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 Word in Microsoft 365


2

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 Word in Microsoft 365.

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

Resize Graphics Outside of Word

Need your graphics to be larger or smaller than they first appear when you insert them in a document? Your best bet may ...

Discover More

Changing Dialog Box Pull-Down List Item Order

When selecting options within dialog boxes, Word frequently uses drop-down lists to display the options. While ...

Discover More

Accessing Footnote Text in a Macro

Using macros you can access just about anything in a Word document. Accessing the text within footnotes is no exception, ...

Discover More

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!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Stopping Automatic Changes from Being Tracked

Track Changes is a great feature for keeping track of what gets changed in a document. There are some things (such as ...

Discover More

Tracked Changes Won't Go Away

Track Changes is a great tool when editing a document, but the ways that it affects your document can sometimes be ...

Discover More

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
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 6 - 6?

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.

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.