If you were to print a copy of your document, 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.
To do this, go to the Review tab… then click the Track Changes command.
Now any changes I make to the document will appear as "markup," which is Word's answer
to the traditional red pen.
For example, 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 making them part
of the final draft.
You can also add comments in the margins by selecting the text you want to comment on…
then clicking the New Comment command.
In this example, it would be best to address the letter directly to the hiring authority,
so that's what I'm going to suggest.
When you're done, press the Esc key, or click anywhere outside the comment box to close
it.
So how does it work if you're on the other end of the document?
Well, as the original author, it's up to you accept the changes to make them permanent,
or reject them if you disagree.
Take this change 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 open the menus underneath the commands, and accept or reject all the changes
in the document at once.
I'm going to accept just this one change.
To remove any comments, start by selecting the comment box… then go to the Delete command.
If you have multiple comments, you can delete just the current one… or you can delete
them all at once.
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 a little easier to read.
First, go to the Show Markup command… then Balloons.
Now click Show Revisions in Balloons… and many of the changes will move to the right
margin (though any added text will still appear inline).
If you want to hide all of the changes temporarily, take a look at the options in the menu here.
Right now, what we're seeing is the final version of the document, but with all the
changes and revisions still visible.
Choose No Markup… and the markup will disappear, so we can see what the final draft might look
like with all the changes in place.
There's one thing to keep in mind, though (and this is very important): hiding the markup
isn't the same as accepting all changes.
You still need to accept or reject the changes in your document before you send out the final
version.
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.
To get started, click Compare on the Review tab… then click Compare again.
You'll need a copy of your original document… and also a copy of the revised version.
When you're ready, click OK.
At this point, Word will compare the two documents, and come up with a list of changes that were
made between them.
Over here is my original document… the version that someone else revised… and in the middle
is the combined version with full markup, as if the Track Changes feature was 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 I showed you before.
All of these features can be a huge help when it comes to collaborating on projects.
They make it easy to keep track of revisions, and communicate ideas back and forth—so
you can work on the same document with friends, family, or co-workers.