Track Changes in Microsoft Word What is it, what is it for and how to activate it?

Word has a tool that allows you to share the documents with other users and then controlsimply and quickly, the changes that have been made.

You can accept or reject the indications one by one that the others have suggested, but you can also do it in a group or choosing the editors who have made the changes.

If you want to know all the secrets that this very useful function has in long texts, you will have to continue reading the following paragraphs. We will show you a practical guide for you to carry out this function and the benefits that you will have when you use it.

What is track changes in Microsoft Word and what is it for?

The change control of Microsoft Word It is a function that allows you to have control over the documents that are written and must be shared with other people..

This generates as a result that, if any user has made a change in a word or in any illustration either by adding or removing them, the editor will be aware of all the modifications in a quick and simple way made.

The great advantage of this function is that other people can generate contributions from their area of ​​knowledge to certain sectors of the text. But these are not the only benefits, there are others that we will mention in the next paragraph.

Benefits of Track Changes in Word Why should you start using it?

When you use track changes in Word You can share your document with anyone without any restrictions. You only have to activate this tool so that you can find suggestions or corrections to your text.

The people with whom you have shared will have the possibility to write in any place all the changes that they consider necessary, but they won’t be able to remove or add words without you noticing. This is because when you add sentences it will appear in a different color and in an underlined way. The same will happen when you deletethe words will be a different color and will have a strikethrough effect.

If you are the writer, when you receive all change suggestions, you can accept or reject one by one. But if the document is extensive, you can approve or reject the changes with a single click.

In this way, the control that is carried out is efficient, since all people will have the same document and the editing of those changes can be done automatically.

Another benefit that you will have with this type of tool offered by Microsoft Word is that, there may be different correctors that use the same machine. These people can be identified in a simple way because the program allows you to edit the color configuration and the name of the editors.

Steps to activate the control of changes in your documents in Word

The steps you will have to take to activate change control can be divided into two stages. One is the sending of the document by the writer and the second part is when the person who owns the writing receives the corrected file.

The first thing you have to do before sharing the document is:

• go to the menu “Check”Choose “Tracing” and then activate the option “Change control”.
• At this time, all the changes considered pertinent will be made.
• Once you have finished making the corrections or recommendations in the text, you will have to send it to the person who has written the document. This user will click “Change control” and you will see all the edits that have been made.
• You will then have to click on each edit and press the right mouse button and choose whether you want to reject or accept the changes.

Another way to accept or reject all edits is to go to “Check”click on the menu “Changes” and choose the tool “To accept” (either “Decline”). Next, a pop-up menu will be displayed in which you will have to choose whether to accept (or reject) all the changes.

When you want to include a comment, you will have to go to the change control option and then click on “Balloons”. You’ll then be able to choose whether you want to see only the comments (this will help you get the words out of the text you deleted, but you’ll see them on the side), all inline reviews, or balloon reviews.

In case you want to modify the format of comments that will appear in the balloons, you will have to go to the option “Change control” and then select “Change segment options...”. Next, you will have to choose the color of the changes and the name of the person who makes the corrections.

Understanding change control How does it influence the interface when activated?

When you activate the change control in your document, the first thing you will see is that the function that is in the ribbon of options turned into a yellow box.

As a result, when you want to deactivate this tool you will have to click on “Change control”, since it is not a function like the others in which it is automatically disabled. In case you enter new words to the text, these will be red and underlined. but when you want delete one or several words, they will not disappearbut you will be able to continue seeing them from red and crossed out.

Another option is to include comments in the text itself. This tool is useful when you share different topics with other writers and you want to show a particular point or indicate other types of ideas. For this case, You will see a balloon on the right side of the sheet indicating that a word received a comment.

When you work with balloons, you can choose any of the 3 options that you will have in the menu. So you can see on the side of the page that each change you made generates a comment by means of a balloon. These will have a red outline color, but the letters will be black.