Javascript required
Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Word 2016 Track Changes Does Not Show Changes

Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Showing Only Added Text with Track Changes.

Showing Only Added Text with Track Changes

When working with Track Changes while editing a document, you may want to configure Word so that you see only the text you are adding and that any text you delete is simply hidden. You can accomplish this by following these steps if you are using Word 2019 or Word in Office 365:

  1. Display the Review tab of the ribbon.
  2. Click the small icon in the lower-right corner of the Tracking group. (This is the Change Tracking Options tool.) Word displays the Track Changes Options dialog box.
  3. Click the Advanced Options button. Word displays the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box.

  5. Using the Deletions drop-down list, choose Hidden.
  6. Click OK to close the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box.
  7. Click OK to close the Track Changes Options dialog box.

If you are using Word 2013 or Word 2016 then the steps are a bit different:

  1. Display the Review tab of the ribbon.
  2. In the Tracking group, click the down-arrow by the Track Changes tool.
  3. Choose Change Tracking Options. Word displays the Track Changes Options dialog box.
  4. Click the Advanced Options button. Word displays the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box.
  5. Using the Deletions drop-down list, choose Hidden.
  6. Click OK to close the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box.
  7. Click OK to close the Track Changes Options dialog box.

Follow these steps if you are using Word 2007 or Word 2010:

  1. Display the Review tab of the ribbon.
  2. In the Tracking group, click the down-arrow under the Track Changes tool.
  3. Choose Change Tracking Options. Word displays the Track Changes Options dialog box. (See Figure 2.)
  4. Figure 2. The Track Changes Options dialog box.

  5. Using the Deletions drop-down list, choose Hidden.
  6. Click OK.

That's it; Word will now show your additions to the document but hide anything you delete. For some types of editing this can result in a much easier-to-understand document.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8340) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Showing Only Added Text with Track Changes.

Author Bio

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Making Your Formulas Check for Errors

Want to use a formula to check if there is an error in your formula? (Sounds confusing, but it's not that bad.) You'll ...

Discover More

Hiding Excel in VBA

Want to have you macro completely hide the Excel interface? You can do so by using the Visible property for the Excel ...

Discover More

Changing Portions of Many Hyperlinks

If you need to modify the URL used in a large number of hyperlinks, you can do so by using a macro and a little ...

Discover More

More WordTips (ribbon)

Making Word Stop at the End of a Document when Reviewing Changes

The Track Changes tool is a great help when you want to see what edits have been made to a document. When you review ...

Discover More

Counting Changed Words

Track Changes is a handy tool for those who need to see how a document changes over time. If you have a long document ...

Discover More

Tracked Changes Won't Go Away

Track Changes is a great tool when editing a document, but the ways that it affects your document can sometimes be ...

Discover More

Word 2016 Track Changes Does Not Show Changes

Source: https://wordribbon.tips.net/T008340_Showing_Only_Added_Text_with_Track_Changes.html