Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Turning Off Track Changes Change Bars.

Turning Off Track Changes Change Bars

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 3, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Word includes a feature that allows you to track changes made to a document. One of the ways in which Word marks your changes on a document is to include a change bar at the side of a line in which a change was made. This is fairly common in editing, but it may not be to your liking. You can turn off the change bars by following these steps if you are using Word 2013 or a later version:

Display the Review tab of the ribbon.
Click the icon at the bottom-right of the Tracking group. Word displays the Track Changes Options dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Track Changes Options dialog box.

Click on the Advanced Options button. Word displays the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box.

In the Markup section use the Changed Lines drop-down list to choose (None).
Click on OK to close the dialog box.

If you are using Word 2007 or Word 2010 the steps are just a little different.

Display the Review tab of the ribbon.
Click the down-arrow just under the Track Changes tool (in the Tracking group).
Choose Change Tracking Options. Word displays the Track Changes Options dialog box.
In the Markup section use the Changed Lines drop-down list to choose (None).
Click on OK to close the dialog box.

Note that making this setting change hides the appearance of the change bars. Rest assured they are still there and can be redisplayed by choosing to display them again.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8765) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Turning Off Track Changes Change Bars.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Getting Pictures Out of Word

If you receive a Word document from someone, you may want to get any graphics it contains into their own files. You can ...

Discover More

Standard Text before a Sequence Number

When you use fields to number items within a document, you may want to add some standard text before each field. There ...

Discover More

Mysterious Blue Line between Paragraphs

Do you ever have mysterious lines show up between paragraphs either on your screen or on your printouts? It could be ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Getting Rid of Markup

Word includes editing tools that allow you to track what changes you've made in a document. Making the tracked changes go ...

Discover More

Deleting Table Columns with Track Changes Turned On

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 More

Pasting Text with Track Changes

Track Changes is a great tool for developing documents. If you want to copy text from one document to another, with ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is eight minus 8?

2022-01-21 00:38:42

Nina Hoffman

Thanks so much, TonyB. Genius. Appreciate your help!

Nina

2022-01-14 04:27:53

TonyB

Nina: in Office365 for Mac

Review/Mark-up Options/Preferences/Changed Lines
Then choose which border you want the line in, or select the first option “(none)”

2022-01-14 01:15:48

Nina Hoffman

Dear Mr. Wyatt,

Thanks so much for this information. It's 2022 and I'm using the updated version of MS word for Mac 365 subscription. I have tried to find "advanced options" for tracking changes so I could turn off the change bar, but I am not succeeding.

Are they hiding the advanced options in a new place?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Nina
(see Figure 1 below)

Figure 1. The drop-down menu under Markup Options

2021-08-31 03:44:23

Jazib

best help i found. Thanks a lot.

2021-02-22 12:07:09

Alan

I've been trying to remove the tracking pane for 4 hours. I followed the directions above, but each time I opened the file, it was there again. Windows 10

2020-06-13 17:37:21

neena maiya

Thank you so very much!!

This is the BEST help I've found.

Such a blessing!

2019-11-21 09:04:15

KathyCSE

Thank you so much for offering the advice that I can never find when searching Microsoft's help pages.
Why Microsoft embed basic functionality like this is quite beyond me.
Anyway, spot on from you - it saved me loads of time.

2019-11-08 11:58:15

Sean

I was in Track Changes hell and you helped me out of the abyss

Can't thank you enough for this

--Sean

2019-10-23 01:58:07

Abdullah

Thanks a lot dear

This Site

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.