How to Track Changes in a Word Document and Review Edits

To track changes in a Word document, open it in Microsoft Word, select Review > Track Changes, then edit as usual. Word will mark additions, deletions, and other revisions so you or your reviewers can inspect them and accept or reject each one. Before you begin, save a copy of the document and agree with collaborators on how edits will be reviewed.

What You’ll Need

A document opened in Microsoft Word. The steps below are for Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows; Word for Mac has the same core Review tools, with a different keyboard shortcut noted below.
Permission to edit the file. If it is shared or stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, check that you can make changes rather than view it only.
A backup copy if the document is important. Accepting or rejecting changes alters the revision record, so a copy gives you a safe reference.

Step-by-Step

Open and save the document. Open the file in Word and save it before reviewing. If you need a separate working version, choose File > Save As and give the copy a clear name, such as Draft-review-copy. This is especially useful when you are about to accept or reject many edits. If the document came from someone else, confirm that you are working in the intended copy and not an older version.
Turn on Track Changes. Select the Review tab on the ribbon, then select Track Changes. The button is a toggle: select it again to stop tracking new edits. You can also use Ctrl+Shift+E on Windows. On Word for Mac, the equivalent shortcut is Command+Shift+E. If you are collaborating and see a Track Changes menu, choose whether to track changes for everyone or just your own edits, as appropriate for the review.
Check that tracking is active before editing. Look at the Track Changes control on the Review tab. If you are unsure, make a small test edit in a safe place, such as adding a temporary word, and check that Word marks it. Undo the test edit with Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac. Do not assume tracking is on simply because the document contains earlier revisions; those may have been made during a previous review.
Edit the document normally. Add text, delete words, revise sentences, or change formatting. Word records the edits as revisions. Depending on your display settings, inserted text may appear underlined or in a different color, while deleted text may appear crossed out or in a balloon at the side. Formatting changes can also be recorded. The exact colors and placement can vary with the document and reviewer, so use the revision marks and author labels rather than color alone to identify changes.
Choose a view that makes revisions easy to inspect. On the Review tab, open Display for Review and choose All Markup to see the tracked edits and comments in detail. Simple Markup gives a less crowded view with indicators for revisions, while No Markup shows how the document would look without visible revision marks. Original displays the document as it was before the tracked changes. These are viewing options: choosing No Markup does not accept, reject, or delete revisions.
Use Show Markup to focus the review. If the page is crowded, select Review > Show Markup and adjust which kinds of marks are displayed, such as comments, insertions and deletions, or formatting. You can also use the options under Balloons to change how revisions appear. Hiding a category only changes what you see; it does not remove those revisions from the file. Return to All Markup and enable the relevant categories before making a final decision.
Review comments separately from edits. Comments are notes attached to parts of the document; they are not the same as tracked insertions or deletions. Read each comment and make any requested edit while tracking is on. Then reply to or resolve the comment if appropriate, using the comment controls. Resolving a comment does not accept the related text change, and accepting a text change does not automatically settle the conversation.
Move through revisions one at a time. Select Review > Next or Review > Previous in the Changes area to navigate between changes. For each revision, decide whether it should remain. Choose Accept to keep the edit or Reject to discard it. Use the dropdown beside either command if you want to accept or reject all changes, or all changes shown, rather than handling them individually. Read the surrounding sentence before deciding; a deletion may make sense only in context.
Confirm the document is ready to share. When review is complete, inspect the whole file in All Markup and check that no revisions or comments have been overlooked. Accept or reject the remaining changes as intended. If you want a clean reading view without deciding on the revisions yet, select No Markup, but tell recipients that tracked revisions are still in the file. Save the document, and consider sharing a copy if you need to preserve the original review history.
Turn tracking off only when you are done recording edits. Select Review > Track Changes again, or use the keyboard shortcut, to stop tracking future edits. Turning tracking off does not remove changes already recorded. If another reviewer should continue making tracked edits, leave the feature on or tell them explicitly to turn it on before they edit.

Common Mistakes

Confusing No Markup with accepting changes. No Markup hides revision marks on screen; the changes remain in the document. Switch back to All Markup to see them, then accept or reject them deliberately.
Editing before enabling tracking. Word does not usually add revisions retroactively. If you edited with tracking off, those edits may look like ordinary document text. Turn tracking on before continuing, and compare with an earlier copy if you need to identify what changed.
Turning tracking off and assuming revisions are gone. The toggle controls whether future edits are recorded. Existing revisions stay until you accept or reject them.
Accepting everything without reading. An all-changes command can approve edits you did not intend to keep. Review individual changes when the file is sensitive, or save a backup and confirm the scope before using a bulk command.
Relying on color alone. Word may use colors to distinguish reviewers, but display settings and document history can affect how marks look. Check reviewer names and the actual revision content.

Tips

Set review expectations first. For a team document, decide whether each person should make tracked edits, leave comments, or both. Agree on who will make the final accept-or-reject decisions.
Keep the view readable. Use Simple Markup while reading longer passages, then switch to All Markup when you need to inspect each insertion, deletion, or comment. The Reviewing Pane can also help you scan a long list of revisions.
Use descriptive file names. Names such as Proposal-review-2026-11-03 make it easier to distinguish a working copy from a clean final document. Avoid relying only on labels such as final-final.
Save at review milestones. Save before a major batch of decisions and again after completing it. Keeping a separate source copy is safer than relying on undo to recover a large set of accepted or rejected revisions.
Check the final reading experience. After resolving revisions, read the document from beginning to end in No Markup or a clean copy. This can reveal awkward sentences created when edits were combined.

Troubleshooting

Track Changes looks on, but my edits are not marked. Confirm that the Track Changes control is active and that the document is not restricted to a mode that prevents editing. Check whether the display is set to No Markup or whether insertions and deletions are hidden under Review > Show Markup. Switch to All Markup, enable the relevant categories, and make a small test edit. If the test is still unmarked, save the file, close and reopen it, and verify that you have editing access.

I cannot see revisions that someone mentioned. Choose Review > Display for Review > All Markup, then inspect Show Markup to make sure the relevant revision types and reviewers are not hidden. Also check that you opened the latest shared copy. A reviewer may have accepted their edits before sharing, in which case those edits are ordinary text rather than pending revisions.

I cannot accept or reject an edit. Make sure you are in an editable document, not a read-only preview, and that the item is a tracked change rather than a comment. If editing is restricted or the file is protected, ask the owner for the required access. On a shared document, allow the file to finish syncing and try again. If you are unsure what a bulk action will affect, do not use it; navigate to the revision and handle it individually.

The page looks clean, but I need to remove revision marks. First determine whether you need to keep the review history. To permanently incorporate edits, accept them; to undo them, reject them. Hiding marks with No Markup is not enough. Save a copy before resolving a large number of revisions, and inspect the document afterward to ensure the wording is correct.

The steps look different in my version. In Word for Mac, open the Review tab and use its Track Changes and change-review controls; the shortcut is Command+Shift+E rather than Ctrl+Shift+E. In Word for the web, look for Track Changes on the Review tab. The available display and review controls can vary by version, so open the document in the desktop app if a control you need is missing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does turning off Track Changes remove existing edits?

No. Turning it off stops Word from recording new edits as revisions. Changes already tracked remain until someone accepts or rejects them. You can still display and review those revisions after tracking is off.

Can I track changes after I have already edited the document?

You can turn tracking on for future edits, but Word does not automatically identify earlier untracked edits as revisions. Compare the file with an earlier version or use Word’s document comparison tools if you need to find differences between copies.

How do I accept all changes in Word?

On Windows, open Review, select the dropdown beside Accept, then choose Accept All Changes or Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking, depending on whether you also want tracking turned off. Check the document first and keep a backup if you may need the prior review history.

Can I hide tracked changes without deleting them?

Yes. Select Review > Display for Review > No Markup to view the document without visible revision marks. The revisions remain in the file. Return to All Markup to inspect them, and do not mistake the clean-looking display for a finalized document.

Can multiple people use Track Changes in the same document?

Yes. People can review a shared Word document, and Word can show revisions by reviewer. Save or share the file through a location the group can access, avoid editing separate outdated copies, and agree on how reviewers should handle changes and comments. The controls can differ between desktop Word and Word for the web.

Are comments included in Track Changes?

Comments and tracked edits are separate features. A comment records a note or question, while Track Changes records alterations to document content or formatting. Review both types of markup before you consider the document complete.

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