Track Changes in Word is under Review, Track Changes, and it also turns on and off with Ctrl+Shift+E. Word underlines what is added and strikes through what is deleted, with one colour per author. The markup only disappears when you accept or reject the changes: hiding it doesn't delete it.
This guide is for Word on Windows (Microsoft 365, 2024, 2021, 2019 and 2016); what changes on Mac and on the web is covered in each section.
Where Track Changes is and how to turn it on
Track Changes is on Word's Review tab, in the Tracking group. If you use Word in Spanish, it is Revisar, Control de cambios.
- Open the document and go to the Review tab.
- Click Track Changes. While it is on, the button stays highlighted.
- If you want to decide whose changes are tracked, open the button's arrow and choose For Everyone or Just Mine.
- Edit as usual: new text appears underlined and deleted text struck through.
To turn it off, click the button again or press Ctrl+Shift+E. Word stops tracking new changes, but the ones already marked stay in the document until you accept or reject them. Hence the typical complaint: “I've turned it off and the markup is still showing”.
To always see whether it is on, right-click the status bar (the strip at the bottom of the window) and tick Track Changes.
Each change carries the Office user name of whoever made it, and the other side will see it. If your Word signs with a generic name or someone else's, change it in the Track Changes Options box, with the Change User Name button; according to Microsoft, it affects all Office documents.
In Word for Mac the button is on the same tab and the shortcut is Command+Shift+E. In Word for the web it also depends on the mode: in Editing changes are not tracked and in Reviewing they are.
How to show or hide the markup without losing it
Word offers four views of the markup, and none of them deletes the changes from the document.
You choose them in the views drop-down on the Review tab. In Spanish versions of Word their names vary: Microsoft's help alternates «Revisión sencilla» and «Revisión simple» (Simple Markup), or «Ninguna revisión» and «Sin marcado» (No Markup).
| View | What you see | Does it remove the markup? |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Markup | The clean text and a red line in the margin where there are changes | No |
| All Markup | Every insertion and every deletion, with one colour per reviewer | No |
| No Markup | How the document would look with all the changes incorporated | No: it reappears the next time someone opens the file |
| Original | The document as it was before the changes | No: the pending changes and comments are still inside |
With the Show Markup button you choose which types of change are shown, from which reviewers, and whether they appear in balloons in the margin or inline in the text. A type of revision you hide is shown again every time someone opens the document.
In a long contract, open the Reviewing Pane (Review tab): it lists all the changes and, at the top, counts how many visible revisions and comments are left. It is the quick way to check that none are left before sending it.
How to accept or reject changes
Changes are accepted or rejected with the Accept and Reject buttons on the Review tab.
One at a time, which is how you should review what the other side sends back:
- Put the cursor at the start of the document.
- On Review, click Next to go to the first change.
- Click Accept if you agree with it or Reject if you don't. Word jumps to the next change by itself.
- Repeat to the end. With Previous and Next you move around without deciding anything.
For everything at once, open the arrow on Accept and choose Accept All Changes (the same menu has a variant that also stops tracking); Reject works the same way. If you have filtered by reviewer in Show Markup, Accept All Changes Shown is limited to the visible ones: you accept your colleague's changes and review the other side's by hand.
Comments are separate
Microsoft treats comments as a feature separate from Track Changes, and they are managed separately:
- Add: select the text and click Review, New Comment, or press Ctrl+Alt+M in Word in English (in Word in Spanish the shortcut is Ctrl+Alt+A, although Microsoft's Spanish help gives Ctrl+Alt+M).
- Resolve: from the comment's three-dot menu. A resolved thread is dimmed and no longer shown next to the text, but it is not deleted: it stays in the file and can be reopened.
- Delete one: in that same menu, Delete thread or Delete comment.
- Delete all: on Review, open the arrow on Delete and choose Delete All Comments in Document.
Resolving has consequences: an internal note such as “we give way here if they insist” that you marked as resolved still travels inside the file you send.
If you review contracts with lots of comments, with ablalo you can dictate them in Spanish: the text appears wherever the cursor is, in the comment or in the document, in Word or in any other program. It punctuates on its own, in the legal register it applies the Libro de estilo de la Justicia (the Spanish justice system's style guide) and it recognises the names and acronyms in your own dictionary. To dictate the whole document, see how to dictate in Word.
How to lock Track Changes with a password
Lock Tracking stops whoever receives the document from turning off Track Changes without your password.
- On Review, open the arrow on Track Changes.
- Choose Lock Tracking.
- Type a password, repeat it to confirm it and click OK.
With the lock on, whoever opens the document sees the changes, but cannot turn off Track Changes or accept or reject anything. To remove it, follow the same path and type the password. Keep it: you will need it to accept or reject the changes when the review is over.
In Word for Mac the lock is set from Review, Protect, Protect Document, also with a password and with the same effect.
How to print without markup and remove it before sending
Printing without markup is a checkbox; sending without markup requires accepting or rejecting the changes and deleting what is hidden.
Printing without the markup
- Go to File, Print.
- Under Settings, open the Print All Pages drop-down.
- In the Document Info section, untick Print Markup.
The paper copy comes out clean, but the file doesn't change: if you send it by email, the markup is still inside.
Removing the markup before sending the document
This is the step that matters most in a law firm. According to Microsoft, revisions, comments and versions reveal who worked on the document, what the reviewers thought and what was changed, and the properties store the author, who saved it last and the creation date. The order, for a draft going to the other side or to the client:
- Save a copy with File, Save As and work on it: Microsoft recommends not running the Inspector on the original, because what it removes cannot always be recovered, not even with Undo.
- Accept or reject all the changes from the Review tab.
- Delete the comments, the resolved ones too.
- Go to File, Info, Check for Issues, Inspect Document.
- Leave at least Comments, Revisions, Versions, and Annotations and Document Properties and Personal Information ticked, and click Inspect.
- Click Remove All in each category you want to clean and inspect again.
- Open the Reviewing Pane and check that the summary shows zero.
Word's Document Inspector checks six categories: comments and revisions; properties and personal information; headers, footers and watermarks; hidden text; custom XML data; and invisible content. Don't click Remove All on the headers without looking: it deletes whatever is in them, letterhead included.
Word for Mac has no Document Inspector: the properties are reviewed and deleted by hand in File, Properties.
If the brief is going to a court through LexNET (the electronic filing system of the Spanish courts), this is the moment to convert it to PDF/A, now without markup: how to do it and what size it accepts, in LexNET's maximum file size and formats. If it is an appeal in cassation, check its length too: how to count characters in Word, with and without spaces.
Why Track Changes isn't working
When Track Changes doesn't respond, Microsoft's help points to one of these causes.
- It is locked. Someone turned on Lock Tracking with a password: you won't be able to turn it off or accept or reject changes until it is unlocked.
- It was shared with you for review. Then it may not let you turn it off: save a copy or ask for it to be shared again without review mode.
- It has restricted permissions. In a document protected with Rights Management Services, without the “Full Control” permission, Track Changes, Accept and Reject appear disabled. Microsoft says this is by design: you need to be given that permission.
- You've turned it off and the markup is still there. Turning it off doesn't delete what has already been tracked: accept or reject the changes.
- The markup reappears when you open the file. No Markup only hides it.
- You can't see the balloons. They only appear in the Print Layout and Web Layout views.
- You are in Word for the web. It has fewer features than the desktop app and, in Editing mode, it tracks nothing. Switch to Reviewing or open the document in the desktop app.
What Track Changes doesn't solve
Track Changes records edits, but it doesn't guarantee that the document you send is clean or complete.
- It only marks what is edited while it is on. Whatever someone changes with tracking off goes in unmarked. If you suspect that the text sent back to you doesn't match the one you sent, compare the two versions, as we explain in how to compare two Word documents.
- The Inspector has gaps. It doesn't detect text hidden by other means, such as white text on a white background, or objects covered by other objects. And it doesn't exist in Word for Mac.
- It doesn't check the content. It tells you what changed, not whether the change is well written: that is still your job. The mistakes that come up most in contracts and briefs are in the common mistakes according to the Libro de estilo de la Justicia.
- Cleaning the file is only one part of confidentiality. The other is which tools the draft goes through before it gets there; if any of them uses AI, go over what to ask before it touches client data.
In short
Track Changes in Word is turned on in Review, Track Changes, or with Ctrl+Shift+E. It records every insertion and every deletion with the name of its author. Neither the four views nor turning it off delete the markup: only accepting or rejecting the changes removes it. Before sending a draft to the other side, work on a copy, accept or reject everything, delete the comments (the resolved ones too) and run the Document Inspector, which Word for Mac doesn't have.
Sources: Microsoft, Track changes in Word (turning it on, views, locking, printing, Reviewing Pane, Mac and web; the Spanish names, from its Spanish version), Accept or reject tracked changes in Word, Track Changes options, Use a screen reader to track and review changes in a document in Word (shortcuts and locking), Delete comments, Use a screen reader to add, read, and delete comments in Word (resolved comments), Remove hidden data and personal information by inspecting documents, Inspect Document (Word for Mac), Can I use Track Changes in Word for the web? and Word Track Changes functionality is disabled when RMS is applied. Checked on 22 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove Track Changes in Word for printing?
In File, Print, open the Print All Pages drop-down and untick Print Markup. The paper comes out clean, but the file keeps the markup until you accept or reject the changes.
How do you turn off Track Changes in Word?
Click Track Changes again on the Review tab, or press Ctrl+Shift+E (Command+Shift+E on a Mac). Word stops marking new changes, but what is already marked stays there until you accept or reject it.
Why can't I turn off Track Changes?
According to Microsoft, it may be locked with a password (Lock Tracking), shared with you in review mode or have restricted permissions without “Full Control”. You need the password, a copy without that mode or the permission, depending on the case.
What is Track Changes called in Spanish?
Control de cambios, on the Revisar tab. The views are Revisión sencilla, Todas las revisiones, Ninguna revisión and Original, and the password lock is Bloquear seguimiento.
If I choose No Markup, does the other side stop seeing the changes?
No. That view only hides the markup on your screen, and it reappears when someone opens the file. To remove it you have to accept or reject the changes.
Does Track Changes work the same in Word for Mac?
Almost: the button is on the Review tab and the shortcut is Command+Shift+E. What changes is the lock, which is set from Protect, Protect Document, and the final cleanup, because Word for Mac has no Document Inspector.