How to Remove Track Changes in Word

To remove track changes from a Word document for good, you have to accept or reject each tracked change. Accepting keeps the edit; rejecting throws it away and restores the original text. Either way, the colored markup disappears. Switching the view to No Markup only hides the changes, and turning off Track Changes only stops Word recording new ones. Save a copy before you finalize someone else’s edits.

Remove, hide, or turn off: which do you need?

What you do	What happens	Markup gone for other people?
Accept or Reject changes	The edits become normal text, or are undone	Yes
Switch to No Markup	Changes are hidden on your screen only	No
Turn off Track Changes	New edits aren’t recorded; existing ones stay	No

This article covers removing changes that are already in the file. If you only want Word to stop recording new edits, see our guide to turning off Track Changes.

What redlines are

“Redlines” is a common name for Word’s tracked changes: inserted text shown underlined in color, deleted text shown struck through or in balloons in the margin, and change bars beside edited lines. They stay in the file until each change is accepted or rejected. That’s why they come back for other people even after you switch your own view to No Markup.

Before you start: make every change visible

1. Save a copy of the document with the changes still in it, in case you need the edit history later.
2. On the Review tab, set the markup view to All Markup.
3. Open Show Markup and make sure Insertions and Deletions and Formatting are checked, so no type of change is hidden.
4. In Show Markup > Specific People, choose All Reviewers.

Need help reading the markup first? See how to view track changes in Word.

Review changes one by one

1. Click at the start of the document.
2. On the Review tab, select Next in the Changes group to jump to the first change.
3. Select Accept to keep it or Reject to discard it. Word moves to the next change.
4. Repeat until Word tells you there are no more changes. Remember to check tables, headers, footers, and footnotes.

You can also right-click any change and choose Accept or Reject from the menu.

Accept or reject every change at once

If you’ve read through the document and know the result you want, clear everything in one go.

1. Select the Review tab.
2. Select the arrow under or beside Accept.
3. Choose Accept All Changes, or Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking to also turn off Track Changes.
4. Save the document.

The Reject button has matching Reject All Changes and Reject All Changes and Stop Tracking options. These commands change the actual content, so keep your review copy until you’re sure.

Accept or reject only one person’s changes

1. Select Review > Show Markup > Specific People.
2. Clear All Reviewers, then check only the person whose edits you want to handle.
3. Open the arrow on Accept and choose Accept All Changes Shown. Or use Reject > Reject All Changes Shown.
4. Go back to Specific People and select All Reviewers to check what’s left.

Only the changes on screen are affected, which makes this useful when one reviewer’s edits are approved and another’s still need a look.

Word for Mac and Word for the web

Word for Mac has the same Accept and Reject buttons on its Review tab, with the “all changes” options in their drop-down arrows. Word for the web also lets you accept or reject changes one at a time or all at once from the Review tab, though the buttons are arranged a little differently. Microsoft’s accept or reject tracked changes guide has steps for each version.

Remove comments too

Comments are separate from tracked changes, so accepting everything doesn’t delete them. Read them first, then choose Review > Delete > Delete All Comments in Document to remove them all, or delete them one at a time.

Do a final check before you share

1. Switch back to All Markup. If nothing is colored or in the margin, the changes are gone.
2. In Word for Windows, choose File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document.
3. Select Inspect. The Document Inspector reports any remaining revisions, comments, and hidden document information.
4. Use Remove All beside anything you want gone, then save.

For a clean copy that leaves the original untouched, see how to save a Word document without markup.

Why tracked changes keep coming back

• Track Changes is still on. Every new edit, including your own, is being recorded. Turn it off, or use an “and Stop Tracking” option.
• Tracking is locked. If someone used Lock Tracking, you’ll need their password to turn it off.
• Someone else is still editing a shared copy in OneDrive or SharePoint, adding new tracked changes.
• A markup type was filtered out, such as formatting changes, so it wasn’t shown when you accepted “all shown.”

If what you’re seeing is squiggly spelling underlines rather than tracked edits, see our guide to removing red lines in Word.

Undo a mistake

If you accept or reject everything by mistake, press Ctrl+Z (Command+Z on a Mac) before you close the file. After that, restore the copy you saved or, for files in OneDrive or SharePoint, an earlier version from version history.

Frequently asked questions

Can I remove redlines without keeping the edits?

Yes. Reject the changes. Rejecting restores the original text and removes the markup.

Does No Markup remove changes when I print?

It hides them, but the safer way is to choose File > Print, open the first setting under Settings, and clear Print Markup. The changes are still in the file afterward.

Does accepting changes delete the edit history?

Yes. Once accepted or rejected, the changes are no longer tracked, and Word can’t show who made them. Keep the review copy if you might need that record.