Using MS-Word to "Track Changes" Electronically

Because a lot of reviewing can be done electronically I thought I would create a page with information on how to use the Track Changes option in MS Word.

Click here to download a Word File with this information in it.

My Practice Review File

This file is for practice is reviewing the project or thesis of another student’s writing.

For the Reviewer

The reviewers part in all of this is pretty simple.  If the Track Changes option is not enabled all you do is choose the Track Changes option from the Tools menu.

When you turn on track changes the Reviewing Tool bar will automatically be displayed.

You will also note that any deletion you make is tagged, any insertion of new text is also tagged.  Also you can use the New Comment tool  to insert a comment in the margin.  Be sure to have the cursor near where you want the comment inserted so that when you return your review it will be obvious to the writer what the comment is related to.

For the Writer

When you receive your review back you can use the following options to update it.  When you are finished accepting/rejecting changes you should turn of the track changes option by selecting it from the tool menu, or using the track changes icon  on the tool bar (it will be shaded in blue when track changes is on and not shaded when it isn’t ).

View Next/Previous

You can use these tools to see the next or last change identified in your document.

Accept/Reject Change

Use these tools as you get to a change to either accept it or reject it (return to the original document).  The drop down menus to the right of the tools allows you to accept/reject all changes at once if you wish.

Delete Comments

You can delete a comment when you get to it using the menu to the right of this tool.

Comparing and Merging Documents

There is an option under the Tools that will let you Compare and Merge two similar documents.  This could be important if you have two reviewers, each providing valuable information, at the same time.  You can accept/reject the changes from the two reviews and the Merge the Documents.  You may also continue working on your project/thesis writing while the review is taking place and then Merge changes once you get your review back and have accepted/rejected changes and turned off the track changes options.  Of course there are limitations to how effective this can be so don’t expect Word to perform miracles if say 90% of your document is different!