OmniDocHow to Use Track Changes in Word: Edit and Review
Learn how to make tracked edits and comments in a Word file, review other people's markup, and save the document so the review history stays intact.
A contract or report comes back from three reviewers, and the file is full of red text, margin notes and deleted sentences. You can't tell who changed what, or which edit someone still wants to discuss. Track Changes in Word solves this by recording every insertion, deletion and comment so each reviewer's work stays visible until someone decides what to keep.
This guide is for anyone who needs to make edits in a Word file, review someone else's markup, or hand a document back and forth without losing the history. It focuses on the workflow: how to make tracked edits, how to comment and reply, how to edit a change that someone else already made, and how to save the file so the review trail survives.
The short answer is to turn on tracking before you edit, make your changes and comments inside the file itself, and save each round as a .docx so the markup stays editable.
How do I use track changes in a Word document? The short answer
Turn on tracking before you change anything, then keep every round of edits and comments inside the same .docx file.
| Your situation | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You are sending a draft for review | Turn on Track Changes and set your reviewer name before the first edit | Readers can see which words were added or removed and who made each change |
| You are reviewing a colleague's markup | Read each change and reply in its comment thread before deciding anything | Your reasoning stays attached to the exact text it refers to |
| You need to keep the review history | Save a new version as .docx with the markup still in place | Accepting everything early removes the trail other reviewers may need |
| You received a PDF instead of a Word file | Ask for the .docx, or compare two PDF versions in the PDF editor | Track Changes is a Word feature, and PDFs don't keep editable tracked edits |
Before you start
A few checks at the beginning prevent a common problems later.
- Get the .docx file. Track changes and comments are stored in Word files. A PDF may show the markup visually, but the revisions can't be accepted, rejected or edited as tracked changes.
- Agree on who reviews and in what order. Edits from several people stacked on the same paragraph are hard to trace. A simple order, such as author, then legal, then final edit, keeps the history readable.
- Set your reviewer name in Word's settings. Changes are recorded with the name Word has on file. Without a name, reviewers see an unidentified author and can't tell whose suggestion it is.
- Decide how you will view the markup. Changes shown inline or in the margin are easy to spot. A clean view with markup hidden can make it look as if nothing has changed, so check the view before you start reviewing.
- Save a copy of the draft you are about to mark up. Keeping the unmarked version lets you compare later and recover if a round of edits goes the wrong way.
Making and reviewing tracked edits in Word, step by step
- Open the .docx and switch on Track Changes before you type. Edits made while tracking is off are not recorded, so the first change you make should come after this step.
- Make your edits as you normally would. New text appears as an insertion and removed text stays visible as a deletion, so reviewers see both the old and new wording.
- Add a comment to explain a change. Select the words, insert a comment and write the reason in one or two sentences, such as "Shortened to match the 30-day notice clause in section 4."
- Reply in the comment thread when someone responds. Keep the discussion attached to the same text so the next reviewer can follow it without searching through the document.
- Edit someone else's tracked change by typing over it or deleting it. Your edit is recorded as a new change on top of theirs, so their original change remains visible for anyone who needs to see it.
- Scroll through the whole document before you hand it off. Step through the changes from beginning to end so you don't miss a comment or an edit in a table or footnote.
- Save the file as a .docx under a new version name. Use a name such as "contract_v3_markup.docx" so the previous round stays intact and the file still carries the tracked changes.
- If you want to work in the browser, open the file in the UniDoc web editor. The UniDoc web editor at app.unidoc.top offers Word-compatible editing and a Word round trip. Confirm that the markup and comments appear before you rely on that copy.
Check the result
Run these checks before you send the file or accept any changes.
| Check | How to see it | If it's wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking was on for your edits | Look for underlined insertions and struck-through deletions next to your changes | Undo the untracked edit, turn on tracking and make it again |
| Your name appears on changes | Open the details of a change or hover over it | Update your name in Word's settings, then tell reviewers that earlier changes keep the name they were recorded with |
| Comments sit on the right words | Confirm the highlighted text matches the comment | Delete the comment and reinsert it over the correct words |
| Nothing was lost in a copy | Compare the number of changes and the comment text with your .docx master | Keep the .docx as the master and reconcile the copy against it |
| Layout and objects are intact | Check tables, equations, images and page breaks in the copy | Fix the problem in the original Word file, then repeat the upload |
Machine-generated text, copies and converted files can all change formatting or drop markup, so reread anything important against the original before you treat it as final.
❓ FAQ
1. Why can't I see the markup in my file?
The view may be set to hide changes, or tracking may never have been turned on. Check the view setting first, then look at whether the edits you made are marked. If they aren't, the edits were made while tracking was off.
2. Can I delete comments without accepting the changes?
Yes. Comments and tracked changes are separate, so you can remove a comment while the change it refers to stays in the document. Do this only when the discussion is finished and the reviewers have agreed.
3. Will the markup survive if I save the file as a PDF?
Usually not as editable markup. A PDF typically shows the changes as they look on the page, but the tracked changes can no longer be accepted, rejected or edited. Keep the .docx as your working file and make a PDF only for a final read-only copy.
4. Is the UniDoc web editor the same as Word?
It offers Word-compatible editing, but it is not the same application. Open your file there, compare the markup and comments with your .docx, and keep the original as the master copy.
📝 Summary
Track Changes works well when the file stays a .docx, every edit is tracked from the first change, and each round is saved as a new version. Check the markup after every upload or conversion so the review history reaches the next reader intact.
