This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Microsoft 365 screen reader support content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Use Word with your keyboard and a screen reader to track, show, and list the changes in your document. We've tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to accept or reject tracked changes.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
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When using a screen reader, you'll use that screen reader's modifier key, sometimes along with other related keys, to navigate and interact within the app and execute commands. In our documentation this will sometimes be indicated by "SR key."
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Turn on Track Changes
When you turn on Track Changes, Word marks up and shows any changes that anyone makes to your document. You can turn this feature on using either a direct keyboard shortcut, or the ribbon.
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To turn on Track Changes, do one of the following:
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To use the direct shortcut, press Ctrl+Shift+E.
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To use the ribbon, press Alt+R, G, G.
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Choose how to show changes (revisions)
You can choose how to show the tracked changes in your document.
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Press Alt+R, T, D. The markup menu is expanded, and you hear the name of the currently selected markup.
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In the markup list, press the Up or Down arrow keys until you hear the name of the option you want. The following options are available:
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Simple Markup is the default option, and indicates where the changes are with a vertical line in the document margin. Your screen reader announces that there's a change at the beginning of a changed paragraph.
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No Markup hides markup to show what the incorporated changes will look like. This option does not delete the changes.
: To show the markup again, choose Simple Markup or All Markup.
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All Markup shows all edits with different colors of text and lines. This option is the recommended markup. Your screen reader announces the change and change type where the change happened.
If formatting has been changed, JAWS also reads the details of the change. With Narrator, you need to move to the margin notes or Reviewing Pane to hear the details. For instructions, go to Move to the details of formatting changes with Narrator or Show all changes in the Reviewing Pane.
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Original shows the document in its original form.
To select and apply an option, press Enter.
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To select which changes are tracked, press Alt+R, T, M. The Show Markup menu is expanded. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the option you want, and then press Enter.
Repeat this step for all the markup types you’d like to select.
Remove tracked changes
The only way you can remove tracked changes permanently in a document is to accept or reject them.
Accept a single tracked change
You can accept single changes in the document body, Reviewing Pane, or margin notes.
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Navigate to the tracked change you want to remove.
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To accept the change, do one of the following:
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Press Shift+F10. The context menu opens. Press E. The change is accepted, and the focus returns to the body text.
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Press Alt+R, A, 2. You hear: “Accept and Move to Next.” Then press Enter. The change is accepted, and the focus moves to the next change.
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Reject a single tracked change
You can reject single changes in the document body, Reviewing Pane, or margin notes.
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Navigate to the tracked change you want to remove.
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To reject the change, do one of the following:
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Press Shift+F10. The context menu opens. Press R. The change is rejected, and the focus returns to the body text.
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To reject the change, press Alt+R, J. You hear: “Reject and Move to Next.” Then press Enter. The current change is rejected, and the focus moves to the next change.
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Accept or reject all tracked changes
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To accept all tracked changes, press Alt+R, A, 2, L.
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To reject all tracked changes, press Alt+R, J, L.
Keep Track Changes turned on
To prevent someone else from turning off Track Changes, turn on Lock Tracking and add a password. When Tracked Changes is locked, anyone opening your document can view the changes but they can't turn off the feature, and they can’t accept or reject changes.
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Press Alt+R, G, L. You hear: “Lock Tracking.”
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Choose and type a password, and press the Tab key. You hear: “Re-enter to confirm.” Type your password again, and then press Enter.
Turn off Lock Tracking
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Press Alt+R, G, L. You hear: "Unlock Tracking window, password.”
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Type your password and press Enter.
Turn off Track Changes
When you turn Track Changes off, Word stops marking up new changes. All changes that were already tracked remain marked up in the document, until you remove them. You can turn this feature off using either a direct keyboard shortcut or the ribbon.
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To turn off Track Changes, on the keyboard, press Ctrl+Shift+E.
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To use the ribbon to turn off Track Changes, on the keyboard, press Alt+R, G, G.
See also
Use a screen reader to add, read, and delete comments in Word
Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word
What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel
Use Word for Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to see who’s been making changes to your document, manage tracked changes, and delete comments in your Word for Mac document.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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This topic assumes that you are using the built-in macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.
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For the best reading and editing experience, we recommend using the Print Layout View and the All Markup option.
In this topic
Turn Track Changes on and off
When you turn on Track Changes, Word for Mac marks up and shows any changes that anyone makes to your document. You can turn this feature on using a direct keyboard shortcut.
To toggle Track Changes on and off, in the document text area, press Command+Shift+E.
Show changes (revisions) in a document
You can choose how you’d like to show the tracked changes in your document.
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Press F6 until you hear the currently selected tab. If you're already on the Review tab, proceed to step 3.
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Press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Review tab," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. You hear: "Review tab, selected."
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Press the Tab key until you hear the current markup, followed by "Display for review, pop up button."
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To expand the markup menu, press Control+Option+Spacebar.
A list with the following four view options opens:
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Simple Markup is the default option, and indicates where the changes are with a red line in the document margin.
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No Markup hides markup to show what the incorporated changes will look like. This option does not delete the changes.
: To see the markup again, choose Simple Markup or All Markup.
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All Markup shows additions in the body text with different colors, and deletions and format changes in the comments pane. This option is the recommended markup and best supported by screen readers.
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Original shows the document in its original form.
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Press the Up or Down arrow keys until you hear the option you'd like to select, and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. You hear the selected markup, followed by "Display for review."
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To choose the type of markup you'd like to see, press the Tab key until you hear “Markup options, menu button,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
A list with the following options opens:
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Comments
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Ink
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Insertions and Deletions
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Formatting
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Track Moves From/To
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Balloons
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Reviewers
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In the list, press the Up or Down keys until you hear the name of the option you’d like to choose. Then press Control+Option+Spacebar. Repeat this step for all the markup types you’d like to select or unselect.
Remove tracked changes
The only way you can remove tracked changes permanently in a document is to accept or reject them.
Accept or reject a single tracked change
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Navigate to the tracked change you'd like to remove as instructed in Navigate to tracked changes.
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Navigate to the Review tab as instructed in Show changes (revisions) in a document.
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Do one of the following:
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To accept the change, press the Tab key until you hear “Accept menu button," and then press Control+Option+Shift+M. Press the Tab key until you hear "Accept and move to next” and press Control+Option+Spacebar. The change is accepted, and the focus moves to the next change in your document.
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To reject the change, press the Tab key until you hear "Reject menu button," and then press Control+Option+Shift+M. Press the Tab key until you hear “Reject and move to next” and press Control+Option+Spacebar. The change is rejected, and the focus moves to the next change in your document.
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Accept or reject all tracked changes
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Navigate to the Review tab as instructed in Show changes (revisions) in a document.
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Do one of the following:
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To accept all tracked changes, press the Tab key until you hear “Accept menu button," and then press Control+Option+Shift+M. Press the Tab key until you hear "Accept all changes" and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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To reject all tracked changes, press the Tab key until you hear “Reject menu button," and then press Control+Option+Shift+M. Press the Tab key until you hear "Reject all changes" and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Keep Track Changes turned on
To prevent someone else from turning off Track Changes, you can lock the feature. You can also add a password for further protection. When Tracked Changes is locked, anyone opening your document can view the changes but they can't turn off the feature, and they can’t accept or reject changes.
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Navigate to the Review tab as instructed in Show changes (revisions) in a document. Press the Tab key until you hear "Protect Document, unchecked checkbox" and press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Password Protect dialog box opens.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Protect document for," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Tracked changes, radio button" and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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To set a password, press the Tab key until you hear "Protection secure, edit text." Type a password and press the Tab key.
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In the confirmation dialog box, type the password again, and press the Tab key until you hear: "OK default button." Press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "OK, default button" and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Turn off Track Changes locking
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In the Password Protect dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear "Protect document for," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Type the password and press the Tab key until you hear "OK default button" and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "OK default button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
See also
Use a screen reader to share a document in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word
What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel
Use VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to switch Track Changes on or off in your Word for iOS document. Find the existing changes in the document, and then accept or reject them. Lock Track Changes on so others cannot switch it off.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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This topic assumes that you are using the built-in iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Turn Track Changes on and off
When you turn Track Changes on, all changes made to your Word document are tracked and shown.
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Open the document in Word. Swipe right until you hear "Show ribbon, button," and double-tap the screen.
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You hear the currently selected tab, such as: "Home, tab." To change to the Review tab, double-tap the screen and swipe right or left until you hear "Review, tab," and double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right repeatedly until you hear "Track Changes, off, button" (if Track Changes is currently off) or "Selected, Track Changes, on, button" (if Track Changes is currently on), and double-tap the screen to turn on or off.
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To close the tab and return to the document, swipe left repeatedly until you hear "Hide ribbon, button," and double-tap the screen.
Accept or reject changes
You can check and accept or reject the changes in a Word document one by one or select to accept or reject all of them at once.
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Navigate to the change you want to accept or reject as instructed in Navigate to tracked changes.
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Swipe left repeatedly until you hear "Accept, button" or "Reject, button," and double-tap the screen.
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The Accept or Reject menu opens. To hear the available options, swipe right. When you hear the option you want to select, double-tap the screen.
Keep Track Changes turned on
To prevent someone else from turning off Track Changes in your document, you can select to block other authors. Others opening your document can still view it but they can't turn off Track Changes, or accept or reject changes.
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Open the document in Word. Swipe right until you hear "Show ribbon, button," and double-tap the screen.
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You hear the currently selected tab, such as: "Home, tab." To change to the Review tab, double-tap the screen and swipe right or left until you hear "Review, tab," and double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right repeatedly until you hear "Block other authors, button," and double-tap the screen.
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The Block Authors menu opens. Swipe right until you hear "Block other authors, button," and double-tap the screen.
See also
Use a screen reader to share a document in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word
What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel
Use TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to switch Track Changes on or off in your Word for Android document. Find the existing changes in the document, and then accept or reject them.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.
In this topic
Turn Track Changes on and off
When you turn Track Changes on, all changes made to your Word document are tracked.
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Open the document in Word. Swipe right until you hear "Not checked, more options, switch," and double-tap the screen.
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You hear the currently selected tab, such as: "Tab menu, Home, selected." To change to the Review tab, double-tap the screen and swipe right or left until you hear "Review, tab," and double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right repeatedly until you hear "Track Changes, not checked, switch" (if Track Changes is currently off) or "Track Changes, checked, switch" (if Track Changes is currently on), and double-tap the screen to turn on or off.
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To close the tab and return to the document, swipe left repeatedly until you hear "Checked, more options, switch," and double-tap the screen.
Accept or reject changes
You can check and accept or reject the changes in a Word document one by one or select to accept or reject all of them at once.
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Navigate to the change you want to accept or reject as instructed in Navigate to tracked changes.
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Swipe left repeatedly until you hear "Accept, menu" or "Reject, menu," and double-tap the screen.
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The Accept or Reject menu opens. To hear the available options, swipe right. When you hear the option you want to select, double-tap the screen.
See also
Use a screen reader to share a document in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word
What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel
Use Word for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to see who’s been making changes to your document and manage tracked changes. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge, JAWS in Chrome, and NVDA in Firefox, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
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If you use Narrator with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have to turn off scan mode in order to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Microsoft 365 for the web. For more information, refer to Turn off virtual or browse mode in screen readers in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
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When you use Word for the web with a screen reader, switch to the full screen mode. Press F11 to toggle the full screen mode on and off.
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When you use Word for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Word for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not Word for the web.
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If the Xbox Game Bar app is running on your device, opening the Review tab in Word for the web with the shortcut Alt+Windows logo key+R can cause unintentional activation of the screen recording feature in the app. To prevent this, close the Xbox Game Bar app.
In this topic
Turn on Track Changes
When you turn on Track Changes, Word marks up and shows any changes that either you or everyone makes to your document.
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To turn on Track Changes, do one of the following:
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To enable tracking changes for everyone, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, G, F.
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To enable tracking changes for just yourself, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, G, J.
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Remove tracked changes
The only way you can remove tracked changes permanently in a document is to accept or reject them.
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Navigate to the change you wish to accept or reject, as described in Navigate the tracked changes.
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Do one of the following:
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To accept the change, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, A, 2.
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To reject the change, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, J.
The focus moves to the next tracked change.
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Turn off Track Changes
When you turn Track Changes off, Word stops marking up new changes. All changes that were already tracked, remain marked up in the document until you remove them.
To turn off Tracked Changes, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, G, O.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word
Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word
What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.
