How to Use Track Changes for Team Reviews
Beginner
How-To · Word
Let multiple people edit a document while keeping every change visible and reversible.
- Turn it on before editing: Review tab > Track Changes (or Ctrl+Shift+E).
- Edits now show as colored insertions and strikethrough deletions, with a colored bar in the margin marking changed lines.
- Use Review > Simple Markup vs. All Markup to toggle between a clean reading view and seeing every tracked change inline.
- To respond to changes, go through them one at a time with Review > Accept or Reject, or use "Accept All" / "Reject All" once you've reviewed everything.
- Add comments without changing the text itself via Review > New Comment — useful for questions rather than edits.
- Before sending a document externally, check File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document to confirm no tracked changes or comments are hiding in the file.
Running into an error instead of just needing the how-to? Check our Word troubleshooting guides or the error lookup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I tell who made which change if multiple people are editing?
Yes — Track Changes labels each edit with the name associated with that person's Word/Microsoft account, so you can see exactly who made which change.
Do tracked changes disappear if I accept them?
Accepting a change makes it permanent and removes the tracked-change markup for that specific edit, while rejecting it reverts the document to how it was before that edit.
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