Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Examining Tracked Changes in a Macro.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 31, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365
If you need to develop a macro to process a document in which changes have been tracked (using the Track Changes feature), you may wonder how you can determine the number of changes in the document and how you can look at each of the changes, programmatically. It isn't that tough to do if you remember that the changes are organized when using the Revisions collection. This means that you can determine the number of changes using this code:
iNumChanges = ActiveDocument.Revisions.Count
Just like any other collection, you can step through each member of the Revisions collection and figure out various information about the changes represented in each particular member. While the details of what properties and methods belong to the Revisions collection is much too voluminous for this tip, you can determine the type of each change by looking at the Type property, in this manner:
vChange = ActiveDocument.Revisions(1).Type
At this point, vChange will be equal to a revision type that Word tracks. The actual number or revision types depend on the version of Word you are using, but these are the potential values and the built-in enumeration names for the revision types:
| Value | Enumeration | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | wdNoRevision | |
| 1 | wdRevisionInsert | |
| 2 | wdRevisionDelete | |
| 3 | wdRevisionProperty | |
| 4 | wdRevisionParagraphNumber | |
| 5 | wdRevisionDisplayField | |
| 6 | wdRevisionReconcile | |
| 7 | wdRevisionConflict | |
| 8 | wdRevisionStyle | |
| 9 | wdRevisionReplace | |
| 10 | wdRevisionParagraphProperty | |
| 11 | wdRevisionTableProperty | |
| 12 | wdRevisionSectionProperty | |
| 13 | wdRevisionStyleDefinition | |
| 14 | wdRevisionMovedFrom | |
| 15 | wdRevisionMovedTo | |
| 16 | wdRevisionCellInsertion | |
| 17 | wdRevisionCellDeletion | |
| 18 | wdRevisionCellMerge | |
| 20 | wdRevisionConflictInsert | |
| 21 | wdRevisionConflictDelete |
Additional information can be found in Word's Help system or by searching the Internet for the phrase "revisions collection". Information about the enumerations can be found at this Microsoft site:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/Word.WdRevisionType
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8922) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Examining Tracked Changes in a Macro.
Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!
If you are editing a document with Track Changes turned on, Word won't let you delete a column in a table and have it ...
Discover MoreWhen you have Track Changes turned on for a document, Word remembers which editor made which changes. If this behavior ...
Discover MoreTrack Changes can be a great tool when you have multiple editors working on a document. If you want to know the names of ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2024 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here:
Comments