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:

  1. Make sure the Review tab of the ribbon is displayed.
  2. 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.
  3. 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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Creating a TOC that Includes Specific Styles

Want to create a special TOC that contains different elements of your document? It's easy to do if you consistently use ...

Discover More

Professional Looking Fractions

Professional typesetting has, in many ways, spoiled us. One way this is evident is in the preference we show for making ...

Discover More

Unable to Edit Document with Embedded Fonts

What are you to do if you embed fonts in a document and then someone else cannot make changes to that document? Chances ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Track Changes Thinks the Editor Has Changed

Track changes is a great feature to use when you want to show what has changed in a document. Word should note which ...

Discover More

Accepting All Deletions in a Document

When you use Track Changes in a document, it is easy to amass quite a few edits that you need to accept of reject. If you ...

Discover More

Changing How Changes are Noted in Word

Do you want to modify how Word marks changes in your document? It's easy to do, if you know where to look.

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is 3 + 9?

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.

Videos
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.