The changes that have been marked by the Track Changes feature Terms with the same meaning seem to be used more or less randomly. It can be a bit confusing since some of the terms mean the same. In the different commands related to Track Changes in Word, you will find a number of terms in use. Terminology used in Word in relation to Track Changes Please refer to that article for help on comments in Word. I have covered the Word comment feature in detail in the article How comments in Word work. Some of tools discussed in this article are also used in relation to comments. Word refers to both tracked changes and comments that are added using Word’s comment feature as revisions. If you are using an older version of Word, see Shauna Kelly's article about Track changes, covering Word 2010 and earlier versions. This article covers the Track Changes feature as it works in Word 2013, Word 2016, Word 2019, Word 2021, and Word for Microsoft 365. Microsoft has changed the Track Changes features in Word 2013 and later versions compared to earlier versions. Word has included Track Changes functionality for decades.
The feature includes several tools you can use to control which types of changes to track, how to display the tracked changes, and finally how to accept or remove the tracked changes. Track Changes in Word is a powerful feature that makes it possible to mark changes that are made to a document.
Minimized paper waste and maximized efficiency is the result of this helpful tool.Learn what Track Changes is, how to track changes in Word, how to remove tracked changes in Word, and much more. Plus, preserving a document’s electronic state means that a writer and editor can communicate without being in the same location. In addition to helping your office “go green,” editing with the Track Changes function eliminates the need to decipher messy handwriting and keep track of multiple sheets of paper. Tracking Changes makes it easy for multiple users to edit a document, even allowing users to comment on each other’s suggested changes. It’s a great way to offer ideas without making any actual changes to the document. With the Track Changes feature turned on, just highlight a section of text, and choose “New Comment” to create a note in the margin of the document. The original creator of the document can then accept or decline each change by right-clicking on the colored edits.Ī great way to make suggestions while editing a Word document is to use the Comments feature. The changes will appear in colored text, and anything deleted will be visible with a strike-through. Once a document has been created and emailed to the editor, the editor can then open the Tools drop down menu and select the Track Changes option (in Word 2010, it’s found under the “review” tab) before making the necessary edits to the document. A more time and paper efficient way of handling such edits can be done using Microsoft Word’s Track Changes function. And, often times we hand our work over to someone else for their input and feedback - typically involving a red pen and many printed copies of the same document. A first pass at any document is usually not the final copy.