Tracking Changes

Microsoft Word enables you to work effectively with other individuals by editing and commenting on documents. Their tools offer the opportunity for teachers to comment on student papers and for colleagues to work in partnership on projects as well as proposals.

Making Changes to a Document

Editors can offer comments and suggestions to documents to enhance the style of one's writing. Microsoft Word will identify any changes made to your document and display them for you right on the screen.To track changes made by editors:
Open the document on your screen
Select Track Changes from the Tools menu. When the Track Changes feature is enabled, TRK appears on the status bar at the bottom of your document. When you turn off change tracking, TRK is dimmed.
Make any changes to the document as desired. Word will track and mark changes.
Any text you add appears underlined.
Deleted text is show in strikethrough (or moved to the right margin in Print Layout View).

Inserting a Comment

Microsoft Word allows you to make comments to documents by providing ballons to the screen that appear like the sticky notes. You can use them to communicate suggestions, ideas or editing comments. To insert a comment in a document:
Click or highlight the location in the document where you want to insert a comment.
Click the Insert Comment button on the Reviewing toolbar.
Enter a comment into the space provided.
Click on the document to return to the document.

Reviewing Changes and Comments

To review the changes and comments that your editor has made to your document:

Select Markup from the View menu. The Reviewing toolbar will appear

Click the Next or Previous buttons to view each item.

To accept the change, click the Accept Change button.

To reject the change, click the Reject Change/Delete Comment button.

To accept all changes at once, click the arrow on the Accept Change button and select Accept All Changes in Document.

To reject all changes or delete all comments at once, click the arrow on the Reject Change/Delete Comment button and select Reject All Changes in Document or Delete All Comments in Document from the menu.

Changing the color of Tracked Changes

To change the color of tracked changes:

Occasionally, you might want to change the color of your tracked changes. Microsoft Word will automatically change the color of tracked changes by the author.
Select Tools > Options.
Click on the Tab labeled, Track Changes.
In the first field labeled, Track Changes Options, resides the Color field.
To change the color of your tracked changes, click on the drop-down list of the color option, and select your color choice. This will change the color of your tracked changes.
Click OK.
Note: By default, Microsoft Word uses a different color for each reviewer. To restore this functionality, click By author.


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