Understanding the usefulness of Microsoft Word Track Changes can be helpful wherever you have to share a document with other people and want to be able to see the changes they have made. Book-Editing-Services use this tool because it enhances the editing service provided.
When your edited document is returned, Track Changes enables you to see what has been amended, while your original document is also retained. The editor’s changes – added letters, words, punctuation and formatting – are clearly marked in a different color from the original text. Deletions or font changes appear in balloons in the right-hand margin. Furthermore, you can locate edits easily, because there is a colored line in the left-hand margin.
In addition, your editor may have used Comments in conjunction with Track Changes, to explain the edits made or to point out or query a particular aspect.
When you first open your returned edited document, it will automatically display this Markup version with the edits showing in the different color.
You can review the edits using the buttons under the Review panel tab at the top of your computer screen. Click first on the Review tab. This will display the buttons on this panel
It’s possible to review the editor’s changes one by one. In the section marked Changes in the Review panel, click on Next.
You can also accept or reject the changes one by one, using either the Accept or the Reject button. These can be found immediately above or to the left of the Previous and Next buttons.
Similarly, once you have reviewed and considered each Comment, you can delete it by highlighting it, then going to the Comments section under the Review tab panel, and clicking Delete.
If at any time you want to review the original version of your document against the Markup version in front of you, go to the Tracking section and click on the Final Showing Markup button. In the drop-down menu that appears, click Original. You will be taken to the point in your original text, where you left the cursor in the edited Markup version. To return to the Markup version, go back to the Final Showing Markup button, and from the menu, select Final Showing Markup.
It is also possible to view the edited document without the different colored markings. Go to the Final Showing Markup button, and from the menu, select Final. Note that this simply allows you to view this edited document without the colored mark-ups. If you save it as such, it will open next time with the colored edits.
It is possible to turn off Track Changes, but this will not conceal or dispense with the edits that have already been made. Turning off tracked changes simply allows you to continue editing without your new changes appearing with different-colored markup. Turn off Track Changes by clicking on Track Changes image in the Tracking section.
You can click on the following Microsoft link for more information about using Track Changes while you edit. If you are sharing a document with other people, it might be helpful to know how to make different contributors’ comments distinctive. The link will explain this.
Once you have finished editing and carried out your final spell check, it is important to review how the document will appear in the Final version. This will enable you to check for inadvertent errors, such as double punctuation or spacing mistakes. Go to the Final Showing Markup button, and from the menu, select Final.
