Editing a Word Document with the Track Changes Feature

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Use this handy feature to redline & track edits to a Word document

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: July 31, 2026 Fact Checked

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• Enabling the "Track Changes" Feature
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• Changing "Track Changes" Settings
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• Editing Your Document
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• Video
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• Q&A
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• Tips
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• Warnings

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In Microsoft Word, there's a handy feature called "Track Changes" that lets you see the changes you've made to a document. This is a great way to edit your documents, especially if you're editing someone else's work. In this article, we'll teach you how to enable the "Track Changes" feature, adjust the settings to your liking, and edit with it. Keep reading to learn how.

Using the "Track Changes" Feature to Edit

To enable "Track Changes," click Review > Track Changes. You can adjust your Track Changes settings in the Markup section of the ribbon. Then, start editing your document. To accept or reject the changes made, click Accept or Reject in the Tracking section.

Steps

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Enabling the "Track Changes" Feature

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1. 
   1
   Open the document you wish to edit. You can do so by double-clicking the Microsoft Word document directly, or you can open Microsoft Word and select a document from the "Recently Opened" page.

   • Before making any changes to the current document, consider creating a copy and editing it rather than the original document—that way, you'll have a backup document if something goes wrong.
2. 
   2
   Click the Review tab. It's in the tab bar at the top of the screen, above the ribbon. It's between the "mailings" and "view" tabs.
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3. 
   3
   Click Track Changes. This option is at the top of the Word page, near the middle of the screen. Clicking it will enable Microsoft Word's "Track Changes" feature.

   • If you want to only track your own changes, click the arrow next to "Track Changes" and choose Just Mine. To track everyone's changes, click For Everyone. If you just click the "Track Changes" button, you'll enable the For Everyone setting.
   • Click Lock Tracking in this menu if you want to stop other people from turning off Track Changes. You'll be able to set a password that other users must enter to disable Track Changes.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Changing "Track Changes" Settings

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1. 
   1
   Click the top drop-down box to the right of Track Changes. Doing so will present you with the following editing options:

   • Simple Markup: Draws a vertical red line on the far left side of any added or deleted text, but shows no other edits.
   • All Markup: Displays all changes you make to your document in red text and comment boxes on the left side of the page.
   • No Markup: Displays your changes in addition to the original document, but no red text or comment boxes appear.
   • Original: Displays the original document without your changes.
2. 
   2
   Select your desired markup style. All Markup is recommended, as it allows you to see all of the changes made while editing your document. Other markup styles work better for other applications. In this article, we'll cover how to use the All Markup setting.
3. 3
   Change which markups are shown. Under the dropdown menu, you'll see an option that says Show Markup. If you click this option, you'll get a menu that lets you choose which markup you see in your document. Here's what each option does:

   • Insertions and Deletions: If you turn this off, you won't see the editing markup when you add or delete text.
   • Formatting: If you turn this off, you won't see the pane on the right-hand side of the document saying who changed the text formatting and how they formatted it.
   • Balloons: Allows you to change what changes show up in the right-hand side of the screen.
   • Specific People: If you only want to see changes from a specific user, select them in this menu.
4. 4
   Enable the reviewing pane. If you prefer, you can enable a revisions pane that shows you all revisions that have been made to the document. If you just click Reviewing Pane, the pane will show up on the left-hand side of the document. You can instead click the arrow next to Reviewing Pane to choose between a vertical or horizontal pane.
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Editing Your Document

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1. 
   1
   Delete text to remove it from the document. When you delete text, it will still show when you have "Track Changes" enabled, but it will turn red and be crossed out. If you accept the change, the text will disappear from the document.

   • If you have "Show revisions in balloons" selected in Show Markup > Balloons, the text will disappear, but you'll see a note in the right-hand pane that the text was removed.
2. 
   2
   Type new text to add it to the document. Any new text will be red and underlined. If you don't accept this change, the new text will be deleted.

   • If you start a new line of text by pressing ↵ Enter (or ⏎ Return), you'll see a grey vertical line appear on the left side of the screen where your new line of text begins.
3. 
   3
   Click New Comment to add comments to highlighted text. The New Comment button is the speech bubble with a plus sign near the top of the Word document page. Clicking it will open a window on the right side of the screen for your comment.

   • You can click anywhere on the screen to save your comment when you're done typing.
   • Adding a comment is great for leaving a note if you don't want to edit something directly, such as asking the original writer of the document to research and add more context to what they originally wrote.
4. 
   4
   Accept or reject edits when you're done. To do so, click Accept or Reject at the top of the screen (to the right of the Track Changes button) to modify a highlighted edit, or click the ▼ below Accept or Reject and click All Changes to accept or reject every change made to the document. Doing this will remove any Track Changes formatting (e.g., red text and comment boxes).

   • You can also save the document with the tracked changes by skipping this step.
5. 
   5
   Save your document. To do so, press Ctrl+S (Windows)/⌘ Cmd+S (Mac). Your document will retain the changes you made.
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Community Q&A

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• Question

  What are the different ways in which one can edit a document?

  

  Community Answer

  You can use all mark up to show all your changes, whether they be in deletion, correction, or paraphrasing. In editing, it is important to capture the voice of the original writer, making changes only to bridge the gap between grammar and clear visual images for the reader. It isn't easy to rewrite other's work, nor one's own in my experience.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
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  Not Helpful 4 Helpful 11
• Question

  How do I change the name of the editor in comments in documents with multiple editors?

  

  Community Answer

  Click Review, click Track Changes, Change User Name, and type in the initials that you want to appear. You can also change the color that changes are typed in.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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  Not Helpful 3 Helpful 9
• Question

  How do I make corrections in color?

  

  Community Answer

  To make corrections in color, just highlight the word, then click 'text color' at the top of the screen.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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Warnings

• Failing to save a copy of the original document before using Track Changes may result in losing the original document's content.
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