Tracking Changes in Microsoft Word Practical reasons for tracking changes made to a document o Two or more people are working on the same document and each person wants to know what additions/deletions/corrections the other(s) has/have made o A person finds it important to know how a document has evolved over time; for example, when I create a recipe for a meatloaf, I want to know what ingredients the recipe originally had and what has subsequently been removed from the recipe so that I don t make the mistake of trying that ingredient again o A person wants to be able to make comments to a document; the person has the option to either print or not print the comments when printing the document 1
Preparing Word 2004 for Mac for tracking your changes 1. Make sure that your first name and last name are stored correctly in Word a. Create a new blank document b. On the menu bar, click Word Preferences c. Click on User Information on the left-hand side d. On the right-hand side, fill out the following fields with your information: i. First ii. Last iii. Initials e. Click OK 2. Display the Reviewing toolbar a. On the menu bar, click View Toolbars Reviewing (to put a check next to Reviewing) Preparing Word 2008 for Mac for tracking your changes 1. Make sure that your first name and last name are stored correctly in Word a. Create a new blank document b. On the menu bar, click Word Preferences c. Click on User Information in the Personal Settings section d. Fill out the following fields with your information: i. First ii. Last iii. Initials e. Click OK 2. Display the Reviewing toolbar a. On the menu bar, click View Toolbars Reviewing (to put a check next to Reviewing) Preparing Word 2007 for Windows for tracking your changes 1. Make sure that your first name and last name are stored correctly in Word a. Click the Office button (top left) b. Click Word Options button c. Click Popular on left-hand side d. On the right-hand side, fill out the following fields: i. User name: i.e. Enrico Capitan ii. Initials: i.e. EC e. Click OK 2. Make sure that you see the Review tab Note: Whenever I mention Reviewing toolbar, I am referring to the options available on the Review tab 2
Definition of the four views available when a Word document has comments or tracked changes 1. Original This view shows the state of a document before any tracked changes were made. It is very important to understand that I purposely used the words tracked changes as opposed to the word changes. Any changes that are not tracked will be considered part of the original. You will learn how to track changes further down this document. 2. Original Showing Markup - This view shows the state of a document before any tracked changes were made PLUS any comments and changes. Additions and changes to formatting will be shown in balloons, while deletions will be indicated by strikethroughs. 3. Final This is the view that you will typically want to work in since it will look and feel like you are working on a document in the normal fashion. You won t even know that you are tracking changes. This view shows the state of a document after all tracked changes have been applied. (All tracked changes will be applied; it does not matter they have been accepted or not; the only thing that does matter is that the tracked change has not been rejected, because once it is rejected it is no longer tracked.) 4. Final Showing Markup This view shows the state of a document after all tracked changes have been applied PLUS any comments and changes. Deletions and changes to formatting will be shown in balloons, while underlining will indicate additions. 3
Adding comments Note: Adding comments will automatically change your view to either Final Showing Markup or Original Showing Markup because you need to show markup in order to see the comments 1. Place the cursor in your document where you want to add a comment 2. On the Reviewing toolbar, click the New Comment button 3. A balloon will appear, where you can begin typing your comment Deleting comments 1. Change your view to either Final Showing Markup or Original Showing Markup because you need to show markup in order to see the comments 2. Click the x on the top-right corner of the balloon with the comment Note: You can delete all comments in a document by clicking the disclosure triangle to the right of the red x on the Reviewing toolbar, and clicking Delete All Comments in Document Turning on Tracking Changes 1. On the Reviewing toolbar, click the Track Changes button 2. Your view will automatically change to Final Showing Markup 3. (If desired to make editing seem like normal) Change your view to Final 4. You will notice that the Track Changes button is now depressed. With Tracking Changes turned on, any changes you make will be recorded. Either of the show markup views will show you any changes made to the original document. Turning off Tracking Changes 1. On the Reviewing toolbar, click the Track Changes button 2. You will notice that the Track Changes button is no longer depressed With Tracking Changes turned off, any changes you make will NOT be recorded. These changes will directly change the Original document. Distinguishing between the changes and comments made by different users o Color each different user that has made a change or comment will have their own unique color 4
The following two procedures in addition to deleting comments are typically done ONLY when preparing a document for release to external parties. For example, the members of an academic department working on single document would accept/reject changes and delete all comments before sending the document to the Dean for review. If you don t want to lose all the tracked changes and comments, I recommend that you make a copy of the document before accepting/rejecting changes and deleting comments. Accepting a change 1. Change your view to either Final Showing Markup or Original Showing Markup because you need to show markup in order to see the tracked changes; I recommend Final Showing Markup for most users 2. On the Reviewing toolbar, use the Previous (left arrow) and Next (right arrow) buttons to cycle through the tracked changes until you have selected the tracked change that you would like to accept 3. Click the Accept change (checkmark) button to apply the change to the original document Note 1: Once a tracked change has been accepted, it is no longer tracked and will considered part of the original document Note 2: You can accept all tracked changes in a document by clicking the disclosure triangle to the right of the Accept change button, and clicking Accept All Changes in Document Rejecting a change 1. Change your view to either Final Showing Markup or Original Showing Markup because you need to show markup in order to see the tracked changes; I recommend Final Showing Markup for most users 2. On the Reviewing toolbar, use the Previous (left arrow) and Next (right arrow) buttons to cycle through the tracked changes until you have selected the tracked change that you would like to reject 3. Click the Reject change/delete Comment (red x ) button to reject the change Note 1: Once a tracked change has been rejected, it is no longer tracked Note 2: You can reject all tracked changes in a document by clicking the disclosure triangle to the right of the Reject change/delete Comment button, and clicking Reject All Changes in Document 5
Pitfalls o Scenario #1 You just finished making the final changes to a document so you change your view to Final to make sure that everything looks great. Since everything looks great, you save the document and e-mail it to the chair of your department who has been waiting patiently for it. She opens up the document hoping to see the final results of your hard work. To the chair s dismay, what she sees is a document with balloons and underlining in different colors. She calls you up and tells you that you sent her the wrong document o The Real problem By default, a document that has tracked changes opens up in Final Showing Markup view. The chair of your department is not aware that there are different views. o Solution #1 Have your chair display the Reviewing toolbar Have them change their view to Final o Solution #2 Accept all the changes in the document Delete any comments in the document Resend the file to your chair Note: I recommend you make a copy of this document before accepting changes and/or deleting comments just so you don t lose the record of changes made and important comments 6