Where to find Track Changes and turn it on

Track Changes is in the Review tab at the top of Word. Click Review, then click the Track Changes button — it looks like a pen with a checkmark. Once it is on, Word marks every edit you or anyone else makes: deletions show as strikethrough text in a different color, additions appear in that same color, and moved text gets flagged. The feature stays on until you turn it off, so you can edit normally while Word records what changed.

On Windows, Track Changes is in the top ribbon under Review. On Mac, it is in the Review tab as well, though the button location shifts slightly depending on your Word version. Either way, you are looking for the pen-with-checkmark icon. Once you click it, you will see a small dot appear next to the button to show it is active.

If you do not see the Review tab, you may be in a simplified view. Click the three dots (more options) on the right side of the ribbon and select "Show Tabs" to make sure Review is visible.

Key Takeaways

  • Track Changes is in the Review tab; click the button with the pen and checkmark to turn it on, and a dot will show when it is active.
  • Every edit — deletions, additions, and moved text — appears in a different color with strikethrough or highlighting so you can see exactly what changed.
  • You can accept or reject individual changes one at a time, or accept all changes at once using the buttons in the Review tab.
  • Turn off Track Changes when you are done editing so new changes stop being recorded, then save the file to lock in your decisions about which edits to keep.

What happens when Track Changes is on

When Track Changes is active, Word assigns a color to each person editing the document. Your edits appear in one color, a colleague's edits in another. Deleted text shows as strikethrough in that color. New text appears highlighted or underlined in that color. Comments or notes about the changes can be added in the margin.

The document itself does not change permanently until you accept the edits. If you delete a sentence while Track Changes is on, that sentence stays visible with a strikethrough — it is not actually gone from the file until you click Accept on that specific change. This means you can review every single edit before deciding whether to keep it.

You can also see a summary of all changes in the Tracking pane, which shows up on the right side of the screen. It lists every insertion, deletion, and comment in order, so you can jump to each one without scrolling through the whole document.

How to review and accept or reject changes

Once edits are marked, you review them in the Review tab. Click "Next" to jump to the first change, read it, then decide: click "Accept" to keep the edit, or "Reject" to undo it and restore the original text. Word moves to the next change automatically after you choose.

If you want to accept or reject all changes at once without reviewing each one, click the small arrow next to "Accept" and select "Accept All Changes" or do the same with "Reject" to turn down every edit. This is faster if you trust all the edits or want to start over, but you lose the chance to pick and choose.

You can also right-click directly on a marked change in the document and select Accept or Reject from the menu. This works well if you are scrolling through and spot something you want to decide on when ready.

Turning off Track Changes when you are done

Once you have accepted or rejected all the changes you want to deal with, click Track Changes again in the Review tab to turn it off. The button will no longer show a dot. Any new edits you make after this point will not be tracked — they will just change the document normally.

Before you turn it off, make sure you have made your final decisions on the changes you care about. Once Track Changes is off and you save the file, the strikethrough and colored text disappear, and the document shows only the final version. You cannot undo that decision without reopening an older version of the file.

Sharing a document with Track Changes on

If you send a document to someone else with Track Changes still on, they will see all your edits marked in color. They can review your changes, accept or reject them, and add their own tracked edits on top. This is how collaborative editing works in Word — each person's changes stay visible and attributed to them until someone accepts or rejects them.

When multiple people are editing the same document, each person gets a different color automatically. Word keeps track of who made which change, so you can see at a glance whether an edit came from you, your manager, or a colleague. This is especially useful for documents that move through several rounds of review.

Customizing how changes look

If the default colors or formatting for tracked changes do not work for you, you can change them. In the Review tab, click the small arrow next to Track Changes and select "Track Changes Options." From there you can choose different colors for insertions and deletions, change whether deletions show as strikethrough or balloons in the margin, and decide how moved text appears.

You can also choose to show changes in a simplified view, which hides the colored markup and shows only the final text — useful if the markup is too visually busy. But the changes are still there; you are just hiding the display. Switch back to "All Markup" view to see them again.

Common reasons Track Changes does not work as expected

If you turn on Track Changes and nothing appears to be marked, check that the document is not in read-only mode. Some files open as read-only for protection, and you cannot track changes in a read-only document. Look at the top of the window — if it says "Read-Only," click "Edit Anyway" to enable editing.

If changes are being marked but you cannot see them, you may be in "No Markup" view. Click the View dropdown in the Review tab and select "All Markup" to see the colored edits again. Another possibility is that someone has protected the document to prevent changes — if that is the case, you will see a message when you try to edit, and you will need the password to unprotect it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I see who made each change if multiple people are editing?

Yes. Word assigns a different color to each person and displays their name when you hover over a tracked change or click on it. The Tracking pane on the right also shows the editor's name next to each change, so you can see at a glance who deleted what and who added what.

What happens if I close the document without accepting or rejecting changes?

The changes stay marked in the document. When you reopen it, all the tracked edits are still there in the same colors, and you can continue reviewing and accepting or rejecting them. Word does not force you to decide when ready.

Can I turn Track Changes on and off multiple times while editing the same document?

Yes. You can turn it on, make some edits, turn it off, make other edits without tracking, then turn it back on. The edits made while it was off will not be marked, but the edits made while it was on will stay marked until you accept or reject them.

Does Track Changes work the same way in Word online as in the desktop version?

Mostly yes. Word online has Track Changes in the Review tab, and it marks edits the same way. The options for customizing colors and appearance are more limited in the online version, but the core function — marking who changed what — works identically.

If I reject a change, can I undo that rejection and get the edit back?

If you reject a change and when ready realize you made a mistake, you can undo the rejection with Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) right away. If you have already moved on to other changes, you will need to reopen an older version of the file to recover the rejected edit.