How To Track Changes In Word

How To Track Changes In Word, Step By Step

This article will explain step by step how to track changes in Word. Also, we’ll go over how to accept edits and temporarily hide any tracked modifications in a document. Understanding these editing features will help anyone improve their Word skills while upping their professional worth.

Method 1

Step 1: Open a Microsoft Word Document

You can use Word on a PC or Mac. Open the Word application, and then choose a document. You can also create a new one.



Step 2: Go to Review

Review is also where you will also find Spell Check, Word Count, and Thesaurus.



Step 3: Choose Track Changes

If you’re a person who prefers shortcuts, you can access track changes using the following shortcuts:

While you’re on a Mac: ⌘-Shift-E

While you’re on PC: Ctrl-Shift-E



Step 4: Write As Usual

You can now write in the Word doc as you normally would. Any tracked changes will appear in red. If you have more than one editor, you may see multiple colored edits.


Method 2

Tracking changes in Microsoft Word is a useful feature when you're collaborating on a document with others or when you want to keep a record of the changes you make. Here's how to track changes in Word:

1.Open Your Document: Launch Microsoft Word and open the document you want to track changes in.

2.Enable Track Changes:

• For Word 2016 and later (Word 2019, Word for Microsoft 365):
• Click on the "Review" tab in the ribbon at the top of the window.
• In the "Tracking" group, you'll see a "Track Changes" button. 
• Click it to enable change tracking. Once it's active, any edits you or others make will be recorded as tracked changes.

For Word 2013 and earlier:

• Click on the "Review" tab in the ribbon.
• In the "Tracking" group, there's a "Track Changes" button. Click it to enable change tracking.

3.Make Edits:

Edit your document as needed. Any changes you make will be highlighted and attributed to you if you're logged in with your Microsoft account.

4.Review Changes:

You can review changes made by others by clicking on the "Reviewing Pane" button in the "Tracking" group. This opens a pane on the left side of the window that shows all the changes made to the document.

5.Accept or Reject Changes:

To accept or reject changes, click on the change in the document or in the reviewing pane, and then click the "Accept" or "Reject" button in the "Changes" group on the "Review" tab.

6.Comments:

You can also add comments to explain or discuss changes. Select the text you want to comment on, and click the "New Comment" button in the "Comments" group on the "Review" tab.

7.Track Changes Options:

You can customize how changes are displayed by clicking the small arrow in the corner of the "Tracking" group. This allows you to choose what types of changes to display and how to format them.

8. Turn Off Track Changes:

When you're done reviewing and making changes, click the "Track Changes" button again to turn it off. This will stop recording new changes.

9.Save Your Document:

Always save your document after you've accepted or rejected changes.

10.Finalize Your Document:

Once you've made all the necessary changes and reviewed the document, you can choose to either leave the tracked changes visible or accept all changes to create a clean, final version of the document.

That's it! You've successfully tracked changes in Microsoft Word. This feature is particularly useful for collaborative editing and for keeping a record of document revisions.