Turn on Track Changes before you start editing

Track Changes is a Word feature that records every insertion, deletion, and formatting change you make to a document. To turn it on, open your document in Word and look at the top menu. Click the Review tab, then find the Track Changes button — it looks like a pen with a checkmark. Click it once to switch tracking on. You will see a small indicator appear showing that tracking is active.

Once tracking is on, every edit you make will be marked with a colored line, comment bubble, or strikethrough, depending on what you changed. Different people editing the same document will see their changes in different colors, which makes it straightforward to see who changed what. If you are working alone, all your changes will appear in one color.

The best time to turn on tracking is before you begin editing, not after. If you have already made changes without tracking, those edits will not be recorded. You can turn tracking on and off as many times as you need — it only records changes while the feature is active.

Key Takeaways

  • Track Changes records every edit you make once you turn it on, showing insertions, deletions, and formatting changes with colored marks.
  • You turn on Track Changes from the Review tab at the top of Word, and the feature stays on until you click the button again to turn it off.
  • Each person editing a document sees their changes in a different color, making it clear who made which edits.
  • You can accept or reject individual changes one at a time, or accept all changes at once when you are ready to finalize the document.
  • The Reviewing Pane shows a list of all tracked changes in order, which is useful when a document has many edits scattered throughout.

Understanding what each type of change looks like

When Track Changes is on, Word marks different kinds of edits in different ways. Text you add appears underlined and in color. Text you delete appears struck through and in color, usually in a comment bubble to the side. If you change formatting — like making text bold or changing the font size — Word marks that with a vertical line in the margin next to the changed text.

The color of these marks depends on who made the edit. If you are the only person editing, all marks will be your assigned color. If multiple people are editing the same document, each person gets a different color automatically. This color coding makes it straightforward to scan a document and see at a glance who made which changes.

Sometimes the marks can make a document hard to read, especially if there are many edits. You can hide the marks temporarily by clicking the Display for Review dropdown on the Review tab and selecting Final to see what the document will look like after all changes are accepted. Select All Markup to see the marks again.

Accept or reject changes one at a time

After someone has edited a document with Track Changes on, you can go through each change and decide whether to keep it or remove it. On the Review tab, you will see buttons labeled Accept and Reject. Click the down arrow next to Accept to see options: you can accept the current change, or accept all changes at once.

To review changes one by one, click the Next button on the Review tab. Word will jump to the first change in the document and highlight it. Read the change, then click Accept to keep it or Reject to remove it. Click Next again to move to the second change. Keep going until you reach the end of the document.

This method takes longer if there are many changes, but it gives you control over each one. You might accept some changes and reject others depending on whether they improve the document. Once you accept a change, the colored mark disappears and the text becomes permanent. Once you reject a change, the edit is removed and the text returns to its original state.

Use the Reviewing Pane to see all changes at once

If a document has many changes scattered throughout, the Reviewing Pane can help you see them all in one place. On the Review tab, click the Reviewing Pane button. A panel will open on the left side of your screen showing a numbered list of every change in the document, in order from top to bottom.

The Reviewing Pane shows who made each change, what kind of change it was (insertion, deletion, or formatting), and when it was made if that information was recorded. You can click on any change in the list, and Word will jump to that location in the document and highlight it. This is especially useful in long documents where you might otherwise miss changes buried in the middle.

You can accept or reject changes from the Reviewing Pane just as you would from the document itself. Right-click on a change in the list and select Accept or Reject, or use the Accept and Reject buttons on the Review tab while a change is selected.

Accept all changes or reject all changes at once

If you have reviewed the changes and decided to keep all of them, you do not have to accept them one by one. On the Review tab, click the down arrow next to the Accept button and select Accept All Changes. Word will remove all the colored marks and strikethroughs, and the document will show the final version with every edit included.

Similarly, if you want to reject all changes and return the document to its original state, click the down arrow next to the Reject button and select Reject All Changes. This removes every edit that was tracked and restores the document to how it looked before tracking began.

Be careful with the "all at once" options — they explore to the entire document at once, and you cannot undo them by clicking undo if you change your mind later. If you are unsure about some changes, review them individually instead. Once you have accepted or rejected all changes, you can turn off Track Changes by clicking the button on the Review tab again.

Share a document with Track Changes for feedback

Track Changes is most useful when multiple people are working on the same document. You can send a document to a colleague with Track Changes already turned on, and they can make edits knowing that every change will be recorded and visible to you. When they send the document back, you will see exactly what they changed, who changed it, and in what order.

Before you send a document out for feedback, make sure Track Changes is turned on. You can also add a comment to explain what kind of feedback you are looking for. To add a comment, click the New Comment button on the Review tab, click in the document where you want the comment to appear, and type your message. Comments appear in bubbles and do not change the actual text.

When the document comes back with changes and comments, you can review everything on the Review tab. Accept the changes you agree with, reject the ones you do not, and read through the comments to understand your colleague's reasoning. This workflow makes it much easier to collaborate on writing and editing than sending multiple versions back and forth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I turn off Track Changes without accepting or rejecting the changes?

Yes. You can turn off Track Changes by clicking the button on the Review tab, and all the marks will stay in the document until you accept or reject them. The changes are still there — they are just not being recorded anymore. You can turn tracking back on later and continue reviewing.

What happens if I edit a document with Track Changes off?

Those edits will not be recorded or marked. Only changes made while Track Changes is on will appear as tracked changes. If you realize you forgot to turn on tracking, turn it on now and continue — future edits will be recorded, but past ones will not.

Can I see who made a change and when?

Yes. Hover your mouse over a tracked change in the document, and a small box will appear showing the person's name, the type of change, and the date and time it was made. The Reviewing Pane also displays this information for every change in a list.

What if I want to keep most changes but reject just a few?

Review the changes one by one using the Next button on the Review tab. Accept the ones you want to keep and reject the ones you do not. This takes longer than accepting all at once, but it gives you control over each individual change.

Does Track Changes work the same way in older versions of Word?

The basic feature works the same way, but the location of buttons and menu options may differ slightly. In older versions, Track Changes is usually on the Tools menu instead of the Review tab. The core function — recording edits and letting you accept or reject them — remains the same.