How to use track changes in Word
An edited document usually comes back full of coloured markup. Here is how to review it properly, keep the changes that help, and submit a clean file.
Track changes in Word records every insertion, deletion and formatting edit so another person can see exactly what changed. Turn it on or off from the Review tab, and accept or reject edits from the same tab, one at a time or all at once. Before you submit, accept or reject everything and delete the comments, because hiding the markup does not remove it.
That covers most of what people need. The rest of this guide explains each step, what the different views show, and how to check nothing is left behind.
Turn track changes in Word on and off
Open the Review tab and click Track Changes. When the button is highlighted, Word records every edit you make. Click it again to stop. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl, Shift and E on Windows and Command, Shift and E on a Mac.
In Microsoft 365 the button has a small arrow offering two options. For Everyone records edits made by anyone who opens the file. Just Mine records only your own edits, which is useful when several people are working on one document.
Turning tracking off never removes the changes already recorded. It only stops new ones being added, which is the source of most confusion about why markup seems to come back.
Choose what you see on screen
The Display for Review menu on the Review tab controls the view, and it is worth understanding before you start working through edits.
| View | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Simple Markup | The edited text, with a red line in the margin wherever something changed |
| All Markup | Every insertion, deletion and comment, in colour |
| No Markup | The document as it would look if every change were accepted |
| Original | The document as it was before any tracked edits |
All Markup is the best view for reviewing a proofreader's work carefully. No Markup is useful for reading the edited version through, but it hides changes rather than removing them. Anyone can switch the view back.
Accept or reject edits one at a time
Click at the start of the document, then use Next in the Changes group to jump to the first edit. Choose Accept and Move to Next if the change is right, or Reject and Move to Next if it is not. Right clicking a change offers the same options.
For long documents, the Reviewing Pane lists every change and comment in order. It makes it easier to see how much remains, and to spot edits in footnotes, headers and text boxes that are easy to miss on the page.
Pay attention to changes that touch meaning rather than correctness. A proofreader fixing a comma is one thing. A reworded sentence in your discussion chapter is a decision you need to make yourself.
How to accept all changes in Word
Open the Accept menu on the Review tab and choose Accept All Changes. If you also want Word to stop recording, choose Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking. Reject has matching options.
You can accept by type too. Use Show Markup to display only formatting changes, for example, then accept all of those and review the wording changes separately. The same menu filters by reviewer when more than one person has edited the file.
Deal with comments
Comments are separate from tracked changes, so accepting every change leaves them in place. Reply to a comment to keep a conversation going, resolve it once you have acted on it, or delete it. To clear them all, open the Delete menu in the Comments group and choose Delete All Comments in Document.
Check the file is clean before you submit
Once every change has been accepted or rejected and the comments are gone, go to File, then Info, then Check for Issues, and run Inspect Document. It reports any remaining revisions, comments and hidden personal information, and removes them if you choose.
Save the clean version under a new file name and keep the tracked version separately. If your university ever asks what help you had, the tracked file shows exactly what an editor changed. Accept or reject everything before exporting to PDF as well, since markup can carry into the exported file.
Review a proofreader's changes properly
Clicking Accept All the moment an edited file arrives is tempting and usually a mistake. University policies on outside help generally expect you to review each change, because the submitted work must remain your own. Our guide to university proofreading policies explains why, and what a proofreader does explains which changes you should expect to see.
Read through in All Markup, accept corrections you agree with, and reject anything that changes your argument. Where you are unsure, the comment attached to a change often explains the reason for it.
Google Docs works in a similar way through Suggesting mode, and Word for the web has the same Review tab as the desktop version. The principles in this guide apply to both.
Every document our editors return uses track changes in Word, with a comment wherever a change needs explaining, so you can see each correction and decide on it before you submit. The difference between that kind of edit and a rewrite is set out in our guide toproofreading vs editing.
Last updated: 14 September 2026 · Written by the AssignWise editorial team ·Spotted something wrong?
Frequently asked questions
Open the Review tab and click Track Changes so the button is no longer highlighted, or press Ctrl, Shift and E on Windows (Command, Shift and E on a Mac). Turning tracking off stops new edits being recorded. It does not remove the changes already in the document.
Accept or reject every change, then delete the comments. The quickest route is Accept, then Accept All Changes, followed by Delete All Comments in Document. Then run File, Info, Check for Issues, Inspect Document to confirm no revisions or comments remain before you submit.
Someone has probably locked tracking with a password, or restricted editing on the document. Look under the Track Changes options for Lock Tracking, and under Review, Protect, Restrict Editing. If a password was set, ask the person who sent you the file to remove it.
Yes, if they are still in the file. Switching the view to No Markup only hides changes on your screen. Anyone who opens the document can switch the view back, so accept or reject everything and delete comments before you submit.
It is better to review them. Most university proofreading policies expect you to decide on each change yourself, because the work has to remain yours. Accept the corrections that are right, reject anything that alters your meaning, and use Accept All only after you have read through the markup.
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