changes without having to scroll manually.
Adding and Managing Comments
Comments are separate from tracked changes but work alongside them. Rather than editing the text directly, a comment lets a reviewer leave a note attached to a specific part of the document.
Adding a Comment
Select the text you want to comment on, then go to Review > New Comment. A comment bubble appears in the margin. Type your note. The comment is linked to the selected text with a line or shading so it’s clear what it refers to.
Replying to a Comment
In Word 365 and Word 2019, you can reply directly to a comment, creating a thread. Click inside the comment and click the Reply button (the speech bubble icon). This keeps related discussion together rather than spreading comments across the document.
Resolving and Deleting Comments
Once a comment has been dealt with, you can mark it as resolved — it greys out but stays visible — or delete it entirely. Right-click the comment and choose Resolve Comment or Delete Comment. To delete all comments at once, go to the dropdown under the Delete button in the Review tab and choose Delete All Comments in Document.
Showing and Hiding Markup
Sometimes you want to read the document as it currently stands — with all accepted changes incorporated — without the visual noise of revision marks. In the Review tab, use the Display for Review dropdown (it usually shows “All Markup” by default) to change how the document is displayed:
- All Markup — shows all tracked changes and comments
- Simple Markup — shows a clean version of the document with small red lines in the margin to indicate where changes have been made; click a line to expand the detail
- No Markup — shows the document as it would look if all changes were accepted, without actually accepting them
- Original — shows the document as it was before any tracked changes were made
This is view-only — switching between these modes doesn’t accept or reject anything. It’s just changing what you see on screen.
Printing With or Without Track Changes
When you print, Word will print whatever is currently shown in the Display for Review setting. If you’re in All Markup view, the printed copy will show all revision marks. If you want a clean printed copy without marks, switch to No Markup before printing — or go to File > Print, click the Print All Pages dropdown, and look for the option to print without markup.
If you want to print only the list of changes as a summary (useful for record-keeping), go to File > Print, click the Pages dropdown, and choose List of Markup.
Practical Tips for Document Collaboration
- Check your name is correct before reviewing. Word tags changes with the display name set in Options. Go to File > Options > General and check the name under Personalise your copy of Microsoft Office. If multiple people use the same computer, make sure everyone sets their own name before reviewing.
- Accept all before sending a final version. It’s easy to accidentally send a document with tracked changes still showing. Before sending a final copy to a client or printing for distribution, always go to Accept > Accept All Changes to clean it up.
- Use comments for questions, tracked changes for edits. A comment saying “Is this figure correct?” is more useful than editing the number with a track change and hoping the author notices.
- Check the Document Inspector before sharing. Go to File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document to find any hidden tracked changes or comments you might have missed. Word sometimes keeps changes in hidden parts of the document.
