Accepting or rejecting changes removes them from the document

Track Changes in Word leaves a record of every edit — insertions, deletions, formatting shifts — but those marks stay visible until you deal with them one by one. You remove them by accepting or rejecting each change, or by accepting all changes at once if you trust the edits. Once you accept or reject a change, the markup disappears and the text settles into its final form.

The fastest route depends on whether you want to keep the edits. If someone else made the changes and you want them all: accept all at once. If you want to review them or discard some: go through them individually. Either way, the process takes minutes.

Key Takeaways

  • Track Changes marks stay in your document until you accept or reject each one, which removes the markup but keeps or removes the actual text change.
  • You can accept all changes at once from the Review tab, which is the fastest method if you trust all the edits.
  • To review changes one at a time, use the Review tab to step through each change and choose accept or reject for each.
  • Turning off Track Changes stops recording new edits but does not remove existing marks — you must accept or reject them separately.
  • Once all changes are accepted or rejected, the document looks normal again with no revision marks visible.

Accept all changes at once from the Review tab

Open the document with Track Changes marks in Word. At the top of the window, click the Review tab. On the left side of the ribbon, you will see a button labeled Accept with a small arrow next to it. Click that arrow to open a dropdown menu.

Select Accept All Changes from the dropdown. Word will process every tracked change in the document — every insertion, deletion, and formatting change — and remove all the markup. The text will settle into its final state with no revision marks visible. This method works when you have reviewed the document separately or when you trust all the changes made to it.

Review and accept or reject changes one at a time

If you want to see each change before deciding, open the Review tab and look for the navigation buttons near the top left. You will see arrows labeled Previous and Next that move you through each tracked change in order. Click Next to jump to the first change.

Word will highlight the change in the document and show you what was added, removed, or modified. Above the change, you will see two buttons: Accept and Reject. Click Accept to keep that edit and remove the markup, or click Reject to discard the edit and restore the original text. Then click Next again to move to the following change. Repeat until you have reviewed all changes.

Turn off Track Changes when you are done

After you have accepted or rejected all changes, the document no longer shows revision marks. At this point, turn off Track Changes so Word stops recording future edits as tracked changes. Click the Review tab, then click the Track Changes button (it looks like a circle with a checkmark). The button will no longer appear highlighted, meaning Track Changes is now off.

Turning off Track Changes does not remove existing marks — it only stops Word from recording new edits. Since you have already accepted or rejected all the marks in your document, there is nothing left to remove. From this point forward, any edits you make will appear as normal text changes without revision marks.

Use the Reviewing Pane to see all changes at once

If your document has many changes and you want to see them all listed before deciding, open the Review tab and click Reviewing Pane. A panel will open on the left side of your screen showing every tracked change in a list, with the author name and the type of change (insertion, deletion, formatting).

You can click any change in the Reviewing Pane to jump directly to it in the document, then accept or reject it. This method is useful for long documents where you want to understand the scope of changes before you start accepting them. You can close the Reviewing Pane by clicking the X button on the panel, or by clicking Reviewing Pane again.

Reject all changes if you want to undo all edits

If someone made changes to your document and you want to discard all of them and return to the original text, you can reject all changes at once. Click the Review tab, then click the arrow next to Reject and select Reject All Changes. Word will remove every tracked change and restore the document to its state before any edits were made.

This is useful when you receive a document with many unwanted changes and want to start fresh. The original text returns, all markup disappears, and you can then make your own edits if needed.

Save the document after removing all changes

Once you have accepted or rejected all changes and turned off Track Changes, save the document. Press Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on Mac, or click File and then Save. The document will save with all revision marks removed and all changes finalized.

If you send this document to someone else, they will see only the final text with no indication that changes were ever tracked. If you need to preserve a record of what was changed, save a copy of the document before accepting all changes, so you have both the marked-up version and the clean version.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens to the text when I accept a change?

When you accept a change, the revision markup disappears and the edited text stays in the document. If the change was an insertion, the new text remains. If it was a deletion, the removed text stays gone. The document now shows only the final result.

Can I undo accepting changes after I have already accepted them?

Yes, when ready after accepting changes, you can press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac to undo the acceptance. This restores the revision marks so you can review them again. However, if you have closed and reopened the document, undo may not work.

What if I accept all changes by mistake?

If you accepted all changes and realize you made a mistake, press Ctrl+Z right away to undo the action. This will restore all the revision marks. If you have already saved the document, you can close it without saving and reopen the previous version if your system has file recovery enabled.

Do I have to accept or reject every change individually?

No. You can accept all changes at once using the Accept All Changes button, which removes all markup in seconds. You only need to review them individually if you want to keep some changes and discard others.

Why are Track Changes marks still showing after I turned off Track Changes?

Turning off Track Changes stops Word from recording new edits, but it does not remove existing marks. You must accept or reject the marks separately. Once you have dealt with all of them, they will disappear.