Track Changes
Learn how to track edits in a Word document, accept or reject changes, and review a document's revision history for professional collaboration.
Video
Watch the lesson video, then complete the reading and challenge.
Lesson Notes
Read through the key concepts before you try the challenge.
What Is Track Changes?
Track Changes is a feature in Word that records every edit made to a document — insertions, deletions, and formatting changes — so reviewers can see exactly what was modified and by whom.
Turning On Track Changes
Go to the Review tab and click Track Changes to toggle it on. When active, the button appears highlighted and all edits are marked in the document.
How Changes Appear in the Document
Inserted text appears underlined, deleted text appears with a strikethrough, and a change bar appears in the margin to mark edited lines. Each reviewer's changes appear in a different color.
Controlling What Markup Is Shown
Use the Show Markup menu on the Review tab to control which types of changes are visible. You can also switch the display to Simple Markup (margin indicators only) or No Markup (clean view) using the dropdown next to Track Changes.
Accepting and Rejecting Changes
Click inside a tracked change, then choose Accept or Reject from the Review tab. Use Accept All or Reject All to process every change at once.
Using the Review Pane
Click Reviewing Pane on the Review tab to open a sidebar listing all tracked changes and comments in sequence. This is useful for quickly navigating between edits in long documents.
Locking Track Changes
To prevent others from turning off Track Changes, go to Track Changes → Lock Tracking and set a password. Changes cannot be accepted or rejected until the document is unlocked.
Knowledge Check
What does the Track Changes feature do in Word?
Practice File
Download this file and follow along with the lesson.
Challenge
Apply what you've learned in this lesson.
Complete the following tasks:
- Open the practice document and turn on Track Changes.
- Delete a sentence and type a replacement — notice how both the deletion and insertion are marked.
- Switch the display to Simple Markup, then back to All Markup.
- Accept one tracked change individually.
- Use Accept All to accept all remaining changes.
- Turn off Track Changes when finished.