Track Changes in Word: How to Turn It Off and Finish

To get out of Track Changes in Word, open the Review tab and turn off Track Changes. This stops Word recording new edits, but it does not remove changes already in the document. To create a clean final copy, review and accept or reject those edits as well. The steps below cover Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, with notes for Mac and Word for the web.

What You’ll Need

The Word document you want to edit, with permission to make changes.
A little time to decide what to do with edits already marked in the document. If you are unsure whether to keep them, save a separate copy before accepting or rejecting changes.

Step-by-Step

Open the document and check whether tracking is on. Open the file in Word. Select the Review tab on the ribbon and look for Track Changes. If the button is highlighted or appears selected, tracking is on. In some Word layouts, the control is in the Tracking group or under a Track Changes menu. You can also look for a status-bar indication that changes are being tracked, although what appears there can vary by version and settings.
Turn off Track Changes. On Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, select Review > Track Changes to toggle it off. If your ribbon shows a small arrow beside the button, open its menu and choose Track Changes to switch the setting off. On Word for Mac, select Review > Track Changes; the control may be displayed in the Tracking group. In Word for the web, open Review and switch off Track Changes. If the button does not look selected afterward, new edits should no longer be recorded as tracked revisions. You can also use Ctrl+Shift+E on Windows or Command+Shift+E on Mac in desktop Word, if that shortcut has not been changed. The ribbon button is the clearest way to confirm the setting.
Check whether the document still contains revisions. Turning off tracking does not erase markup that was created earlier. Existing insertions, deletions, and formatting changes can remain visible, often as colored text, strikethroughs, or balloons in the margin. This is normal. Scroll through the document and decide whether you need to preserve and review these edits or produce a clean version. If the document is part of a review with colleagues, do not assume that visible revisions are yours; Word can show changes from multiple authors.
Review and resolve edits you want to keep or remove. Select an individual change, then use the Review tab’s Accept or Reject control. Accepting an insertion keeps the inserted text; accepting a deletion removes the deleted text. Rejecting a change reverses that proposed edit. Use the navigation controls in the Review tab to move through changes one at a time, especially in a long document. On Windows, open the Accept menu to find options such as Accept All Changes. The Reject menu similarly includes an option to reject all changes. These bulk options apply to the document, so choose them only after you are sure you do not need to inspect individual revisions.
Choose whether to accept all changes or keep reviewing. If every tracked edit should be part of the final document, use Review > Accept > Accept All Changes. Some Word versions also show Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking in the Accept menu; that option both accepts the revisions and turns tracking off. If you do not see that combined command, accept all changes, then check that Review > Track Changes is off. If you need to discard all proposed edits instead, use the corresponding reject-all option, but be certain first: it removes the proposed edits by reverting them, rather than preserving them in the final text.
Save and verify the result. Save the document with Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on Mac. Close and reopen the saved file if you want to confirm the markup is resolved and tracking remains off. Make a quick test by typing a harmless word in a safe place, checking that Word does not mark it as a new revision, and undoing the test. If you need to share a polished version, consider saving a separate copy so that the reviewed original remains available.

Common Mistakes

Turning off tracking and expecting old edits to disappear. The toggle affects new changes only. Revisions already in the document remain until you accept or reject them. If your goal is simply to stop recording edits, you can leave those revisions in place; if your goal is a clean final document, resolve them deliberately.

Choosing No Markup and assuming the revisions are gone. On Windows, Review > Display for Review > No Markup hides revision marks from view. It is a display choice, not a decision to accept or reject changes. Switch back to All Markup to see them again. A document shown without markup may still contain every pending revision.

Accepting everything before checking it. Accept All Changes can apply edits you intended to reject, including deletions. In a shared or important document, review the changes individually or save a copy before using a bulk command. If you are not the person responsible for approving edits, ask the document owner before resolving them.

Confusing comments with tracked changes. Comments are separate from insertions, deletions, and formatting revisions. Accepting changes does not necessarily delete comments. Use the Review tab’s comment controls to resolve or delete comments separately, and check the document for both kinds of markup before sharing it.

Tips

Keep a review copy. Before accepting or rejecting a large set of edits, use File > Save As to make a copy. Give it a clear name, such as “Final review,” so you can distinguish it from the original.
Use All Markup while reviewing. On Windows, choose Review > Display for Review > All Markup when you need to see insertions, deletions, and formatting changes. Simple Markup can make a busy page easier to read, but it may not show every detail at once.
Check the author and context. For a shared document, compare the revision with the surrounding text and, where useful, the displayed author. A tracked change is a proposal, not automatically an error or an instruction to accept it.
Turn tracking off before making routine edits. After you have resolved the review, confirm the Track Changes control is off before proofreading or reformatting. This prevents ordinary cleanup edits from being added as another layer of revisions.
Remember that collaborators may still be editing. Turning tracking off in your document view does not necessarily change how another person is working on a separate copy or session. Coordinate with collaborators if the file is being reviewed simultaneously.

Troubleshooting

Track Changes seems to turn itself back on. Check the Review tab again after reopening the file. If the control is selected, switch it off once more. A document may have tracking locked or restricted by its owner, or an organization may apply review settings. If Word asks for a password or does not let you change the setting, contact the person who supplied the document rather than trying to bypass the restriction.

You cannot find the Track Changes button. Make sure you are on the Review tab and that the ribbon is expanded. In a narrow Word window, some controls are collapsed into menus; maximize the window or open the relevant ribbon group. In Word for the web, the ribbon can differ from desktop Word, so use its Review tab rather than looking for an identical desktop layout. If the document is open in a preview or read-only view, choose the option to edit it in Word if you have access.

Changes are still visible after you switch tracking off. That is expected if earlier revisions have not been resolved. Use Accept or Reject to decide what to do with each one. If you only need to hide them temporarily, choose No Markup on Windows, but remember that this does not remove the revisions. Also check whether the remaining marks are comments, since those need separate comment actions.

You cannot accept or reject changes. Confirm that the file is not read-only and that you have editing permission. If a document is protected, restricted, or stored somewhere that grants you view-only access, the controls may be unavailable. Ask the document owner for an editable copy or the required permission. If the controls are available but a change is hard to select, use the Review tab’s navigation controls to move between revisions.

The file looks clean, but you are not sure the revisions were removed. Change the display to All Markup and inspect the document. If revisions appear, they are still present and need to be accepted or rejected. If you accepted them but still see comment balloons, resolve those separately. Save the file after your final check and, when appropriate, reopen it to verify the saved copy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does turning off Track Changes remove existing changes?
No. It stops Word tracking new edits. Existing revisions stay in the file until you accept or reject them, or otherwise resolve them.

How do I permanently remove tracked changes in Word?
Review the revisions, then accept the ones to keep and reject the ones to discard. For a document where every proposed edit should be kept, use Review > Accept > Accept All Changes. Save the document afterward. Hiding markup is not permanent removal.

Can I hide changes without accepting or rejecting them?
Yes. In Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, choose Review > Display for Review > No Markup. This hides the revision marks on screen but leaves the changes in the document. Return to All Markup when you need to review them again.

Why are my edits still being tracked after I turned the feature off?
The button may not have been switched off, or tracking may be locked by the document’s owner. Check the Review tab and try toggling it again. If Word prevents the change or requests a password, ask the owner or administrator for help.

Is Track Changes turned off for every document when I switch it off?
No. The setting applies to the document you are editing, not necessarily every Word file you open. Check the Review tab each time you work on a document where tracking matters.

Does accepting tracked changes delete comments too?
Not necessarily. Comments are managed separately from tracked revisions. After accepting or rejecting changes, check the Review tab’s comment controls and resolve comments if the final copy should not include them.

Try it: the Date Difference Calculator: days, months, years and weekdays between two dates, with the DATEDIF formulas.

More in How-to basics

Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

Spotted an error in this guide? Let us know.