An author's guide to Track Changes

Sending your manuscript to an editor is the easy part, but wading through the corrections ... that can be the challenging part, particularly if you’re not familiar with Track Changes.

Do you accept changes one by one or all at once? Can you view the text with the corrections (but without accepting them)? And how do you find edits you missed along the way?

In this author's guide to Track Changes, I’ll explain how this editing feature works and what tools you need to manage corrections with confidence. It may seem difficult at first, but once you grasp the basics, using Track Changes is pretty straightforward – I promise!

What are tracked changes?

Tracked changes are edits made to a document using the Track Changes tool in Word. These edits, which can include insertions, deletions and formatting changes, appear in a different colour, making them easy for an author to review.

Depending on the settings, tracked changes can be inline (my favourite approach) or in balloons. Some changes may also be accompanied by comments that explain the edit or request further information. For more on this topic, see Why Track Changes isn’t personal: How to see feedback as collaboration.

Do editors track all changes?

Not all editors track changes in the same way. Some choose to make silent edits (which may be stated or negotiated beforehand) that don’t affect the content or style of the writing, like removing extra spaces, replacing hyphens with en dashes or applying styles.

These changes are made without activating Track Changes and are not visible to the author. Other editors, however, track all changes. To find out more, see Silent changes: What’s marked up and what isn’t?

How to use Track Changes

You don’t have to know all the ins and outs of Track Changes to be able to accept or reject changes. But it does help to know how the ‘Tracking’, ‘Markup’ and ‘Comments’ tools work. (Trust me, you'll be using them all the time.)

To access these tools, select the Review tab on the Word menu (or ribbon), then look for the groups below.

 

Review tab with Comments, Markup and Tracking groups highlighted

Comments

This group will help you find or add comments to the file. Here are the ones you’ll use the most:

• New Comment: Used to add a new comment in the manuscript (or right-click your mouse).

• Delete Comment: Used to delete a comment in the manuscript.

Markup

This group is important for viewing your file. When you click on the ‘All Markup’ dropdown menu, you’ll see the following:

• Simple Markup: This shows the manuscript with changes accepted but with comments still visible. Where edits have been made, you’ll see a vertical red line in the left-hand margin.

• All Markup: This shows all the tracked changes made in the manuscript.

• No Markup: This shows the manuscript with changes taken in and comments hidden.

• Original: This shows the original manuscript with no changes or comments.

Tracking

This group will help you accept or reject changes, either individually or all at once. Here are the ones you’ll need:

• Accept: This allows you to accept a change (or right-click your mouse). If you select the dropdown, you can also use ‘Accept All Changes’.

• Reject: This allows you to reject a change (or right-click your mouse). If you select the dropdown, you can also use ‘Reject All Changes’.

How to work through corrections

There are two approaches to corrections: the most common is where the author accepts or rejects the changes, while the other is getting the editor to do this for you (often for an additional fee).

The latter can be helpful, particularly if you don’t know how to use Track Changes or you’re worried about making mistakes. Plus, not everyone has the time or patience to trawl through hundreds of corrections!

Method 1: The author takes in corrections

If you’re managing the corrections yourself, follow the instructions below:

• Track Changes will always be enabled when you get the edited files. If it’s not on, select the Review tab and click on Track Changes. It should now be greyed.

  
  

• If you agree with a suggested edit, put your cursor on the edit and click ‘Accept’ on the ribbon. Alternatively, you can right-click on your mouse and find the same option.

  
  

• Some edits may include a comment to explain the correction. These may be deleted by right-clicking on your mouse and choosing ‘Delete Comment’ (or if you have Word 365, click on the three dots in the comment box and select ‘Delete thread’). You can also reply to the comment if necessary.

  
  

• If you disagree with an edit, put your cursor on it and click ‘Reject’ on the ribbon or right-click for the same option. You may even leave a comment explaining why.

  
  

• If you’re happy with all the edits in a paragraph (or section), you can select it and click ‘Accept’ on the ribbon. This helps you accept multiple edits at once.

  
  

• If the editor has left a comment requesting minor rewrites or missing information, respond by editing the manuscript. You may even leave a comment to provide context about the edit.

Note: A faster alternative to author-led corrections is to leave the edits you agree with and only reject the ones you disagree with. Next, choose ‘Accept All Changes’ from the 'Accept' dropdown menu. However, if you’ve made changes to the text, these will be accepted too, which can introduce errors. In cases where rewrites are necessary (and the manuscript is going back to the editor for review), follow the steps in Approach #1.

 

Method 2: The editor takes in corrections

If you’re letting the editor take in corrections, follow the instructions below:

• Track Changes will always be enabled when you get the edited files. If it’s not on, select the Review tab and turn Track Changes on.

• If you agree with a suggested edit, do not click ‘Accept’. Leave the correction as is and move to the next edit. Some edits may include a comment to explain the correction. Do not delete the comments.

  
  

• If you disagree with an edit, do not click ‘Reject’. Instead, edit the text in the manuscript to reflect how you'd like the text to appear. For instance, if the editor has deleted a word you want to keep, type it back into the document with Track Changes activated and leave a comment (or reply to a comment if applicable). This will enable the editor to see all corrections made to the manuscript.

  
  

• If the editor has left a comment requesting minor rewrites or missing information, respond by editing the manuscript. You may even reply to the comment if you wish to give context about the edit.

What if you missed some corrections?

If you’re managing corrections yourself, there are two ways to check missed edits: the first is to look for a grey line on the right-hand side of the margin, and the second is to go to the Tracking tool and select ‘Next’ (as many times as necessary). The second option is faster as it takes you straight to the edit – no scrolling required.

How to get rid of Track Changes in Word

This is the easy part! Once you’re done with accepting/rejecting edits and you’ve deleted all the comments, just click on the Track Changes button. It will no longer be greyed and no more changes will be tracked.

Alternatively, if you’re planning to accept all changes and stop tracking, select ‘Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking’, which is found on the 'Accept' dropdown button.

What if you make corrections without using Track Changes?

In short, it makes your editor very sad! Jokes aside, it means that errors may be introduced – and the editor won’t see them. That’s why it’s important to make sure track changes is always activated when you’re adding new content or making changes. And don’t worry, those changes will appear in a different colour, so the editor will see them.

That said, mistakes can happen during the editing process (I’ve had many authors admit to turning Track Changes off). In that case, an editor can use the Compare tool in Track Changes to see what’s different, but this can be a time-consuming process, particularly if the manuscript is long, so always make sure you turn Track Changes on.

Final thoughts: An author’s guide to track changes

If you’re a newbie author (or it’s been a while since you used editing tools), you may find Track Changes hard to navigate, but once you familiarise yourself with Markup, Tracking and Comments – and follow the instructions above – you’ll be accepting and rejecting changes like a pro.

But if you’re pressed for time or it’s all too hard, ask the editor to do it for you (for an extra fee). This allows you to concentrate on what you do best – writing!

Got a manuscript ready for editing? Get in touch through my contact form or request a sample edit.