How to Get Rid of Track Changes Lines in Microsoft Word

To hide the vertical lines that mark tracked edits, open the Review tab and choose Display for Review > No Markup in Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows. This changes what you see; it does not remove the revisions. To erase the tracked changes from the document, accept or reject them instead. Save a copy first if you might need to review the edits later.

What You’ll Need

A copy of the Word document, preferably saved under a new name before you permanently accept or reject changes.
Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows or Mac. Menu labels can vary slightly between versions.

Step-by-Step

Decide whether you want to hide or remove the revisions. If you only need a clean-looking page for reading, sharing a preview, or printing, use No Markup. If you want the document itself to contain no tracked edits, accept or reject the changes. Hiding markup is reversible; accepting or rejecting changes changes the document and removes revision history for those edits.
Save a working copy. In Windows Word, choose File > Save As, select a folder, and give the copy a new name. On Mac, use File > Save As or File > Duplicate, depending on your Word version. This protects the original if you later decide you need to inspect the changes. If the file is shared, make sure you are editing the intended copy.
Hide the lines and other revision marks. Select the Review tab. In the Tracking group, open the Display for Review menu and choose No Markup. The vertical change bars, insertions, deletions, and other displayed revision marks should disappear, leaving the current version of the text visible. On Mac, look on the Review tab for the display menu, usually labelled Display for Review or shown as a markup-view dropdown, then choose No Markup.
Check the other review views if the lines are still present. In the same display menu, Word may offer Simple Markup, All Markup, No Markup, and Original. Simple Markup can show a narrow bar in the margin to indicate that an edited area exists; All Markup displays more detail. Choose No Markup to hide the revisions, not Original, which displays the document as it was before the edits. If the document is in a different view, switch to View > Print Layout and check again.
If you want a permanently clean document, accept the changes you want to keep. First, review the edits in All Markup so you can see what will be kept. Then, on the Review tab, open the arrow next to Accept and choose Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking. In some Word builds, the command may be worded slightly differently; choose the option that accepts all changes and stops tracking. This makes the currently edited text the document text and removes the tracked-change marks. Use this only when you are sure the edits should stay.
Reject changes instead if you want to undo them. If the edits should not be part of the final document, open the arrow next to Reject on the Review tab and choose Reject All Changes and Stop Tracking, if that option is available. Word restores the text affected by those revisions. Do not use this option just to hide the lines: it discards the proposed edits rather than keeping them invisibly.
Turn off tracking for future edits. On the Review tab, click Track Changes to turn it off. If the button has a dropdown, choose the command that disables tracking. This does not accept, reject, or hide existing revisions by itself; it only prevents new edits from being recorded as tracked changes. If Track Changes is locked or unavailable, see Troubleshooting below.
Verify the result and save. Look through the document in Print Layout, then save it. If you used No Markup, switch briefly to All Markup to confirm that the revisions are still there, then return to No Markup if you want them hidden. If you accepted or rejected changes, check a few edited passages to make sure the final wording is correct. For a file you will share, reopen the saved copy to confirm the chosen view and content are as expected.

Common Mistakes

Assuming No Markup deletes edits. It only changes the display. Someone opening the file can switch back to All Markup and see revisions that remain in the document. Accept or reject revisions if you need to remove them.
Turning off Track Changes and expecting old lines to vanish. Turning tracking off affects new edits, not existing ones. Choose No Markup to hide old marks or process the changes to remove them.
Accepting everything without reviewing it. Accept All Changes keeps every tracked edit, including edits you may disagree with. Make a backup and inspect the revisions first. If you are unsure, hide them rather than committing to a final version.
Choosing Original when you want the latest text. Original shows the document before tracked edits. No Markup shows the current edited text without the revision marks. Check the actual wording before sharing or printing.
Forgetting comments. Accepting changes does not necessarily remove comments. Comments are separate review items and may still appear in the margins. Resolve or delete them separately if you need a document without reviewer notes.

Tips

Use No Markup for a quick clean reading view, but remember that it does not make the document’s revision history private or remove it.
Before distributing a final file, decide whether recipients should be able to inspect the revision history. If not, review and accept or reject edits in a copy, and check comments and other review information separately.
Use the Review tab’s Show Markup options to narrow what you are inspecting. For example, you can display particular types of markup or reviewers instead of viewing every revision at once. These filters help you review; they do not delete the hidden revisions.
If you only need a clean printout, choose No Markup and check File > Print preview before printing. Verify the preview shows the wording you expect, especially if the document contains comments or other annotations.
In a shared document, coordinate before accepting or rejecting all changes. Other reviewers may still be working, and resolving every revision can remove their ability to review or restore proposed wording.

Troubleshooting

The lines remain after I choose No Markup. Confirm that the display menu actually says No Markup and that you are looking at the document body rather than a separate comment or navigation pane. If the line is still visible, it may be a paragraph border, a table border, or a page border rather than a tracked-change bar. Click in the affected area and inspect relevant formatting options, such as Home > Borders for paragraph borders. Make a copy before changing formatting you do not recognize.

I can still see comments or balloons. Comments are distinct from tracked changes. On the Review tab, use Show Markup to adjust what is displayed, or resolve and delete comments if you intend to remove them. Hiding comments from view is not the same as deleting them, so inspect the document before sharing it.

Track Changes is unavailable or will not turn off. The document may be protected, opened read-only, or controlled by an organization’s review settings. Check whether Word shows a protected-document notice or an editing restriction. If you have permission, use the relevant protection controls to enable editing; otherwise ask the document owner. In a shared file, check that you are online and editing the right version.

The Accept All command is missing. Open the small arrow beside Accept rather than clicking the main button, and confirm you are on the Review tab. Some versions have slightly different wording or arrange the commands differently. If you cannot find the command, process changes individually with Accept or Reject, or update Word if your organization allows it.

The marks return when I reopen the file. The file may have been saved with revisions still present, or another person may have added edits. If you only chose No Markup, the marks can be shown again by changing the display setting. To remove them from the document, accept or reject the revisions in the copy you intend to use, save it, and check that copy again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I remove only the vertical lines but keep tracked edits?
Word’s No Markup view hides the visible revision marks while keeping the edits in the file. It also hides other tracked-change details, so you cannot rely on the lines alone as a separate record of what changed. Switch back to All Markup whenever you need to review the edits.

Does No Markup change or delete my text?
No. It changes the display so the current version appears without revision marks. The underlying tracked edits remain in the document until you accept or reject them.

What is the difference between accepting all changes and turning off tracking?
Accepting all changes keeps the proposed edits and removes those revisions as tracked items. Turning off Track Changes only stops Word from recording future edits; existing tracked changes remain until you accept, reject, or hide them.

Can I get the tracked changes back after accepting them?
Accepting changes removes their review status, so you generally cannot bring those exact revisions back as tracked edits with one command. Use Undo immediately if you have not made other changes, or restore the untouched backup. This is why saving a separate copy first is useful.

Will hiding the lines also hide them from people I send the file to?
No. No Markup is a view setting, not a way to remove revision history. A recipient may be able to select All Markup and reveal the edits. If you need a clean final document, review and accept or reject changes in a copy before sharing it.

Are the steps different on Mac?
The same basic choices are available in Word for Mac: use the Review tab’s display menu to choose No Markup, and use the Accept or Reject menus to process revisions. Ribbon placement and labels can differ slightly by version. Track Changes must also be turned off separately if you do not want future edits recorded.

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