Word online is a great tool especially if you are looking to track and show edits made on collaborative word documents. You and your coworkers will surely save the time and effort you need to put into editing multiple-word documents. Won’t it be simpler if you had everything online, easy to spot, and yes of course free? This post takes you through how to track changes in word online.
To track changes in word online in the review tab click on go-to tracking and select track changes. If the track changes feature is unavailable on your system you will need to turn off document protection. For this go to review > restrict editing and select Stop protection.
Track changes meaning
While working on Word, especially while collaborating on documents it is common to hear the term track changes. People who are not familiar with it might get confused about how to do it or what it exactly is. Here is a breakdown.
Track changes is a review tool in Word online as well as on the Desktop version of Word. It enables you to track the changes made to the document by all the collaborators. You will have all the changes marked with the name of the person editing it.
The owner of the document can review these changes. Reviewing simply means that you can either accept or reject the changes made by the different collaborators.
The changes you make to a word online document while tracking changes are like suggestions that you or your colleagues can review. They can either be accepted or removed. Here is how it is done
Turning track changes on and off on Windows (Windows 11)
On your Windows system turning track changes on is fairly straightforward.
- Click on the Review tab select then Track Changes. Under this, you have two options For Everyone or Just Mine.
- Choosing For Everyone will enable all users to make and track changes in the word online document while
- Choosing Just mine will enable only your changes to be tracked.
While editing the document you can turn on tracking by clicking on the dropdown menu. This menu is particularly helpful when shifting from one mode to the other.
When making changes to a word online document in the track changes mode the deletions or edits are marked differently. Both the changes are in red the only difference being
- Deletions in the word online document are marked with a strikethrough and
- Additions in the word online document are underlined
- If more than one author is editing the word document changes will show up in different colors.
When Track Changes is off the edits made to your word online document do not show up in red they go back to black or the color you were originally working with.
Please note: The changes you were tracking the deletions, as well as the additions marked in red (strikethrough as well as underlined), will stay until they are either accepted or rejected.
How to identify a change in a word online document?
The line on the left margin indicates that there is a change in the paragraph. To view the changes, you can simply click on the line if it doesn’t already show.
Read How to add columns in word online
How to accept or reject changes in word online?
While editing documents using track changes it becomes necessary to either accept or reject changes. There are two ways to do this
- Accept or reject changes from the drop-down section
The panel on the top has all the options handy, this includes accepting or rejecting changes. It also has options to move forward and backward through the document so that you find the next edit faster.
- Accept or reject changes by right-clicking the change
This is a more straightforward way of accepting or rejecting changes.
Simply Right-click on the edited text and you can choose to accept the edit or reject it.
Read How to delete a document in word online?
Track changes unavailable in Word Online
If the track changes option is not visible or unavailable on your word online it could be that the document is protected. For this
Open Word online document, Go to Review > Restrict Editing, and select Stop Protection.
You can also check in the panel above if the viewing option is selected. This simply means that the person is allowed to only view the document and not edit or review it.
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Commenting on the changes made in Word Online documents
It is always helpful when you can add a little note to edits done. The comments function while tracking changes makes it easier to understand and rectify documents to be edited.
In the dropdown menu, there is an option to add or show comments. You can add and read comments by just clicking on the show comments or adding a new comment option.
There is also an option to read all comments posted on the word document. This way you can view all edits and comments simultaneously. Comments from different users show up in different colors.
Like changes, you can either accept or reject comments. You can also have a counter comment to explain a certain edit or clarify.
Read How to separate pages in word online?
How to track changes in word online – macOS
Turning track changes on and off on macOS (newer version)
To track changes on macOS click on the Review tab and the dropdown section will have a slider to turn Track Changes on
All changes made in the document will show if you hover on the line in the left margin near paragraphs edited.
Edits from different devices or individuals will show up in different colors. This makes it easier to keep track of edits. You could also assign roles to people and restrict their access to the document. The options available include read-only where they cannot make any editorial alterations to the document but only view it.
When someone adds a comment, it will show up as a balloon. You can read and reply to comments by clicking on the bubble.
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How to track changes in word online on MacOS?
Comments in balloons can be a little distracting especially if there are too many of them. To make things simpler there is an option to show all revisions in line with this
Go to the Review tab > select Markup Options
Point to Balloons for a side menu and select Show All Revisions Inline.
Read How to enlarge Microsoft word online
Lock track changes or unable to track changes on macOS
The primary reason why you cannot track changes in a document is that it is a read-only file or you have only viewing access. For this, the person sharing the file needs to give you permission to edit.
Did you know you can lock Track Changes with a password?
For this go to the Tools tab select Protect Document and then click on Tracked Changes
You will then have a password box where you can enter a password of your choice and select OK.
This way the track changes will still be on but only you will be able to accept or reject them.
To turn off track changes simply go to the Review tab and Turn off Track Changes.
How to accept or reject changes in Word?
In the previous sections we looked at how to track changes, this section takes things a step further and looks at how to accept changes that are made to the document. It will also look at how to reject changes that you do not want to incorporate into the document.
- Open the Word online document you would like to work with.
- Click on Review in the top ribbon of the document.
- On the right, you will see the track changes option. Here you can accept or reject changes by simply clicking on the icon.
While accepting or rejecting changes you can do it one change at a time. Another option is to accept all changes made to the document. Along with this, you can also reject all changes.
How to accept or reject changes in Word for mac?
While working on a Mac system you can accept or reject changes just like Word Online. Here are the steps you can follow.
- Locate and open the Word document you would like to review
- Click on Review in the top ribbon of your document.
- Under Review, you will see the option titled Changes with an arrow. Click on the arrow for a dropdown menu.
- You will see four major options, Accept, Reject, Previous change, and Next change.
- When you click on Accept you can either accept one change and move to the next or accept all.
- The same is the case with changes that you want to Reject. You can either choose to reject one change at a time or reject all the changes made to the document.
How to accept all changes in word and stop tracking?
while accepting or rejecting changes Word users have an option to do it one at a time or simply do it all. once. In this section, we will look at how you can Accept all the changes made to a document and stop tracking future changes.
- Open the document you would like to work on
- Start by clicking on Review in the top ribbon of the document
- Under review, you will see a section titled Changes with an arrow. Clicking on Changes will open a dropdown menu.
- Here you will see Accept. Click on it from more options
- Under Accept you have the option to Accept all changes and stop tracking. Click on it.
Track changes word not working
A common problem that users face while collaborating is that they do not turn the track changes option on or simply cannot do so. In this section, we will look at the possible reasons why you cannot track changes made to the document you are collaborating on or working on.
#1 You do not own the document
The number 1 reason why you cannot track changes is that you are not the owner of the document. This simply means that you have not created the document. If this is the case you will need to ask the owner to allow you to edit the document by changing permissions while sharing.
#2 You have selected the wrong option
In word online you have three options under track changes they are off, For everyone and just mine. If you have selected Just mine instead of For Everyone only the changes made by you will be tracked. This way you will not be able to see or track the changes made by other contributors.
#3 You have to change the track changes display options
If you are the owner and have already enabled track changes but for some reason cannot view changes, there are chances the display options need to be changed. Here is how you can change the display options. This can be done only on the desktop application as there are more tools available.
- Click on Review in the top ribbon of your Word document
- Go to tracking. You will have a dropdown menu.
- Click on Mark up options. This is will open a dropdown menu will all the options there are when it comes to customizing the way your track changes markups will look.
- Click on the ones that suit your needs and you are good to go.
In conclusion
Word online is great when it comes to collaborations. You have so many formatting and reviewing options that it makes tasks simpler. This article looked at the various ways in which you can track changes in Word online. It also looked at tracking changes in Windows and Mac.
While performing tasks in collaboration there are times when you need to accept all changes made to the document or sometimes reject them all. This can easily be done while using the desktop application. You can also lock changes and add a password while tracking to avoid accidentally accepting or rejecting changes.
Hope you found this tutorial helpful. You may like the following word online tutorials:
- How to sign a document in Word Online?
- How to double space in word online?
- Make a hanging indent on word online
- How to delete section breaks in word online?
- How to print from word online?
My name is Carissa Gudino and I am an expert in word online, using Word Online in my day-to-day tasks. In this blog, I will share with you tips and tutorials on how to use word online to its fullest potential. I work for various clients in various countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. My tutorials are designed to help beginners, as well as more experienced users, learn new tricks and tips on Microsoft word online. Check out more.