Redlining means marking changes so everyone sees what you changed and why

Redlining in Word is the Track Changes feature. It records every edit you make — deletions, additions, formatting shifts — and shows them in a different color with your name attached. When you turn it on, Word marks insertions with underlines and deletions with strikethrough, usually in red or blue. The original author (or anyone with permission) can then accept or reject each change one at a time, or accept all of them at once.

This matters because it lets multiple people edit the same document without losing sight of who changed what. A lawyer reviewing a contract, an editor working with a writer, or a team collaborating on a proposal can all see the exact path the document took. Without Track Changes, you would have no record of what the previous version said.

Key Takeaways

  • Turn on Track Changes by clicking the Review tab, then Track Changes, then Record Changes — Word will mark all edits from that moment forward.
  • You can see who made each change and when by hovering over the marked text or opening the Tracking pane on the left side of the screen.
  • The person who receives the document can accept or reject changes individually, or use Accept All or Reject All to handle them in bulk.
  • Track Changes records only edits made after you turn it on — it does not retroactively mark changes already in the document.
  • You can turn off Track Changes at any time, but changes already recorded will stay visible until someone accepts or rejects them.

How to turn on Track Changes in Word

Open the document you want to edit. Click the Review tab at the top of the ribbon. In the Tracking group, click Track Changes, then click Record Changes. A small indicator will appear at the bottom of the screen showing that tracking is active. From this moment forward, every keystroke, deletion, and formatting change you make will be marked.

If you are using Word on a Mac, the steps are the same: Review tab, Track Changes, Record Changes. The visual indicators work identically. If you are using Word Online in a browser, click Review, then Track Changes, then it toggles on — you will see a blue indicator showing it is active.

You can also set your name and initials before you start, so the document shows who made each change. Go to File, then Options, then Trust Center, then Trust Center Settings, then Personal Information. Enter your name and initials. This name will appear whenever you make a tracked change.

What the marks mean and how to read them

When Track Changes is on, Word uses visual cues to show what changed. Text you add appears underlined and usually in a color like red or blue. Text you delete appears with a strikethrough line through it, also in color. If you move text from one place to another, Word marks both the deletion and the insertion. If you change formatting — bold, italics, font size — Word marks that too, though the mark appears as a small bracket or line in the margin.

Hover your mouse over any marked change and a small box will pop up showing the editor's name, the date and time of the change, and what was changed. If you want a full list of all changes in the document, click the Review tab, then click the Tracking pane (it looks like a sidebar icon). The pane opens on the left and lists every change in order. You can click any change in the pane to jump to it in the document.

How to accept or reject changes

The person reviewing the document can accept or reject changes one at a time, or all at once. To handle them individually, click Review, then click the down arrow next to Accept (or Reject). Click Accept to keep the change and remove the markup, or Reject to undo it and remove the markup. Word will move to the next change automatically.

To accept or reject all changes at once, click the down arrow next to Accept, then click Accept All Changes. Or click the down arrow next to Reject, then click Reject All Changes. This is faster if you trust all the edits, but you lose the chance to review each one. You can also right-click any change in the Tracking pane and choose Accept or Reject from the menu.

Once you accept or reject a change, the markup disappears and the document shows the final version. If you accept all changes, the document looks like a normal, unmarked file. If you reject all changes, the document reverts to what it was before tracking started.

Turning off Track Changes when you are done editing

When you finish making edits, click Review, then Track Changes, then Record Changes again. The toggle will turn off and the indicator at the bottom of the screen will disappear. Turning off tracking does not accept or reject the changes — it just stops recording new edits. All the marked changes stay in the document until someone accepts or rejects them.

If you want to send the document to someone else for review, you can leave Track Changes off. They can turn it on when they open the file and make their own edits. Or you can send it with all your changes still marked, and they can review and accept or reject them before making their own edits.

Common reasons Track Changes does not work the way you expect

If you make changes but they do not appear marked, Track Changes is probably off. Check the Review tab — if Record Changes is not highlighted or active, click it to turn it on. If it is on but changes still are not showing, the document might be in a read-only mode. Try clicking Edit Document at the top of the screen (in Word Online) or checking File Properties to see if the file is locked.

If you see changes marked but you did not make them, someone else edited the document while tracking was on. Check the name in the popup box to see who made the change. If the document has been passed between multiple people, each person's edits will be marked in their own color with their own name, so you can tell who did what.

If you want to see the document without any markup while still keeping the changes recorded, click Review, then click Display for Review, then click Final. The document will show the final version with all changes accepted visually, but the markup stays in the file. Switch back to All Markup to see the marks again.

Privacy and security when using Track Changes

Track Changes records your name, the date, and the time of every edit. If you share the document with someone, they can see all of this information. If you want to remove this metadata before sharing, you can accept all changes first (which removes the markup but keeps the edits), then save the document as a new file. The new file will have no record of who made what changes.

You can also use File, then Info, then Check for Issues, then Inspect Document. This opens a dialog that lets you remove tracked changes, comments, and other hidden information before you send the file to someone else. Choose what you want to remove and click Remove All.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I see what the document looked like before any changes were made?

Yes. Click Review, then Display for Review, then click Original. The document will show the version before any tracked changes were made. Switch back to All Markup to see the changes again. This is useful if you want to compare the before and after versions side by side.

What happens if two people edit the same document at the same time?

Word will mark both sets of changes in different colors with different names. When you open the document, you will see edits from both people. You can accept or reject them in any order. If the changes conflict — for example, both people edited the same sentence differently — you will need to choose which version to keep.

Can I turn off Track Changes for just part of a document?

No. Track Changes is a document-wide setting. When it is on, all edits are tracked. When it is off, no edits are tracked. You cannot selectively track changes in one section and not another. If you need to edit a section without tracking, you would have to turn off tracking, make the edits, then turn it back on.

Does Track Changes work the same way in Word Online as it does in the desktop version?

Yes, the core features are the same. You turn it on in Review, edits are marked the same way, and you accept or reject changes the same way. Word Online may have slightly different button locations or a simpler interface, but the tracking itself works identically. Files sync between desktop and online versions, so changes tracked in one will show up in the other.

What if I accidentally reject a change I wanted to keep?

Use Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) to undo the rejection when ready. The change will be marked again and you can accept it. If you have already closed and reopened the document, the undo history is gone and you cannot recover the rejected change — you would have to ask the original editor to send you the file again.