Word has two different kinds of editing history, and they answer different questions:
- Track Changes shows individual insertions, deletions, formatting changes, and author attribution inside a document.
- Version History shows older saved copies of a file stored on OneDrive or SharePoint.
If you need to inspect suggested edits, use Track Changes. If you need to recover an earlier saved file, use Version History.
See tracked edits in Word desktop
Open the document in the desktop version of Word and select Review > Track Changes. When tracking is enabled, the Track Changes button is highlighted. New edits will then be recorded as revisions rather than silently replacing the existing text.
Choose whose edits Word records
Select Review > Track Changes, then choose one of these options:
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →#1 Best Overall
- For Everyone records changes made by all contributors.
- Just Mine records changes made by you.
To stop reviewers from switching tracking off, select Review > Track Changes > Lock Tracking. A document shared for review may also prevent the recipient from disabling tracking.
Change how the editing history appears
Tracking can be difficult to read when a document has many revisions. The markup-view menu on the Review tab gives you four useful views:
| View | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Simple Markup | A cleaner document view with a red revision line in the margin. |
| All Markup | Visible revisions, including reviewer-specific colors. |
| No Markup | The document as it would look with the edits applied, while keeping the revisions in the file. |
| Original | The original document without visible tracked changes or comments. |
For a detailed review, choose All Markup. To put the revisions in the margin, select Review > Show Markup > Balloons > Show Revisions in Balloons. You can also choose Show All Revisions Inline or Show Only Formatting in Balloons. Balloons work in Print Layout or Web Layout view.
Filter the history
Use Review > Show Markup to control what remains visible:
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteWindows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstall- Clear or select Insertions and Deletions.
- Clear or select Formatting.
- Open Specific People, then clear every reviewer except the people whose changes you want to inspect. All Reviewers selects or clears everyone.
Move through changes without changing the document
Click inside the document and use Review > Changes > Next or Previous. This moves from one revision to the next without accepting or rejecting anything.
For a full list, select Review > Reviewing Pane, then choose Reviewing Pane Vertical or Reviewing Pane Horizontal. The pane shows the number of visible tracked changes and comments remaining.
Rank #2
When you select a revision in Editing or Reviewing mode, Word can show a card with the collaborator’s suggested change. Hover over Accept or Reject to preview how the document text will look afterward.
Accept or reject tracked changes
Accepting or rejecting a revision removes it from the tracked-change layer. To process changes in order:
Recommended Free Tools
- Click at the beginning of the document.
- On the Review tab, use Accept or Reject in the Tracking area.
- Word advances to the next change after each action.
For a single revision, right-click it and choose the appropriate accept or reject command. You can also select the revision and use its revision card.
To process everything at once, use Review > Accept > Accept All Changes or Review > Reject > Reject All Changes. Save a separate copy first if you may need to restore the marked-up version.
What does turning off Track Changes do?
Selecting Review > Track Changes again stops Word from recording new edits. It does not remove revisions that were already recorded. Existing colored text, underlines, strikethroughs, and other markup remain until you accept or reject those changes.
Likewise, No Markup only hides the revision display temporarily. The markup can appear again when the file is reopened. If you are preparing a clean final file, accept or reject the revisions rather than relying on No Markup.
Comments are separate from Track Changes. Removing or resolving comments is a different task from accepting or rejecting text revisions.
Use Track Changes in Word for the web
Word for the web uses three document modes. Use the mode button in the upper-right area of the ribbon, beside Share:
| Mode | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Editing | Normal editing; changes are not shown as tracked revisions. |
| Reviewing | Suggested edits appear as tracked changes. |
| Viewing | Read-only access. |
Choose Reviewing to work with review behavior. You can also use Review > Track Changes and select For Everyone, Just Mine, or Off.
The web version can preserve existing tracked changes, and browser edits are tracked when tracking was already enabled. However, Microsoft describes the browser implementation as more limited than desktop Word. If the document already contains tracked changes and you need the complete review tools, choose Open in Desktop.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Word for the web does not include Word’s document-comparison feature. A shared review document may also prevent you from turning tracking off. In that situation, save a copy or ask the sender to share the document with review mode disabled.
Find older saved versions with Version History
Track Changes is not a record of every time the file was saved. It only records revisions made while tracking is enabled. For older saved copies, use the storage service:
- OneDrive: open the file’s OneDrive menu and choose Version History.
- SharePoint: open the file in the SharePoint library and use the library’s Version History feature. Versioning must be configured for that library.
Version History is useful when a paragraph was changed without Track Changes enabled, or when you need to restore an earlier saved state. It is separate from the revision marks visible inside Word.
Compare two Word files
If you have two saved files and want Word to identify their differences, use the desktop application:
- Open Word and select Review > Compare > Compare two versions of a document (legal blackline).
- Choose the Original document and Revised document.
- Under Show changes, choose a character-level or word-level comparison.
- Leave the output set to a new document unless you deliberately want the comparison inserted into one of the source files.
Word creates a third comparison document by default, leaving the original and revised files unchanged. You can instead display the result in the original or revised document, but that choice modifies the selected source file.
The legal-blackline comparison is supported in Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2024, Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016. It is not available in Word for the web.
If one of the files already contains tracked changes, Word may ask whether to accept those changes before comparing. Choose the comparison tool for two versions—not the legal-blackline workflow—to consolidate revisions from multiple authors.
A quick way to inspect and clean a document
- Save a backup copy of the file.
- Open Review > Reviewing Pane to see how many revisions and comments are present.
- Set the display to All Markup.
- Use Specific People or the revision-type filters if the document is crowded.
- Review each change with Next and Previous.
- Accept or reject individual revisions.
- Remove comments separately if they should not remain.
- Save the cleaned document under a new name if the marked-up original may be needed later.
Common mistakes
- Using No Markup as a cleanup method: it hides revisions but does not delete them.
- Turning tracking off and expecting old edits to disappear: it only prevents new edits from being recorded.
- Confusing Track Changes with Version History: one records revisions in the document; the other stores recoverable file versions through OneDrive or SharePoint.
- Assuming the web app has desktop Word’s tools: browser-based reviewing is limited, and comparison is unavailable there.
FAQ
How do I see who edited a Word document?
Display tracked markup with Review > Track Changes and choose All Markup. Word shows attribution for tracked changes, but colors or visible markup alone may not reliably identify a person. If tracking was not enabled when someone edited the file, Word may not have an in-document revision for that edit.
Does Word keep a history of every saved version?
No. Track Changes records revisions made while tracking is enabled. Older saved copies are handled by OneDrive Version History or SharePoint Version History.
Does No Markup remove editing history in Word?
No. No Markup only hides tracked changes. Accept or reject the revisions to remove them from the document’s tracked-change layer.
Can I see editing history in Word for the web?
Yes, but the web version has fewer review features. Switch the document to Reviewing using the mode button beside Share. For a document with existing tracked changes or for advanced review work, use Open in Desktop.
How do I remove all tracked changes from a Word document?
To keep the edited text, choose Review > Accept > Accept All Changes. To discard the tracked edits and restore the earlier text where possible, choose Review > Reject > Reject All Changes. Turning Track Changes off is not enough.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
The Bottom Line
Use Track Changes to inspect individual edits, reviewers, insertions, deletions, and formatting changes. Use Review > Accept or Reject to remove those revisions. Use OneDrive or SharePoint Version History when you need older saved copies, and use desktop Word’s Review > Compare tool when you need to compare two separate files.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
