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How to filter and apply tracked changes in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word's Track Changes feature is one way it simply outperforms Google Docs. It's an incredibly robust tool that most editors couldn't live without, but it does have its quirks.

A big reason to use Microsoft Word's markup features is when I receive a document full of formatting changes that have been tracked. They clutter the sidebar, can make it hard to see important comments, and are a pain to clear. Sometimes when you accept a format change, you suddenly see ten more.

How to filter and apply tracked changes in Microsoft Word

While you can click the arrow below Accept changes and click Accept all changes To get rid of formatting changes, this also removes any other changes that you should review first. To fix this, you'll first want to filter tracked changes in Microsoft Word.

Step 1:Filter which tracked changes are displayed

First you have to filter which markup changes are shown. There are two ways to do this:

  1. Make sure you have the Review tab open and click the arrow next to Show Markup . One by one, uncheck each of the items in the dropdown, leaving only Formatting . How to filter and apply tracked changes in Microsoft Word
  2. Or you can click the arrow at the bottom of the Tracking panel to open Change Tracking Options . In the dialog that opens, make sure to uncheck all options except for Formatting. How to filter and apply tracked changes in Microsoft Word

Step 2:Apply only filtered tracked changes

You should now see only the formatting changes in the sidebar of your document, all other track change elements should no longer be visible.

On the Review tab, click the arrow directly below the OK button and click Accept all displayed changes .

How to filter and apply tracked changes in Microsoft Word

Now all the format changes should have been accepted and you don't have to worry about them. (The only exception will be the formatting of your header and footer.)

Step 3:Retrieve filtered tracked changes

To resume review of your document, you can toggle the view back on the rest of the Track Changes items using your preferred method in Step 1.

If you prefer the change tracking of Microsoft Word, but the collaboration features of Google Doc, Microsoft gives you the ability to collaborate in real time in Word 2016 How to make collaboration easier with Office 2016. A document with your colleagues? Track changes used to be tedious. With the Office 2016 History feature, available to OneDrive for Business and SharePoint users, document version management becomes easy. Read more.