How to Clear Track Changes in Word

To clear tracked edits in Word, review them and choose Review > Accept > Accept All Changes to keep the edits, or Review > Reject > Reject All Changes to discard them. Then turn off Track Changes to prevent new edits from being marked. Turning tracking off or hiding markup alone does not remove existing changes. Before you begin, save a copy if you may need to recover the original wording.

What You’ll Need

A Word document you can edit. If it is read-only or protected, you may need the password or permission from its owner.
Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows or Mac, or Word for the web. The desktop app generally provides the fullest set of review controls.
A saved backup if you are unsure whether to accept or reject the changes. These actions alter the document, and you cannot use Undo after closing it to restore an earlier version.

Step-by-Step

Save a separate copy before making a decision. In Word for Windows, select File > Save As, choose a folder and a new filename, then save. On Mac, use File > Save As and give the copy a different name. If the file is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, check that you are editing the right version; version history may also help, but a separate copy is the clearest safeguard. Press Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on Mac to save your current work.
Show all the markup so you can make an informed choice. Open the Review tab. In Word for Windows, use Display for Review and choose All Markup. On Mac, choose All Markup from the corresponding display menu on the Review tab; names or placement can vary slightly by release. This view makes insertions, deletions, and formatting changes easier to inspect. It does not itself change or remove them.
Decide what should happen to the edits. Accepting a tracked insertion keeps the added text; accepting a deletion removes the deleted text. Rejecting an insertion removes the added text; rejecting a deletion restores text that had been marked for deletion. If you are preparing a final copy, do not accept everything automatically until you have considered whether the edits are appropriate. If you want the document returned to its pre-edit wording, reject the changes instead.
Accept every change if you want to keep all revisions. In Word for Windows, go to Review > Accept, open the Accept menu, and select Accept All Changes. If the menu offers Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking, you can choose that option to do both in one action. On Mac, open the Review tab and use the Accept menu; select the all-changes command if available. Read the confirmation or menu label before clicking, because accepting is not the same as merely hiding markup.
Reject every change if you want to discard all revisions. On Windows, select Review > Reject and choose Reject All Changes, or Reject All Changes and Stop Tracking if that option is shown. On Mac, open Review > Reject and choose its all-changes command. This returns tracked text toward its earlier state, so use it only when that is what you intend. If only some edits are unwanted, reject them individually instead of rejecting the whole document’s revision history.
Handle mixed decisions one change at a time. If you want to keep some edits and discard others, select a marked change or place the cursor in the affected text, then choose Review > Accept or Review > Reject. Use the next-change and previous-change controls in the Review tab to move through the document. Continue until you have dealt with every revision. Word’s exact selection behavior can depend on where the cursor is, so check that the highlighted change is the one you mean to act on.
Turn off tracking to stop recording future edits. On Windows, select Review > Track Changes to switch it off; if the button has a menu, check that tracking is not still enabled for everyone or for your editing mode. On Mac, use the Track Changes control on the Review tab to turn it off. If you used an all-changes-and-stop-tracking command, verify the control is off anyway. This setting prevents future edits from being tracked, but does not clear any revisions that remain.
Check the document and save it. Choose All Markup again if Word has switched to another display, and scan the document for remaining revision marks. Save with Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on Mac. If the file will be shared, close it and reopen the saved copy, then confirm that changes are gone in the version you plan to send. Remember that comments are separate from tracked changes and may still be present.

Common Mistakes

Turning off Track Changes and expecting old revisions to disappear. This only stops Word from marking edits made afterward. Existing tracked insertions, deletions, and formatting changes remain until you accept or reject them.

Choosing No Markup instead of accepting or rejecting. No Markup is a display choice: it hides revision marks so the page looks cleaner, but it does not remove the revisions. Switch back to All Markup to see what is still recorded. Do not send a document simply because it looks clean in that view.

Accepting all edits without checking them. An unwanted deletion becomes permanent in the document’s current text when accepted. If you are uncertain, make a copy and inspect revisions first, or handle changes individually. Rejecting all is also consequential: it can undo edits that you wanted to retain.

Assuming comments are tracked changes. Comments are review notes, not revisions to the document text. Accept All Changes will not necessarily remove them. If you need a copy without comments, review and delete comments separately using the Review tab’s comment controls, and check the result before sharing.

Tips

Use All Markup while reviewing and only choose a simplified view when you need to read the text without visual clutter. If several reviewers contributed, the markup may be color-coded by author. Word can filter which reviewers’ changes are displayed, so check the Show Markup or reviewer filter settings before concluding that the document has no revisions. The all-changes commands are intended to apply to the document’s revisions, not just the color currently visible.

For a final deliverable, consider keeping two files: an editable working copy with its review history and a separate clean copy with decisions applied. Give the clean file a clear name and confirm that it opens correctly. If you need a record of who proposed what, retain the marked-up original rather than relying on the cleaned version to preserve that history.

When working with a shared file, coordinate before accepting or rejecting revisions. Another person may be reviewing or editing at the same time, and their changes may sync after you make your own. Wait for syncing to finish, confirm the latest version, and avoid making a final clean copy while collaborators still expect to add revisions.

Troubleshooting

Changes are still visible after you turned tracking off. That is expected when existing revisions have not been resolved. Choose Accept All Changes or Reject All Changes, depending on your decision, and then inspect the document in All Markup. If you only changed the display to No Markup, return to All Markup and use the actual Accept or Reject command.

The Accept or Reject controls are unavailable. The document may be open as read-only, protected, or restricted from editing. Look for an editing banner or a restriction message. If you have permission, select Review > Restrict Editing on Windows to inspect applicable protection settings; you may need the document password to stop protection. On Mac, check the Review tab for protection or editing restrictions. If the file belongs to someone else, ask its owner for an editable copy or the necessary access rather than trying to bypass restrictions.

The all-changes option is missing or the menus look different. Make sure you are in the desktop Word app and on the Review tab, then open the small menu attached to Accept or Reject rather than clicking the main button. In Word for the web, review controls are more limited and labels can differ; use its Review tab to accept or reject available changes, or open the file in the desktop app for the full review menu. On both Mac and Windows, update Word if the interface differs substantially from the instructions.

Some revisions appear to remain after using an all-changes command. Confirm that you are looking at the same saved document, not a second copy or an older cloud version. Check that the display is set to All Markup and that reviewer filters are not confusing what is shown. Save, wait for OneDrive or SharePoint to finish syncing, and reopen the file. If edits continue to appear, another collaborator may still be adding tracked changes; coordinate with them and repeat the review on the latest version.

You accepted changes but need the previous text back. If the document is still open and the action is recent, use Undo (Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac). If you have closed the file or continued editing, Undo may not be available or may reverse later work too. Restore the separate backup, use version history if the file is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, or ask the document owner for an earlier copy. This is why saving a copy first matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does turning off Track Changes clear existing changes?
No. It stops Word from tracking new edits, but existing revisions remain. Accept or reject them to resolve the markup.

Should I accept or reject all changes?
Accept all if you want to keep the proposed edits in the document; reject all if you want to discard them and restore the earlier text. If you want a mixture, decide change by change.

Can I clear tracked changes without accepting or rejecting them?
Not while preserving the document’s text and also removing the revision history: resolving a tracked edit means choosing to accept or reject it. Hiding markup changes only the view. Keep a marked-up backup if you need the revision record.

Will accepting all changes delete comments too?
Usually not. Comments are separate review items. Use the comment controls on the Review tab to delete comments, and check whether you need to remove individual comments or all comments before sharing.

How do I remove changes from only one reviewer?
Use the reviewer filter under Review > Show Markup or the equivalent display menu to identify that person’s revisions, then review the displayed changes individually. Avoid an all-changes command if you need to preserve other reviewers’ edits, and verify the result with all reviewers’ markup displayed afterward.

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