Track Changes is a feature built into Microsoft Word that allows you to see the changes made to the document.
When working on a Microsoft Word document with others, the easiest way to keep track of all the changes is to track the changes.
This article shows how to use Track Changes in Microsoft Word.
How to Turn Track Changes On and Off
- In the ribbon, click the Review tab.
- Select the Track Changes button in the Tracking group. When Track Changes is activated, the button will appear darker than the rest of the ribbon.
- To disable tracking, click the Track Changes button once more
How to Show and Hide Track Changes
The Display for Review and Show Markup menus in the Tracking group of the ribbon allows you to customize how comments and edits appear.
To change how edits and comments are viewed, use the Display for Review drop-down menu. There are four options: (A) Simple Markup, (B) All Markup, (C) No Markup, and (D) Original.
(A) Simple Markup shows the edited version of the content with no visible in-line changes. Edits, on the other hand, are denoted by a vertical line in the left margin.
- For example, if you delete a sentence, it will no longer appear on the screen. Instead, a vertical line in the left margin would tend to indicate that a change was made in that spot.
- Click the vertical line to switch to All Markup if you want to see the edit.
(B) The All Markup option shows all edits and comments. This viewpoint is ideal for the majority of copyediting and proofreading jobs.
- A vertical line will appear on the left side of the screen, similar to the one seen in Simple Markup indicating that a change was made in that position.
- Toggle to Simple Markup by selecting that line.
(C) No Markup shows the edited version of the content with no visible changes or feedback.
(D) Original shows the content in its original form, with no edits or comments.
- To customize the features Track Changes displays, use the Show Markup drop-down menu.
For most copyediting and proofreading jobs, we suggest showing both comments and edits (i.e., insertions and deletions, as well as formatting changes) and selecting Show Only Comments and Formatting in Balloons so that the insertions and deletions appear in the text.