A Guide for Word’s Review Ribbon
A Note from Your Editor
If you are unfamiliar with Word’s Track Changes tool or need a refresher, you’re in the right place! Whether you want a quick tutorial on the very basics or a more in-depth guide, I’ve got you covered.
Quick Tutorial
If you simply want to know the very basics and don’t have time or don’t care to read my in-depth review of Track Changes, check out Microsoft’s quick tutorial videos, including Track Changes, Track Changes and Show Markup, and Accept or Reject Changes. Each of these videos provides a brief tutorial (about a minute each) on the basics of Track Changes.
In-Depth Tutorial
If you want a more in-depth understanding of each and every tool on the Review ribbon, read on! This article is broken into three main sections. While they sort of jump around the Review ribbon, I have grouped them in a manner that I feel are the ways in which you are most likely to use them. Because there is so much information in this article, I have added several links throughout to allow you to jump to whatever part or topic you want to read more about.
Three Parts
Part One is a quick look at the Tools on the Far Left Side, Tools on the Far Right Side, Find & Replace, and Share. Most (but not all) of these tools would be used more by yourself during the writing process than by your editor.
Part Two discusses the Track Changes Button, Markup View, Markup Options, and Color Choices which are customizable and affect the way in which you view the changes and comments your editor has made on your manuscript.
Part Three is an explanation of the Reviewing button, the Compare tool, how to Accept or Reject Changes, as well as how to respond to, resolve, or delete Comments.
A Quick Note
Some settings within Track Changes are customizable (as discussed in Part Two of this article), such as color, balloons or in-line changes, and viewing the document as though changes have all been accepted. It doesn’t matter how I set my options on my end since the settings do not follow the document, but rather stay with your computer or personal device. Therefore, how you view the edits in your manuscript depends upon your personal settings.
Part One
Tools on the Far Left Side
SPELLING & GRAMMAR: This performs a spelling and grammar check that could make your editor’s job a bit easier if you use this before sending it to them by cleaning up some basic mistakes (and possibly save you some time on your editor’s turnaround or even some money). Simply click on it to run the check.
However, keep in mind that this tool does not entirely replace an editor. Grammar rules are pretty complex and your computer’s spelling- and grammar-checking capabilities are limited, which can cause your computer to offer poor suggestions that result in errors.
THESAURUS: This is a built-in thesaurus in case you need to find a different word with the same meaning. You can either highlight the word in question and then click on Thesaurus, or if it’s already open, type a word into the search box. This tool can come in very handy if you are trying to avoid repetition or can’t quite remember the word you want to use in that particular place. Just don’t overuse it to the point that you end up with purple prose (overly flowery language that distracts from the actual story).
WORD COUNT: Just as it sounds, clicking on this tool will give you an accurate word count for your manuscript, in addition to the number of pages, characters (with and without spaces), paragraphs, and lines. You can also select whether to include or exclude endnotes and footnotes from the count if you have those in your manuscript.
READ ALOUD: Some authors find this tool very useful in hearing the rhythm of the narrative or seeing if their dialogue sounds realistic. This will start wherever your cursor is and will literally read your manuscript aloud to you. You can highlight a certain section as well if you only want it to read that portion.
CHECK ACCESSIBILITY: This tool gives you tips or advice on potential accessibility issues someone with disabilities may have with your manuscript. To learn more about this tool, read this article by Microsoft.
TRANSLATE: If you want to insert a word here or there in another language, say your character’s first language, this tool can be very helpful with that. Simply highlight the word or phrase, click on Translate, and select the language you want to change it to in the second box. Be sure to look at the translations at the bottom to make sure you are choosing the best option, and then click Insert.
Do not use this tool to translate your entire manuscript in order to publish in other languages as there are likely to be many errors or phrases lost in translation. If you wish to publish in another language, hire a professional translator who can let you know if there is an idiom or or expression that doesn’t translate well into the other language. They should be able to work with you to find an alternate option that still maintains the integrity of your original work.
LANGUAGE: Unlike with the Translate tool, this will not change the language your manuscript is written in, but rather use the language selected with other tools such as the Spelling & Grammar check. It allows you to select the language desired for the whole document or a specific highlighted section. You can even decide between various dialects of one language. For example, English has four options: US, UK, Canadian, or Australian.
Tools on the Far Right Side
BLOCK AUTHORS: If you have a coauthor or a collaborator you have added to the document, you can select all or part of your manuscript to block other authors from being able to make changes and accept or reject changes. You can also prevent them from being able to turn Track Changes off.
PROTECT DOCUMENT: This is where you can create a password that is required in order to open your manuscript.
ALWAYS OPEN READ-ONLY: If you want to allow someone to read your manuscript without allowing them to make any changes, you can use this option before you send it to them. Be aware that they can make a copy even with this tool on. However, if they make changes on a read-only copy, it can only be saved if they create a new name for it, therefore making a new copy and not affecting the original version.
HIDE INK: This deals with custom marks made using the Draw feature on Word. If your editor used this feature, you can click on this to hide all the ink markups they made. (I do not use the Draw feature, so this doesn’t matter when you’re working with me.)
Find & Replace
In the far upper right corner of Word, you will find this handy little search box (the man with a speech bubble merely allows you to send feedback to Microsoft). If you simply type in a word, it will search your document for that word, highlighting it throughout the manuscript and taking you to the nearest instance.
However, if you click on the magnifying glass and select List Matches in Sidebar, it will open up a more advanced toolbox for you to use. This box will appear on the left side of your screen and takes up the entire height of your Word window.
FIND & REPLACE: When you click on List Matches in Sidebar, it defaults to the Find & Replace feature, which allows you to find every instance of a word or phrase in your manuscript. You can select the tool icon next to the Find box to narrow down or broaden your search using letter case and other options.
All of the places in which that word is found will be listed under Matches at the bottom and highlighted within the manuscript. This is perfect for finding the location of a specific phrase or scene you are trying to quickly jump to.
As the name suggests, you can also use this feature to find a word and replace it with another word. You can go through the matches one by one and decide, or choose Replace All and get it done all at once (keep in mind that this can sometimes result in errors where you might not really want that word changed in a particular instance). This is a great tool to use when you change a character’s name or something along those lines and want to ensure the old one isn’t still lurking somewhere.
REVIEWING PANE: Moving to the left on the options at the top of this box, next we have the Reviewing Pane. Selecting this will bring up all the revisions your editor has made in a list, including insertions, deletions, moves, formatting, and comments. Personally, I find this a bit overwhelming to look at and understand exactly where everything is on the actual document. It can also bog down your computer. For those reasons, I prefer to go another route when reviewing changes (as explained under Accept or Reject Changes in Part Three).
DOCUMENT MAP: The next option is the Document Map. This is basically your table of contents and will display all headings and subheadings, as long as you used those properly on your document (these can be found on the right side of the Home ribbon). It creates a clickable list that allows you to jump around your manuscript to certain chapters or sections with ease.
THUMBNAILS PANE: And finally, we have the Thumbnails Pane. This option shows a thumbnail image of your pages. You can scroll through it and click on a specific page to jump to it on the manuscript.
Share
On the upper right of your Word window below the search box, you will find this Share button, which allows you to save your manuscript to your personal cloud program or to send a copy to someone (like your editor) via your email program. Click on it to view your options.
Part Two
Track Changes Button
This button literally just turns Track Changes on and off. That’s not to say it will remove all existing changes or affect how they appear, but rather that it will affect how changes appear moving forward.
When on, it will mark any new changes to be accepted or rejected later (your editor should use this when editing your manuscript). When off, any changes made will not be tracked and will simply appear as though already accepted and part of the manuscript.
Markup View
There are four markup viewing options for your manuscript when Track Changes has been used. I mainly use and suggest the first two options, and I’ll explain under each when and why I recommend those two.
SIMPLE MARKUP: This option shows the changes as though they’ve already been accepted, removing distracting strikethroughs, and differentiating colors for deletions and additions, while keeping a line on the left side to indicate where changes have occurred. It can be easier to use this option when you are trying to get a feel for the flow and clarity of the changes your editor made.
ALL MARKUP: This option allows you to see each and every change that your editor made, including any comments in balloons. Be sure to use this option, even if just briefly, to view any comments your editor may have left for you in the margins, and then you can switch to Simple Markup if you want to get a better feel for the changes made.
NO MARKUP: Similar to the Simple Markup option, except that this option also eliminates the line on the left that indicates where changes have been made.
ORIGINAL: Just as it sounds, this option shows the document in its original form with no changes being made or accepted.
HOW TO CHOOSE
From the Tabs: Review > All Markup
OR
Simple Markup or whatever option you desire
Markup Options
There are several options to choose in the Markup Options dropdown, including Comments, Ink, Insertions and Deletions, Formatting, Balloons, Reviewers, and even Preferences.
COMMENTS: Your editor may leave you the occasional comment or several of them. Comments are usually notes the editor wants to make you aware of or queries they have for you regarding the manuscript. You may respond to these comments, but your editor won’t see them unless you send the manuscript back to them (more on this under Comments in Part Three). The checkmark here indicates that the comments will be displayed (under All Markup). If you uncheck it, they will disappear (but not be deleted). I recommend checking this option.
INK: This option likely won’t affect you unless your editor uses the Draw tab in Word to make custom marks on your document. Checking it shows these marks, while unchecking it will make them disappear. I do not use the Draw tool, so whether this option is checked or not won’t matter when working with me.
INSERTIONS AND DELETIONS: Insertions are original content your editor has added, whether a single word or a whole sentence. Deletions are when your editor deletes something you have written. If this option is unchecked, any deletions or insertions will show as though already accepted on the manuscript. There will not be a red line in the margin to indicate insertions or deletions either. If this option has a checkmark next to it, all the insertions and deletions will reappear as tracked changes. I recommend checking this option.
FORMATTING: Formatting includes changes to font type or size, alignment, line spacing, number or bullet list, etc. Similarly to the above option, if this is unchecked, there will be no indications of changes having been made to the formatting. Instead, they will all appear as though already accepted. If this option is checked, it will show the formatting changes your editor made while using Track Changes (unless they clean these details up like I do for a cleaner returned manuscript). Checking this option is completely your call, but if your editor does not clean this up like I do, I recommend checking it.
BALLOONS: These are not the inflatable plastic bubbles that your kids love to play with. These sort of balloons appear in the right margin of your manuscript with formatting changes, comments, and sometimes deletions, depending on your choice of the three options. You will only see these while in the All Markup option.
SHOW REVISIONS IN BALLOONS: While additions will remain in-line, this option shows all the other changes made to your manuscript in a balloon, whether it’s formatting, a deletion, or a comment. This can make the margin quite chaotic and crowded, though it can also make for a simpler read of the document (but Simple Markup helps solve this issue as well). This option can really bog down your computer as well since it takes a lot of memory.
SHOW ALL REVISIONS INLINE: Just as it sounds, all changes are in-line this option including comments, which appear as the editor’s initials and comment number (e.g., MS15). To read the comment, you would hover your cursor over it so it expands. This option eliminates the margin on the right, but makes the document very difficult to read as your eyes are going to be pulled to multiple colors and edits all at once.
SHOW ONLY COMMENTS AND FORMATTING IN BALLOONS: This option places comments and formatting within balloons in the right margin, while all other changes appear in-line on the document. This option not only helps to clean up the document and keep you from feeling overwhelmed but will also prevents your computer from slowing down due to the large amount of balloons and changes made.
This last option is my personal preference and recommendation as I feel it best simplifies the changes for you by separating them a bit. You can still quickly switch between a simplified appearance with Simple Markup and seeing the edits made with All Markup. (Note: some editors, myself included, will often clear out the formatting changes by accepting them on your behalf to simplify the process for you and help you focus on the more important changes.)
REVIEWERS: If you have more than one editor making changes, you can select one or the other or both to choose which editor’s changes you want to view. (See how to merge documents from two editors under Compare in Part Three.)
HOW TO CHOOSE
From the Tabs: Review > Markup Options > Comments; Ink; Insertions and Deletions; Formatting; Balloons > Show Only Comments and Formatting in Balloons; Reviewers > Mandi Summit
(or whatever options you prefer)
Color Choices
You have full control over the color options for all the changes you see. Track Changes defaults to a lot of red, which feels a bit negative and overwhelming to me, personally. I am more drawn to soothing and serene colors like those in the blue family. For that reason, I have those displayed in the image below selected on my personal settings, but feel free to do whatever feels best for you on your end. I have only changed the colors in the first two sections and left everything else as the default since they are not used nearly as often, but you can change as much or as little as you like. The choices are practically endless, so mess around with it and see what you prefer, or simply leave it all as is.
HOW TO CHOOSE
From the Main Menu: Word > Preferences > Track Changes
OR
From the Tabs: Review > Markup Options > Preferences
Part Three
Reviewing
This is a quick button to take you to the Reviewing Pane as discussed under Find & Replace in Part One.
Compare
Microsoft has a very detailed article about this feature, but I have given a brief summary here of what the Compare and Combine features each do.
COMPARE: Say you have a coauthor who made changes to your manuscript and you want to see them as compared to the original version, but they forgot to click Track Changes before doing so. The Compare feature in Word can help you, so long as you have the manuscript saved as two separate copies: the original version you had and the newly updated version from your coauthor. Using this feature will show all the differences between the two versions as tracked changes so you can go through and accept or reject them.
COMBINE: This option is very similar to Compare, except it is used more for documents that already have Track Changes in use. If you sent your manuscript to two separate editors (say for a copyedit or a proofread), you can see each editor’s changes all in one draft and determine which you prefer to accept or reject.
Accept or Reject Changes
This portion of the Review ribbon allows you to Accept or Reject changes made to your manuscript. You can also use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate between changes.
ACCEPT / REJECT: If you simply click on the big Accept or Reject buttons, it will do just as you’ve chosen for the edit your cursor is currently on. However, you can also click on the little arrow to the right of each button for more options. The image below shows the Accept options, but the same will appear under Reject as well.
ACCEPT / REJECT AND MOVE TO THE NEXT: This will only accept or reject only the change you are currently on, and then find the next one awaiting your decision.
ACCEPT / REJECT THIS CHANGE: Similar to the option above, this will accept or reject only the change you are currently on in the manuscript, but it will not automatically moving on to the next change.
ACCEPT / REJECT ALL CHANGES: This will accept or reject every change in the manuscript, leaving only the comments for your review.
ACCEPT / REJECT ALL CHANGES AND STOP TRACKING: Similar to the option above, this will accept or reject every change in the manuscript, leaving only the comments for your review. However, it will also turn Track Changes off if you have it on.
PREVIOUS / NEXT: The buttons on the right of the Accept and Reject buttons will take you to the previous change or the next change if you want more control over the process or are looking for a specific change.
Alternatively, you could right-click on a specific change and have the option to accept or reject right there in a dropdown menu. This works well when looking at one specific change, but using the buttons on the Review ribbon is a much more streamlined and simple approach for the span of an entire manuscript.
Comments
This section of the Review ribbon is all about how to create a new comment and delete or resolve an existing comment. I will also explain what the other options here do, as well as how to reply to a comment left by your editor.
NEW COMMENT: This option creates a new comment bubble wherever your cursor is at the moment. Make sure you are highlighting or at least next to the word you want to comment on. Even if you want to make a comment about an entire sentence or paragraph, I highly recommend simply highlighting one word to keep things simple. (This is the method I use when editing a manuscript, as I feel it is less overwhelming to view it this way.)
DELETE COMMENT: This deletes the comment completely from the manuscript.
(This image shows an alternate way to delete a comment by right-clicking on it instead of using the option on the Review ribbon.)
RESOLVE COMMENT: If you’ve resolved a comment with your editor or at least within your manuscript, you can use this feature to gray it out. This allows you to still see the comment, but also makes it clear which comments have been addressed and which still need attention.
(This image shows an alternate way to resolve a comment by right-clicking on it instead of using the option on the Review ribbon.)
PREVIOUS: This simply takes you to the previous comment in the manuscript so you can read and address it.
NEXT: Just as with the Previous button, the Next button will take you to the next comment in the manuscript so you can read and address it.
SHOW COMMENTS: When in Simple Markup view, comments will automatically be hidden along with all other changes. However, if you prefer to view the comments without all the distracting insertions, deletions, and other changes shown in All Markup view, you can select the Show Comments button while in Simple Markup for a cleaner view of all the comments.
REPLY TO COMMENT: If your editor has left you a comment such as a query or a note about something they changed, this feature allows you to type a reply to their comment. Keep in mind that your editor won’t automatically see your reply unless you resend them the manuscript after.
(There is no way to reply to a comment from the Review ribbon. Right-click on it to get to this option as shown here.)
Phew!
Thank you for taking the time to read through this beast of an article. I know there is a LOT of information here, but that is why I added several links to allow you to jump to the specific areas you want to learn about. My hope in writing this article is that you can feel 100% comfortable as you work with your editor and review their changes and comments. I want this process to be more fun and exciting than daunting and overwhelming, so if you still have any questions about the Review ribbon or Track Changes, please don’t hesitate to contact me and let me know.
(HINT: You can also request that your editor send you a Track Changes version of your manuscript as well as a clean version with all changes accepted if you prefer! Just make sure you absolutely trust your editor if you plan to use the clean version without reviewing changes first.)
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