How to Show, Accept, or Hide Edits in Microsoft Word
Important for when you are collaborating
When you collaborate on a document in Microsoft Word, you’ll see changes by coauthors. You might want to keep some edits but reject others. The best approach isusing Track Changesso you can review the changes and decide how to handle them.
Here we’ll walk you through how to show edits in Word and accept, reject, and hide those edits. This has you covered throughout the change tracking process.
Turn on Track Changes
To keep track of all edits in a document, you can turn on the Track Changes feature for everyone or even just for yourself. This is a helpful way to make sure no change goes in unnoticed.
Once the feature is enabled, you can lock it to prevent anyone else from turning it off. SelectLock Trackingin theTrack Changesdrop-down menu and follow the prompts.
How to Show Edits in Word
When you’re ready to proofread the document and see the changes, you have a few ways.
In addition to the above, you have the option to display the Reviewing Pane. This is helpful if you decide to use Simple Markup because you’ll see the edits in a panel instead.
Select theReviewing Panedrop-down arrow and pick either the vertical (left panel) or horizontal (bottom panel) option.
Also, you can review changes by jumping directly to each one rather than hunting them down in the document.
In the Changes section of the ribbon, use thePrevious ChangeandNext Changebuttons to see them one at a time.
How to Accept Edits in Word
Now that you know how to showedits in Word, the next step is how to accept those edits. You can accept individual changes or all changes at once.
To accept edits individually, start by selecting the first one. Then, open theAcceptdrop-down menu in the Changes section of the ribbon.
Choose eitherAccept and Move to Nextto review and accept one at a time orAccept This Changeto accept it and then stop the review process.
Alternatively, you can right-click a change and pickAcceptfor the insertion, deletion, or format change.
If you want to accept all of the changes in a document, open theAcceptdrop-down box in the ribbon. PickAccept All ChangesorAccept All Changes and Stop Trackingper your preference.
How to Reject Edits in Word
Rejecting edits in Word is as easy as accepting them and follows the same basic process. You can reject one or all in the document.
Pick a change, select theRejectdrop-down arrow in the ribbon and chooseReject and Move to NextorReject Change. You can alsoright-click and selectRejectfor the insertion, deletion, or format change in the shortcut menu.
To reject all changes in the document, select theRejectdrop-down arrow and pickReject All ChangesorReject All Changes and Stop Trackingper your preference.
How to Hide Edits in Word
Not everything when collaborating on a document is about reviewing, accepting, or rejecting changes. If you want to hide the edits to focus on the content, you can do this without turning off the Track Changes feature.
Return to that same drop-down box to display changes again and as described earlier.
For additional ways to collaborate on your Word documents, take a look at how to add and remove comments. If you also use Microsoft Excel, check outhow to share a fileand thenhow to track changesthere too.
Sandy Writtenhouse is a freelance technology writer and former Project, Department, and Program Manager. She turned her education, job experience, and love of technology into a full-time writing career. With all sorts of gadgets in her home and her hands, she seeks to help others make life easier through technology.Read Sandy’s Full Bio
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