Accepting All Deletions in a Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 10, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Mitch uses Track Changes in his documents quite a bit. He knows how to accept or reject changes. He's wondering, though, if there is a way to accept a complete subset of changes, such as accepting all deletions in the document, without affecting any other tracked changes.

This can be done, but only by using a macro. Fortunately, VBA allows you to access the revisions made in your document, as long as they were made with Track Changes turned on. The following macro steps through each revision and, if it is a deletion, it accepts that revision:

Sub AcceptDeletions()
    Dim oRev As Revision

    For Each oRev In ActiveDocument.Revisions
        If oRev.Type = wdRevisionDelete Then oRev.Accept
    Next oRev
End Sub

Note that there are two key elements in this macro. First, is the value stored in the .Type property. Word actually allows 22 different types of revisions, as detailed in this WordTip. As shown in the example above, the macro checks only to see if the .Type property indicates that the revision is, in fact, a deletion.

The second key element is the .Accept method. This causes the revision to be accepted, but you could just as easily specify the .Reject method, which would cause the revision to be rejected.

Finally, you should note that after running the macro, all deletions will be accepted in the document, but you won't be able to use Ctrl+Z to undo the effects of the macro.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13881) 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

Removing Leading Spaces in a Table

If you work with data imported from the Web or with documents prepared by others, you may have tables that have leading ...

Discover More

Putting a File Name and Path in a Default Footer

Want to add a filename and path to the footer of a template? You might be confused by what you see in documents created ...

Discover More

Leaving Minimized Documents Minimized

If you have open documents minimized on the Taskbar and then open another document, all of the previously minimized ...

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)

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

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

Locking Track Changes On

Track Changes is a powerful tool to help you know what has been changed in a document. You may want to make sure that ...

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 seven more than 7?

2025-08-31 18:16:26

Mitch

Thank you for this. I asked this question back in 2021 and am just now seeing the response. Better late than never, I guess.

2025-01-22 22:10:53

Myron

Hi again - never mind. I didn't see your response and solution to Nick's similar query. Your solution solved my problem. Sorry to bug you.

2025-01-22 22:06:03

Myron

Hello Allen - your macro on accepting deleted text has been a huge help in my work. However, this week it stopped working. When I ran the debug tool the error said the object could not be found and highlighted this part of the code: "If oRev.Type = wdRevisionDelete Then" . I'm hoping you can suggest a solution. I'm wondering if a Zotero plug-in might be interfering with it, but I would have no idea how that could happen. Installing the Zotero plug-in is just the last significant thing to change. Thanks for your time and assistance.

2023-07-28 09:21:08

Andrew

Nick, the simple way if you don't want to get into the programming of it is to insert the line "On Error Resume Next" in the line before the "For" statement, understanding that some Deletions may be skipped in the process

The not-so-simple way is to enter the debugger to investigate why the error occurred. My guess is that this is one of those situations where the loop ought to be run backward through the collection.

Andy.

2023-07-27 07:27:35

Nick

I get the message "Run-time error 5852: Requested Object is not Available".

In the debugger, the following line is highlit:

If oRev.Type = wdRevisionDelete Then

Any thoughts on what I need to change?

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.