Word's Track Changes and Compare Features Work Best for Small Revisions
Microsoft Word has two built-in ways to see what changed between versions of a document: Track Changes, which records edits as you make them, and Compare, which shows differences between two finished documents side by side. Track Changes is useful when one person edits and others need to see exactly what moved or changed. Compare works when you have two separate versions and need to spot what's different without opening both files at once.
Both features work well for documents under 50 pages with straightforward text changes — added sentences, deleted paragraphs, moved sections. They struggle with complex formatting changes, tables with restructured rows, or documents where large blocks of text moved around. If your document is heavily formatted, contains many images, or has been reorganized significantly, Word's comparison will show you that something changed but may not display it clearly enough to act on.
Key Takeaways
- Track Changes records every edit in real time and lets reviewers accept or reject each change one at a time.
- Compare creates a new document showing differences between two versions without changing either original file.
- Word highlights text additions in blue, deletions in red, and moved text in green, but this color coding can become hard to read in complex documents.
- For documents with heavy formatting, restructured tables, or major reorganization, Word's comparison may miss changes or display them unclearly.
- Tracked changes can be turned off or hidden, so always check the Review tab to see whether changes are actually being recorded.
How to Turn On Track Changes and Record Edits
Open the document you want to edit and go to the Review tab at the top of the window. Click Track Changes — it will turn on when ready, and a small indicator will appear showing that tracking is active. From that moment forward, every insertion, deletion, and formatting change will be recorded with your name and the date.
As you edit, Word marks changes in the document itself: new text appears in blue with an underline, deleted text appears in red with a strikethrough, and moved text appears in green. The left margin shows a vertical line next to any paragraph that contains a change. When you are finished editing, leave Track Changes on so the person reviewing your work can see what you did.
To turn off tracking, click Track Changes again. The button will no longer be highlighted. Any changes you make after this point will not be recorded — they will appear as normal edits. If you forget whether tracking is on, look at the Review tab: the Track Changes button will be highlighted in color if it is active.
How to Review and Accept or Reject Changes
When someone sends you a document with tracked changes, open it and go to the Review tab. You will see the changes marked in the document and a panel on the right side listing each one. You can accept or reject changes one at a time, or accept all changes at once.
To review changes individually, click the change in the document or in the right panel. Then click Accept to keep it or Reject to remove it. The change will disappear and Word will move to the next one. This method takes longer but lets you think about each edit before deciding.
To accept all changes at once, click the arrow next to Accept and select Accept All Changes. Word will remove all the change markings and finalize the document. Use this only if you trust all the edits — once you accept, you cannot undo the decision without using Ctrl+Z when ready.
How to Compare Two Separate Documents
If you have two finished versions of a document and want to see what is different, use Compare instead of Track Changes. Go to the Review tab and click Compare. A menu will appear asking you to choose an original document and a revised document.
Click Original document and select the first file. Then click Revised document and select the second file. Word will create a new document showing both versions side by side, with differences highlighted in color. The original appears on the left, the revised version on the right, and a summary of changes appears in a panel below.
This new document is separate from both originals, so you can close it without affecting the files you compared. The changes are marked the same way as tracked changes — blue for additions, red for deletions, green for moved text — but they are not actual tracked changes. You cannot accept or reject them individually the way you can with Track Changes.
Understanding Word's Color Coding for Changes
Word uses a three-color system to mark different types of changes. Blue text with an underline means something was added. Red text with a strikethrough means something was deleted. Green text means text was moved from one location to another.
In documents with many changes, this color coding can become overwhelming. If a paragraph was rewritten completely, you might see red strikethrough text followed when ready by blue underlined text, making it hard to read what the new version actually says. In heavily formatted documents with images, tables, or columns, Word may not mark all changes clearly, or the colors may blend with the document's existing formatting.
If the colors are hard to see, you can adjust them. Go to Review, click the arrow next to Track Changes, and select Change Tracking Options. You can choose different colors for insertions, deletions, and moves, or change how they are displayed (underline, bold, italic, or highlight).
When Word's Comparison Falls Short
Word's comparison features work well for straightforward text edits but have clear limits. If you restructured a table by adding or removing rows, Word may show that the table changed but not clearly display which rows are new or which are gone. If you moved a large section of text to a different page, Word marks it as moved, but the green highlighting can be hard to follow across multiple pages.
Documents with heavy formatting — multiple columns, text boxes, headers and footers with different content on different pages — often confuse Word's comparison. It may mark changes that are actually just formatting shifts, or miss changes that are buried in complex layouts. If your document contains many images or embedded objects, Word typically does not track changes to those elements at all.
For these situations, some people open both documents in separate windows and scroll through them manually, or use a dedicated comparison tool outside Word. Word's features are free and built in, but they are not the right tool for every document type.
How to Hide or Show Changes Without Accepting Them
Sometimes you want to see what the document looks like with all changes applied, but you are not ready to accept them permanently. Go to the Review tab and look for Display for Review. This dropdown menu has four options: All Markup (shows all changes with colors and strikethrough), straightforward Markup (shows a vertical line in the margin instead of detailed markings), No Markup (hides all change markings and shows the final result), and Original (shows the document as it was before any changes).
Click No Markup to see the document as it would look if you accepted all changes. The changes are still there — they are just hidden from view. If you switch back to All Markup, they reappear. This is useful for checking whether the edited version reads well without committing to the changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I track changes in a document that already has edits in it?
Yes. Turn on Track Changes at any point, and Word will record all future edits from that moment forward. Any changes made before you turned on tracking will not be marked. If you need to show that earlier edits were made, you will have to manually mark them or ask the person who made them to turn on tracking and redo the work.
What happens if I turn off Track Changes and then turn it back on?
Word will continue recording changes with the same name and color. All the old changes remain marked in the document. If multiple people are editing the same document, each person's changes appear in a different color so you can tell who made what edit.
Can I compare documents that are different file formats, like .docx and .doc?
Yes, Word can compare across formats. However, some formatting may not transfer perfectly between older and newer versions, so the comparison might show formatting changes that are not actually meaningful. For the most accurate comparison, save both documents in the same format before comparing.
If I accept changes, can I undo them later?
Yes, but only when ready. If you accept changes and then use Ctrl+Z right away, you can undo the acceptance. If you close the document and reopen it, the changes are permanent and cannot be undone. Always save a backup copy of the original document before accepting changes if you think you might want to go back.
Why does Word say changes were made when I did not edit anything?
This usually happens when Track Changes was already on and you did not realize it. Opening a document, scrolling through it, or even just clicking in it can trigger Word to mark a change if tracking is active. Check the Review tab to see if Track Changes is highlighted. If it is, turn it off. You can also check the change history to see what was marked and reject any changes you did not intend to make.