Turn off Track Changes immediately, then remove the marks from your document

Track Changes is a Word feature that records every edit made to a document — insertions, deletions, formatting changes — and displays them as colored marks in the margin. To stop recording new changes, click the Review tab at the top of Word, then click Track Changes to toggle it off. The button will no longer be highlighted when it is off.

Turning off Track Changes stops Word from recording future edits, but it does not remove the marks already in your document. Those marks stay visible until you accept or reject them. If you want a clean document with no visible changes, you need to accept all the existing marks — which keeps the text as it currently appears — or reject them, which reverts the text to its original state.

The fastest way to handle all marks at once is to accept or reject them in bulk rather than one at a time. This takes seconds and leaves you with a document that looks normal to anyone who opens it.

Key Takeaways

  • Click the Review tab, then Track Changes to turn off recording; the button will no longer be highlighted when it is off.
  • Turning off Track Changes stops new marks from appearing but does not remove marks that are already in the document.
  • Accept all changes to keep the current text and remove the marks, or reject all changes to revert to the original text.
  • Use Accept All or Reject All from the Review tab to handle all marks at once instead of clicking each one individually.

Accept all changes to keep the current version of your document

If the text in your document looks the way you want it — meaning all the edits are correct and you want to keep them — accept all the changes. This removes all the colored marks and leaves your document clean.

Open the Review tab. Look for the Changes group (usually in the middle of the ribbon). Click the small arrow next to Accept, then select Accept All Changes. Word will process all the marks in the document at once. The marks disappear, and the text stays as it currently appears.

If you have already turned off Track Changes but still see marks in your document, this is the step that removes them. You are not undoing the edits — you are just telling Word that you approve of them and no longer need to see the change markers.

Reject all changes to revert to the original text

If you want to undo all the edits and return the document to its original state before anyone started making changes, reject all the changes instead. This removes the marks and reverts the text to what it was before tracking began.

Open the Review tab. In the Changes group, click the small arrow next to Reject, then select Reject All Changes. Word will remove all the marks and undo every insertion, deletion, and edit that was tracked. The document returns to its original form.

Use this option only if you are certain you want to discard all the edits. Once you reject all changes, you cannot undo that action by clicking Undo — you would have to manually re-enter the edits or close the document without saving and reopen it.

Handle changes one at a time if you want to keep some and reject others

If some edits are correct and others are not, you can accept or reject each change individually. This takes longer than accepting or rejecting all at once, but it gives you control over which changes stay and which go.

Open the Review tab. The Changes group shows navigation buttons with arrows. Click the down arrow to move to the next change in the document. Word will highlight the change and show you what was added, deleted, or modified. Click Accept to keep that change, or click Reject to remove it. Repeat until you have reviewed all the marks.

As you move through each change, Word shows you the editor's name and the date the change was made (if that information was recorded). This helps you understand who made each edit and when, which is useful if you are reviewing a document that multiple people have worked on.

Turn off Track Changes before you start editing if you do not want to record changes

If you open a document and see that Track Changes is already on — the button in the Review tab is highlighted — turn it off before you make any edits. This prevents Word from recording your changes as you work.

Click the Review tab, then click Track Changes. The button will no longer be highlighted, and any edits you make from that point forward will not be marked. This is different from accepting or rejecting existing changes — you are simply preventing new marks from appearing as you type.

Some documents have Track Changes turned on by default because the person who created them wanted all future edits to be recorded. If you are editing a shared document and do not want your changes tracked, turn it off at the start. If you do want your changes tracked so others can see what you modified, leave it on.

Find Track Changes settings if the Review tab looks different

The location of Track Changes varies slightly depending on which version of Word you are using. In Word for Windows and Word for Mac, the Review tab is always at the top of the ribbon. In Word Online (the browser version), the Review tab is also at the top, but some options may be grouped differently.

If you cannot find Track Changes in the Review tab, look for a button labeled Track Changes or an icon that looks like a pen with a circle around it. In Word Online, you may need to click Editor or Review first, then look for the Track Changes option in the dropdown menu.

If you are using an older version of Word (2010 or earlier), the Review tab is still where Track Changes lives, but the button layout may be slightly different. The function works the same way: click it to turn tracking on or off, and use Accept or Reject to handle existing marks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I see who made each change in my document?

Yes. When you click on a change or hover over it, Word shows the editor's name and the date the change was made. If multiple people have edited the document, you can see which changes belong to which person. This information appears in a tooltip or in the margin next to the mark.

What happens if I close the document without accepting or rejecting the changes?

Word will ask you to save the document with the changes still marked. If you click Save, the marks stay in the document. The next time you open it, you can still accept or reject them. If you click Don't Save, the document closes without saving, and you lose any edits you made since the last save.

Can I turn off Track Changes for just one section of my document?

No. Track Changes is an all-or-nothing setting for the entire document. When it is on, every edit anywhere in the document is recorded. When it is off, no edits are recorded. You cannot turn it on for one paragraph and off for another.

Why do I still see marks after I turned off Track Changes?

Turning off Track Changes stops new marks from appearing, but it does not remove marks that were already recorded. You need to accept or reject those existing marks to make them disappear. Use Accept All or Reject All from the Review tab to remove them all at once.

Can I undo a rejection if I rejected changes by mistake?

If you rejected changes just now, you can press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) to undo the rejection immediately. If you closed the document or made other edits after rejecting, you cannot undo it. Always save a backup copy of important documents before rejecting all changes.