How to Use Track Changes, Comments, and Compare in Word

A 12-page handbook is never written by one person. The coordinator drafts a chapter, a volunteer fixes the schedule, a parent suggests clearer wording. If everyone edits the same file directly, nobody can see what changed. If everyone sends back a different copy, someone has to merge them by hand.

Track Changes and comments solve this. Every edit is recorded with the name of the person who made it, and the owner of the document decides what stays. In this tutorial you will run a review round on the handbook's Session rules chapter, settle every change and comment, compare it with the original, and send out a clean final version.

Turn on Track Changes

Click Review› then Tracking› then Track Changes or press Ctrl+Shift+E. The button stays highlighted while tracking is on. From now on, Word records every insertion, deletion and formatting change instead of making it silently. Press the same shortcut again to stop tracking. Changes already recorded stay recorded.

• Check it on the status bar. Right-click the status bar and tick Track Changes. The status bar then says Track Changes: On or Off, and you can click it to switch. This saves a lot of "I thought it was on" moments.
• Check your name. Each change is labeled with the user name from File› then Options› then General. If changes appear under a strange name, fix it there. When you are signed in to Microsoft 365, Word uses your account name unless you tick Always use these values regardless of sign in to Office.
• For Everyone or Just Mine. In some Microsoft 365 versions, the arrow under Track Changes offers For Everyone and Just Mine. For Everyone records every person's edits; Just Mine records only yours, which can help in a shared file where others edit freely. If you don't see these choices, your version tracks everyone, which is the classic behavior.

Lock Tracking. When you send a file out for review, you can stop reviewers from switching tracking off. Choose Lock Tracking from the arrow under Track Changes and type a password if you want one. Treat the password as a reminder for honest reviewers, not as security: anyone with the password can unlock it. For stricter control, Review› then Protect› then Restrict Editing can allow Tracked changes only.

Choose what you see while reviewing

The tracked changes are always in the file. What changes is only how much of them Word shows you. Pick a view from the Display for Review box in Review› then Tracking:

Show Markup (in the same group) filters what is marked: tick or untick Comments, Insertions and Deletions and Formatting, or use Specific People to see only one reviewer's edits. Under Balloons you choose whether deletions and formatting appear in balloons in the right margin or inline in the text. Inline is easier to read on a small screen.

Reviewing Pane. Review› then Tracking› then Reviewing Pane opens a list of every change and comment, with who made it. The top of the pane shows how many revisions are left. That count is the most reliable way to know a document is clean, because it doesn't depend on the view.

Add, answer and resolve comments

Use a comment when you want to ask or suggest something without changing the text yourself. Select the words the comment is about, then click Review› then Comments› then New Comment or press Ctrl+Alt+M. Type your note and click Post (or press Ctrl+Enter). Comments are not tracked changes: they work whether Track Changes is on or off.

Microsoft 365 uses modern comments, which work as conversations:

• Reply in the box under a comment instead of starting a new one, so the whole discussion stays in one thread.
• @mention someone by typing @ and their name. In a file saved to OneDrive or SharePoint, especially with a work or school account, that person gets an email with a link to the comment.
• Edit or delete your own comment from its More thread actions (...) menu.
• Show Comments in the Comments group switches between comments beside their text and a list of all comments in a pane.

Accept or reject changes

When the edits come back, go through them in order. Click at the start of the document and use the buttons in Review› then Changes:

You can also right-click a change and choose Accept or Reject. Selecting a whole paragraph and clicking Accept accepts every change inside it.

Compare and combine versions

Sometimes a reviewer edits a copy without Track Changes, and sends it back with no marks at all. You don't have to read both versions side by side. Word can find the differences for you.

1. Go to Review› then Compare› then Compare and choose Compare (two versions of a document).
2. Under Original document, pick the version you sent. Under Revised document, pick the one that came back.
3. Next to Label changes with, type the reviewer's name, so the differences show under their name.
4. Click OK. Word opens a new document that shows every difference as tracked changes, often with the original and revised files in small panes beside it.
5. Review the result with Accept and Reject as usual, then save it under a new name.

Click More in the Compare dialog to choose what is compared, such as formatting, comments or case changes, and where the result goes. Neither of the two files is changed by the comparison.

Combine (Review› then Compare› then Combine) is for a different situation: you sent the same chapter to two reviewers, and each sent back a tracked copy. Combine merges their changes into one document, each labeled with its author, so you review everything in one place. Combine two files at a time; for a third reviewer, combine the result with the next file.

Final check before you send

The most common Track Changes mistake is sending a file that still contains changes or comments. Switching to No Markup only hides them. Anyone who opens the file can switch back to All Markup and read every deleted sentence and every comment.

1. Switch to All Markup and open the Reviewing Pane. Make sure the pane shows no revisions.
2. Accept or reject anything left, or use Review› then Changes› then Accept› then Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking if you have already reviewed everything.
3. Delete the comments with Review› then Comments› then Delete› then Delete All Comments in Document.
4. Run File› then Info› then Check for Issues› then Inspect Document. The Document Inspector reports any comments and revisions it still finds, plus other hidden information such as document properties.
5. Save the final version under a new name, and export a PDF if readers don't need to edit it.

Word can also remind you. In File› then Options› then Trust Center› then Trust Center Settings› then Privacy Options, the option to warn before printing, saving or sending a file that contains tracked changes or comments catches files that slip through.

Common mistakes

Practice