How to deal with the tracked changes?

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Either you’ve used track changes to proofread or review your document, or a friend/colleague has read it and makes some suggestions. Now it’s time to deal with those tracked changes instead of just hiding them.

If you’re not sure about using track changes, check out these other posts Keeping a track of the changes isn’t a chore (MS Word) or Track Changes is easier than you think in Google Docs to learn how to use the command.

Why do you need to deal with track changes?

It’s a good question.

I mean you can ‘hide’ them, and get on with things in the document.

But…

As standard, Word and Google Docs, both automatically display any tracked changes in a document when it’s opened.

If you’re sending or sharing the file with others, do you really want them to be able to see the changes, suggestions or improvements that have been made?

And if you’re wondering if this really happens – I can tell you Yes!

In fact, a number of years ago, I received a CV from an agency, who obviously didn’t know about this. When I opened the file I immediately saw the suggestions that the agency had (internally) made.

It was interesting, but not very professional.

So whether you want to keep the suggestions, or remove them, you DO need to deal with all of the tracking.

What do I mean by ‘dealing with track changes’?

Simply put, you need to work through all of the suggestions, and either accept the change (i.e. keep it) or reject it (i.e. delete).

This refers to additions to the text, deletions or replacements within the file.

But as it also tracks formatting changes and comments, they come into this as well.

So at the end of ‘dealing’ with everything you have a “clean” document that you can continue to work on, send out or share with others.

Note: Remember to switch of the tracking otherwise you’ll need to repeat the whole accept and decline process again.

How do you do it?

When we’re talking about going through all of the changes, then there are a couple of methods that you can choose from:

Method 1 – Work through the document

Go step by step to each change and make a decision.

Method 2 – Pick and Choose

If there are some obvious options (to accept or reject), scroll down to those first.

Then work through the rest of the file.

MS Word

Managing track changes in Word is easy with the Review Tab displayed.

Managing Track Changes in Word is easy with the Review Tab
Tracking and Changes are in the Review Tab
Best tips for track changes - use the options in the Changes group of the Review tab
Changes Group in Review

Everything now all focuses on the Changes group in the ribbon.

You’ll notice that the big green tick is Accept, with the red cross is Reject.

Note: As with all options in the Ribbon, based on the available space on screen, the icons will be displayed at different sizes, or be hidden behind a group. On a larger screen Accept and Reject are the same size, with the other two icons in a single column.

Find the First Change

As it can be anywhere in the document, use the ‘Find Next Change’ button (with the blue arrow pointing to the right).

It automatically searches for and finds the first or next change.

Accept or Reject

Read the suggested change, and make your decision.

Important: You are choosing to accept the change, or not. So if a word has been deleted, then you are accepting ‘removing the word’.

You get the option for each change, so for example, a replacement is two choices – to remove the word and to accept the suggested replacement.

Note: You don’t have to accept both options, but I’d recommend doing something (highlight, use ‘XXX’) to show where you may need to come back to, unless you choose an alternative now.

Work through each tracked change clicking Accept (Green Tick) or Reject (Red Cross).

As you pick an option, you’ll automatically be taken to the next change.

Google Docs

In Google Docs, you don’t even need to switch the toolbars or menu’s as it’s automatically on screen.

Google Docs makes it easy dealing with track changes, as everything appears to the right of the page.
Google Docs – Tracked Changes

Find the First Change

Scroll down the file until you see the first suggestion.

As the changes are made in the text, the suggested option appears in a ‘bubble’ on the right hand side.

If there’s been a replacement, then it’s a single option to accept removing the previous word and inserting the new one.

Accept or Reject the Change

In the ‘bubble’, click the tick ✔️ to accept or ❌ to reject, in the top right corner.

Google Docs doesn’t automatically move you down to the next change, but as it’s displayed larger on screen, it’s easy enough to scroll up or down the page to find the next option.

As with MS Word, Google’s tracked changes includes formatting suggestions and comments.

Remember, if you’ve finished to return to the editing mode to continue working on the file.

Tips for Using Track Changes

Switch it on and off

You need to deal with the changes when the document is finished, or you’re working through it for improvements or ideas.

However, there is nothing to stop you switching off the track, editing the document and switching it back on.

This is really useful if you realise that you need to add a section or more than one of two words.

Change the View

This is only for MS Word.

You can choose how much you see with the changes using the Markup views.

Click on the drop-down list (next to the Track Changes button on the Review ribbon) to see the differences between

  • All Markup
  • Simple Markup
  • No Markup
  • Original

And choose what you prefer.

Don’t Print Markup

If you prefer to review the changes on paper (Save the planet – don’t print 😊), you can print it out.

However, if you prefer to have a copy without the changes, then you can change the printing preferences to exclude the markup.

Next Steps

So there you have it, dealing with track changes is important to ensure that you share the final version that you actually want others to see.

And finally a really useful quick tip for MS Word – How to Customize the Word Status Bar with Track Changes (YouTube Video).

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