Finding Changes Made by Two People

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 20, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Arnold has a document in which Track Changes is turned on. The document has been edited by multiple people. He would like to find text that was added by one person (we'll call him Ted) and then deleted by another person (Mary). Arnold wonders if this can be done.

This cannot be done in the way that Arnold describes. The closest you can come is to display changes by both Ted and Mary, in this manner:

Make sure the Review tab of the ribbon is displayed.
Click the Show Markup tool (in the Tracking group) and then click either Reviewers or Specific People, depending on your version of Word. You should see a list of the reviewers with changes in the current document.
Make sure a check mark appears only beside Ted's name and Mary's name; clear the check marks for any other reviewers.

At this point, only changes made by Ted and Mary are shown in the document. This doesn't answer Arnold's specific need, though, because he wants to see edits to the same text by both Ted and Mary, and what is showing on the screen now is any edits by either Ted or Mary.

Arnold can, however, use the Next Change tool on the Review tab of the ribbon to jump to the next change in the document. By then hovering over the change, he can see who made the specific change and narrow down to those changes made to the same text by both reviewers.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13665) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

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

Formatting Text in Custom Document Properties

Word allows you to create custom document properties that stay with a document and can be inserted through the use of ...

Discover More

Rounding To the Nearest Even Integer

Do you need your numbers to be rounded to an even integer value? How you accomplish the task depends on the nature of the ...

Discover More

Enabling Circular References by Default

Some formulas require the use of circular references in order to determine a result. If you want to make sure that ...

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)

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

Changing Revision Bar Thickness

Ever wonder how to customize the way the Track Changes feature displays revision bars at the side of changed material? ...

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 one more than 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.