To see edits that are already tracked in a Word document, open the file and go to Review > All Markup in desktop Word. You can then select a marked edit to see its detail, use Previous and Next to move through revisions, or open the Reviewing Pane for a list. You do not need to turn Track Changes on or make a new edit just to view revisions that were saved earlier. To hide revision marks temporarily, choose No Markup; that does not accept or delete the changes.
View existing tracked changes in desktop Word
- Open the file you were asked to review. Check its name and location. If you have several copies, use the one that contains the collaborator’s revisions; markup cannot appear in a copy that never received those changes.
- Show the markup. Choose the Review tab and set the markup view to All Markup. In some desktop layouts this control appears in the Tracking or Markup group. Added text, deleted text, and other tracked changes should become visible in or beside the document.
- Inspect a change. Select a marked passage or its margin indicator. Word can show a card with the suggested change and reviewer information. A comment is a separate discussion item; it is not the same thing as a tracked text edit.
- Move through the file. On Review, choose Next or Previous in the changes controls to inspect revisions one at a time. Moving to a change does not accept or reject it.
- Check the whole list. Open Review > Reviewing Pane and choose its vertical or horizontal layout. The pane summarizes visible tracked changes and comments; return to the document to make editorial changes.
For example, suppose a reviewer changed “Send the report Friday” to “Send the report Monday.” In All Markup, Word can show the deleted and inserted wording. In No Markup, you see the suggested final sentence, but the pending revision still exists. Select the change to inspect it before you decide what to do.
When you want to suggest something without editing the text, you can add a comment in Word instead.
Choose the markup view you need
| View | What it shows | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Markup | A cleaner page with margin indicators for changes. | Reading while keeping an eye on where revisions occur. |
| All Markup | Visible insertions, deletions, and other displayed revisions. | Inspecting the exact edits before accepting or rejecting anything. |
| No Markup | The document as it would read with suggested edits incorporated, without showing the marks. | Previewing readability; it does not remove revisions. |
| Original | The earlier wording without the proposed revisions displayed. | Comparing the starting text with the suggested version. |
Switch back to All Markup before a thorough review. Hiding marks with No Markup or Original does not resolve them, and simply switching off Track Changes only stops recording new edits. The older tracked edits remain until someone accepts or rejects them.
Hide tracked changes temporarily in desktop Word
- Open the document and choose Review > No Markup in the markup-view menu. The page shows the suggested wording without visible revision marks.
- When you are ready to inspect the edits again, choose Review > All Markup. If you used Show Markup filters, restore all reviewers and edit types for a complete review.
No Markup is only a display choice. If you save or share the Word file, its pending revisions remain in the file. For paper output, check File > Print and its preview; Microsoft documents a separate Print Markup setting under the print settings. Clear that setting if you need paper without revision marks, then inspect the preview before printing. To make a document with no pending edits, accept or reject the changes instead of relying on a hidden view.
If a red line in the margin is what bothers you, see how to remove red lines in Word for the difference between hiding and clearing those marks.
Filter changes by person or edit type
When several people edited the file, desktop Word lets you narrow the display without changing the underlying revisions. On Review > Show Markup > Specific People, leave selected only the reviewers whose work you want to inspect. Return to All Reviewers before your final pass so hidden reviewers are not overlooked.
You can also use Show Markup to display or hide Insertions and Deletions or Formatting. A missing check mark beside an edit type means that type is hidden from the current view. These are display filters, not deletion commands. Microsoft notes that hidden markup types can reappear when the file is opened again, so do not use a filter as a way to prepare a clean document for sharing.
View revisions in Word for the web
Open the shared document in Word for the web and select Review > Markup view > All Markup to show suggestions on the page. Simple Markup shows a cleaner view with suggestions in the margin. Select a marked change to inspect it, or use Next and Previous to move through changes without deciding on them. Menu grouping can differ from desktop Word, so look for Markup view rather than trying to follow the desktop ribbon exactly.
If you need to start recording future edits, that is a different task: turn on Track Changes before editing. Turning it on today will not reconstruct changes that were made while tracking was off.
If you cannot see the changes
- The page looks final: Change the view from No Markup to All Markup. In desktop Word, also check Show Markup and reset any person or edit-type filters.
- The Reviewing Pane is empty: Confirm that you opened the revised copy, then display all reviewers and edit types. The pane summarizes visible revisions; an empty pane does not prove that an unrelated copy has the edits you expected.
- Someone edited while tracking was off: Word cannot turn those ordinary edits into tracked changes afterward. If the file lives in OneDrive or SharePoint, Version History may show earlier saved versions, but it is a separate feature with a different purpose.
- You see comment bubbles but no marked text: Comments and tracked revisions are separate review features. A commenter may have left feedback without editing the document text.
When you are ready to make a clean copy
Viewing changes is a safe first pass. Before sharing a final version, decide which revisions to Accept or Reject in the document and check the Reviewing Pane again. No Markup only hides unresolved changes. The separate remove tracked changes guide explains how to resolve existing revisions rather than merely conceal them. If you only want to stop recording future edits, use the turn-off guide.
Sources: Microsoft Support: Track changes in Word; Microsoft Support: Accept tracked changes.
Once you have reviewed everything, you can remove the remaining editing marks by accepting or rejecting each change.
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