To track edits in Word, open the document and choose Review > Track Changes before you edit. If Word offers For Everyone or Just Mine, choose the scope you need. Add or delete a short piece of text to confirm that Word marks your change, then save the file so your reviewer receives the revisions. Tracking cannot reconstruct edits made before it was turned on.
Track changes in desktop Word
- Start with the correct document. Open the file that collaborators will review. If you need an untouched original, save a separate copy before you begin; tracked edits are still part of the document until they are resolved.
- Choose Review > Track Changes. In current desktop Word, the control is on the Review tab. If the menu offers For Everyone, choose it for a shared review process; choose Just Mine when you only need your own new edits tracked. The available choice can depend on the Word version and the document’s sharing mode.
- Make a test edit. Insert a word or delete a word in a safe spot. Word should mark the insertion or deletion. Do not rely only on a colored Track Changes button: confirm that an actual edit appears as markup.
- Edit the document. Continue with your changes. Underlines, strikethroughs, margin indicators, and reviewer colors can vary with the selected markup view and Word version. Comments are separate discussion notes, not tracked text edits.
- Save and share the revised file. Save the document or confirm that the shared cloud file has saved. If you send a copy, open that copy once to check that the markup is still present for its recipient.
For example, if a draft says “The meeting is on Thursday” and you replace Thursday with Friday while tracking is on, the reviewer can inspect both the proposed deletion and insertion. If you made the change before turning tracking on, Word cannot retroactively show that pair of revisions. A saved earlier version in OneDrive or SharePoint may help you compare documents, but Version History is a separate feature.
Turn on Track Changes with a keyboard shortcut
You can switch tracking on or off without opening the Review tab:
- Word for Windows: press Ctrl+Shift+E.
- Word for Mac: press Command+Shift+E.
The shortcut toggles the current state, so pressing it twice turns tracking back off. Check that Track Changes on the Review tab looks selected, then make a test edit to confirm Word marks it. Word for Windows can also show a Track Changes indicator on the status bar at the bottom of the window: right-click the status bar, choose Track Changes, and the bar will show whether tracking is on or off. Click that indicator to switch it.
Turn on Track Changes in Word for Mac
- Open the document and select the Review tab.
- Turn on the Track Changes switch or button. If Word offers For Everyone or Just Mine, choose the scope you need.
- Make a small edit and confirm that Word marks it as an insertion or deletion.
Keep other editors from turning tracking off
In Word for Windows, choose the arrow under Review > Track Changes, then Lock Tracking. Enter a password if you want one and choose OK. Other editors can still make changes, but they cannot switch tracking off without unlocking it. Repeat the same command to unlock tracking when the review is done.
Track changes in Word for the web
Open the shared document in Word for the web, choose Review > Track Changes, and select For Everyone or Just Mine when the menu offers those choices. Make a small edit and switch to Review > Markup view > All Markup to check that the suggestion appears on the page. Microsoft also provides Simple Markup for a cleaner reading view. When collaborating, tell the other editors which tracking scope you chose; a personal setting is not a substitute for checking how edits in the shared file actually appear.
If the document was shared in a restricted reviewing mode, some controls may be unavailable. That is a sharing or protection choice, so ask the owner for the appropriate access rather than assuming the Track Changes button is broken.
Review what changed
Choose All Markup to see the detailed suggestions. In desktop Word, use Previous and Next on the Review tab to visit them one by one, or open the Reviewing Pane to see a list of visible revisions and comments. Select a marked passage to inspect its suggested change and reviewer information. For a full walkthrough of display modes and reviewer filters, see the view existing Track Changes guide.
A comment is useful for asking “Can we verify this date?” without changing the sentence itself. A tracked edit proposes a change to the sentence. Microsoft treats comments and tracked changes as separate review features, so a file may have one, the other, or both.
If several people are editing, you can also change the comment and markup colors in Word to make their edits easier to tell apart.
Accept or reject revisions when the review is finished
Review each suggestion and choose Accept or Reject based on whether it belongs in the final document. In desktop Word, the Review tab’s change controls can move to the next revision after a decision. Use an “Accept All” or “Reject All” command only when you have checked which changes it will apply to; filters can affect commands that refer to changes currently shown.
No Markup only hides pending changes from your current view. Turning Track Changes off stops recording new edits, but it does not remove revisions already stored in the file. To prepare a clean copy, resolve the pending revisions and check the Reviewing Pane before sharing. The remove tracked changes guide covers that final cleanup. The turn-off guide covers stopping future tracking without confusing it with cleanup.
If tracking does not appear to work
- Your new edits look ordinary: Confirm that tracking was on before the edit, then set the view to All Markup. A No Markup view can hide revisions that were recorded successfully.
- Only your edits are marked: Check whether Just Mine was selected where Word offers that choice. For a shared review, select For Everyone and test with a collaborator in the actual shared file.
- The command cannot be changed: The document may be protected or shared in review mode. Ask its owner about the restriction. Do not try to remove protection or change the file’s permissions as a shortcut.
- Older edits have no markup: Track Changes starts with future edits. Compare saved versions if available; it cannot add reviewer marks to earlier untracked text changes.
- The final file still shows marks: Reopen it in All Markup and inspect unresolved revisions. Hiding them or switching tracking off is not the same as accepting or rejecting them.
Sources: Microsoft Support: Track changes in Word; Microsoft Support: Accept tracked changes.
Matt has been writing about Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products since the days of Windows XP. He spends much of his time writing for sites like WindowBrain.com