Track Changes and Comments 1

Using Track Changes and Comment Balloons

In Word 2007 Documents

When you submit an edited paper to the Writing Center or an instructor, the editor and course faculty will use the Track Changes and Comment functions of Word. This allows you to see what the editor changed or suggests within the context of your paper. So how do you tackle what you are seeing?

In-Text Edits

First, review the in-text edits. The comment balloons will be addressed later. The in-text edits will be all of the red words within the text. The Track Changes function makes them red so that you can understand what was changed and why. Note that you can change the color of the edits, if red has you seeing red. Just go to Change Tracking Options under the Review/Track Changes icon.Be sure to read all of the red in-text edits so you understand what was changed in your paper.

Once you review the entire document for these in-text edits, you want to Accept Changes to leave the text pristine and ready to read. For Word 2007, here is how you do that:

1.  Begin by turning off Track Changes so that any change you make now does not show in the final document version. Scroll to next page to see images and directions.

Enlarge
1
On the Review tab of the Ribbon, open the Tracking group. Turn off Track Changes here. /
Enlarge
2
Click the Track Changes button. Now, no edits will show in a special color. /
Enlarge
3
Also in the Tracking group, from the Open the Display for Review menu, choose Final Showing Markup. This makes sure you can see all the changes.
Enlarge
4
From the Changes group of the Review tab, click the Next Change button. You are taken to the next change in the document. /
Enlarge
5
To accept the edit, click the Accept button in the Changes group. Then choose whether to accept this single edit, accept it and move to the next edit, or accept all edits in the document. The edit is accepted. /
Enlarge
6
To reject the edit, click the Reject and Move to Next button. Then choose to reject this single edit, reject it and move to the next edit, or reject all edits in the document. The edit is rejected.

Comment Balloons

Once you accept All Changes, what are left are the comment balloons.These need to be addressed individually.We use them to teach you what to do instead of doing for you, much like the teach-a-man-to-fish concept.Once you do what the comment instructs you to do, simply right click on the balloon and Delete Comment.