If you were to print a copy of this Thank You letter and ask a friend to proofread it,
they'd probably mark the errors in red pen, and write any suggestions they had in the
margins.
Wouldn't it be easier if you could do that electronically?
In Word, you can - using two features called Track Changes and Comments.
I'm going to turn on Track Changes right away so I can show you what I mean.
Just go to Review, then click Track Changes.
Now any changes I make to the document will appear as markup, which is Word's answer to
the proverbial red pen.
When I delete text, it doesn't go away; it just gets crossed out.
When I add more text, it gets underlined.
This lets the owner of the document see what changes I've made before they make them part
of the final draft.
You can also add comments in the margins by making a selection of text and clicking New
Comment.
The word "many" is good, for example, but including the actual number of years would
be better, so that's what I'm going to suggest.
You can add as many comments as you like.
If you change your mind about a comment, and you want to delete it, all you have to do
is select the comment ballon (that's this thing here), then go to Delete.
If you have multiple comments, you can delete them all, or just delete one.
So what do you do if you're on the other end of the document?
As the original author, it's up to you accept the changes to make them permanent, or, if
you disagree, reject them.
Take this suggestion here.
Just select it with your cursor, then go to Accept to keep it, or Reject to go back to
your original text.
You can even accept or reject all the changes in the document at once.
I'm just going to accept this one.
Comments, on the other hand, you'll have to reject one at a time if you want to delete
them.
At this point, you might find it helpful to view some of the markup off to the side instead
of in the text itself.
This should make the document easier to read.
First, go to Show Markup, then Balloons.
Now click Show Revisions in Balloons, and many of the suggestions will move to the right
margin.
If you want to temporarily hide the suggestions all together, you can go to the Display for
Review command.
Right now, what we're seeing is the final draft with markup.
The rest of the display options range from just the final, to the original version.
To hide the markup, go ahead and choose Final - but keep in mind, hiding the markup is not
the same as accepting all changes.
You still need to accept or reject the changes before you send out the final version of your
document.
Let's say someone reviewed and edited your document but forgot to turn on Track Changes.
It's still possible to accept or reject the changes they made using a neat feature called
Compare.
You'll need a copy of your original document... and the revised version.
At this point, Word will compare the two documents to come up with a list of changes that were
made between them.
Over here is my original document, and the version that someone else revised.
In the middle is the full markup, as if the Track Changes feature had been turned on all
along.
Word was able to put this together based on the comparison of the two documents.
Now you can accept or reject the changes just like before.
It's important to use review features safely, meaning you should remove any comments or
tracked changes from your document before you send it out.
They can reveal confidential information that could lead to embarrassment or make you or
your company look unprofessional.
For that reason, it's a good idea to double-check your document using the Document Inspector,
to see if there's any hidden data that you may want to remove.
Make sure you've saved your document, then go to the Backstage View.
Now Check for Issues, Inspect Document, and Inspect.
The results appear with an exclamation mark next to anything that may contain sensitive
information.
Looks like I missed a comment by accident (which can happen when markups are hidden),
so I'm going to Remove All to take care of it.
I'm also going to remove this personal information just to be safe.
Now you can save and rest assured knowing that your document has been reviewed, revised,
and resolved of any comments or data that you might want to keep private.
Your document is ready to send!