Understanding Track Changes

Word includes a feature that allows you to see what changes have been made to a document. These changes, known as markup, are primarily created using the Track Changes feature of Word. To turn on Track Changes, all you need to do is display the Review tab of the ribbon. In the Tracking group, click the Track Changes tool.

From this point, as you make changes to your document, your changes are shown on-screen using marks that are very similar to those used manually by editors for years. The essence of markup is that added text is shown as underlined and deleted text is shown at the right of the document in elements called "balloons."

If desired, you can change the way in which Word shows the markup. To specify how the edits should be noted, follow these steps:

1. Make sure the Review tab of the ribbon is displayed.
2. In the Tracking group, click the down-arrow just under the Track Changes tool.
3. Choose Change Tracking Options. Word displays the Track Changes Options dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. In the dialog box, use the controls to indicate how you want document additions and deletions to be noted.
5. When done, click on OK.

After you are through making changes in the document, or if you receive a document from someone else that is marked up, you need to go through a process of examining each revision and deciding whether to keep it or toss it out. This is done by searching for the changes and then making your decision on a case-by-case basis. You do this in the following manner:

1. Position the insertion point at the beginning of your document. (This is an optional step; it makes processing the entire file quicker.)
2. Make sure the Review tab of the ribbon is displayed.
3. Click the Next tool in the Changes group. Word finds and selects the next change in the document.
4. Click either the Accept or Reject tool based on your decision concerning the change. The text is changed in accordance with your decision.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each change in the document.