OmniDocAccept or Reject All Track Changes in Word
Learn how to accept or reject all track changes in a Word document, including formatting changes, and check the final file before you share it.
Word documents that have been reviewed often come back with dozens of markups from several people: insertions, deletions, comments and formatting changes. If you send the file on, sign it, or convert it to PDF without resolving them, the markup travels with it. This guide is for anyone who needs to finalize a reviewed .docx file and wants to clear every recorded edit in one pass.
The method works the same way in many desktop word processors. The program lists each tracked change, and a bulk command either keeps all of them (accept) or throws them away (reject). Accepting keeps the edited text and formatting as they currently read. Rejecting restores the original.
Below you will find a short answer, a checklist to run before you start, a step-by-step process, and a way to confirm the final file is clean.
How do you accept or reject all track changes at once? The short answer
Turn off change tracking, confirm the list of changes includes formatting changes, and then run the bulk accept or reject command for the whole document.
| Your situation | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The reviewer's edits are correct and final | Accept all changes | Keeps the edited text and formatting as they now read |
| The edits should be discarded or the draft should revert | Reject all changes | Restores the original text and formatting |
| Some edits are right and others are not | Accept or reject each change in the changes list | Lets you decide item by item before running a bulk command |
| Only formatting changes were recorded | Accept or reject the formatting changes | Formatting markup is often listed separately from text edits |
| The document must go out with no markup | Accept all changes, then remove comments | Accepting changes does not delete comments |
Before you start
Run through these checks first. Each one prevents a common problem during cleanup.
- Save a marked-up copy. Bulk accept or reject is hard to reverse once you have saved and closed the file. Keep the original version so you can recover a reviewer's edit later.
- Turn off change tracking. If tracking stays on, every keystroke you make while cleaning up becomes a new change, and you end up with more markup than you started with.
- Look at who made the changes. Reviewer names and dates help you judge which edits to keep. A change from a colleague who has already withdrawn it may need rejecting even if the others are accepted.
- Decide what happens to comments. Accepting or rejecting changes does not remove review comments. Decide now whether they should stay in the file.
- Identify other story sections. Headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes and text boxes can hold their own tracked changes. Some tools treat these separately, so note where they appear.
Accepting all track changes at once, step by step
- Save a copy of the marked-up file. The copy preserves the full record of who changed what, which is useful if you later need to reject a single edit.
- Turn off change tracking. This stops new edits from being recorded while you clean up the document.
- Open the list of tracked changes. Scroll through insertions, deletions and formatting markup so you know what the bulk command will cover.
- Handle comments if you want them gone. Comments are separate from tracked changes, so accepting does not remove them. Resolve or delete them now or after the next step.
- Run the bulk command. Choose accept all changes to keep the edits, or reject all changes to revert to the original text.
- Confirm formatting changes were included. In many programs, formatting changes are listed apart from text edits. If any remain, accept or reject them separately.
- Check the other story sections. Headers, footers, footnotes and text boxes may still contain markup, so repeat the process there if needed.
- Save under a new name. This keeps the clean version separate from the marked-up copy you saved in step 1.
Check the result
Before you share the file, confirm that nothing was missed. Use this table as a final pass.
| Check | How to see it | If it's wrong |
|---|---|---|
| No insertions or deletions remain | Open the changes list or switch to a view that shows markup | Run the bulk command again on the remaining items |
| Formatting is correct | Scan headings, bold text, fonts and spacing in the body | Reject the formatting change, or restore the formatting by hand |
| Comments are as intended | Open the comments pane | Delete the comments you no longer need |
| Headers, footers and notes are clean | Check each section of the document | Accept or reject markup in that section |
| Text reads as final | Read key sections, figures and names against the reviewer's notes | Reopen your saved copy and resolve specific changes one at a time |
If you plan to translate the cleaned file or convert it to another format, check the final wording before you do. Machine translation can make mistakes, so review key terms, numbers and names in the output after it is produced.
📊 At a glance
| Approach | Suited to | Main risk |
|---|---|---|
| Accept all | Reviews you agree with completely | Keeps any edit you did not mean to approve |
| Reject all | Drafts that must return to the original | Discards good edits along with bad ones |
| Item by item | Mixed reviews with some edits to keep | Takes longer on long documents |
| Formatting only | Documents where text is settled but styling changed | Formatting markup can be missed if you only check the text |
❓ FAQ
1. Does accepting all changes also accept formatting changes?
It depends on the program. Formatting changes are often tracked separately from text edits, so check the changes list after running the bulk command. Accept or reject any formatting markup that remains.
2. Can I undo accept all after I save the file?
You cannot count on it. If the file is still open, undo right after the command may work. Otherwise, reopen the marked-up copy you saved before you started.
3. Why are comments still there after I accepted all changes?
Comments are a separate kind of markup. Accepting or rejecting tracked changes does not delete them, so resolve or delete them in a separate step.
4. Should I remove track changes before I send the document to someone else?
Yes, if the recipient needs the final text. Accept or reject everything, check the result, and send the clean version. Keep the marked-up copy for your own records.
📝 Summary
Running word track changes accept all or reject all takes a few minutes once you save a copy, turn off tracking, and include formatting changes in the scope. Then check comments, headers and the final text before you share the file.
