“Modern Comments” are rolling out to subscribed Windows users and Word for Web rather like a steam roller over rubber duckies. This new MS Word “feature” is interrupting workflow for many and may render some functions inside them inoperable (such as autocomplete and search). Here’s what to expect:
Continue reading Changes Coming to Comments in WordTag Archives: Track Changes
Little-known Word Shortcuts

If you are using control + S to save like you’ve got a twitch (and what MS user hasn’t learned to save obsessively), you already know that shortcuts will save you a lot of time over using menus. Here are some surprising, lesser-known keyboard shortcuts that will speed up your productivity.
Continue reading Little-known Word ShortcutsExtracting Comments and Markup from a Word Manuscript

Word lets you extract a summary of comments and markup in the Print dialog. You can either create a PDF or a paper copy.
Continue reading Extracting Comments and Markup from a Word ManuscriptWhen to Make Silent Changes
When routine changes like turning two spaces into one are tracked, it creates a sea of markup that obscures the changes that 1) actually are negotiable and 2) really matter. It can lead to absolute overwhelm, resulting in a client who just “accepts all” without a meaningful review; or who literally wears out their mouse clicking “accept” on a myriad of non-negotiable changes to house style.
Continue reading When to Make Silent ChangesTracking Changes in PowerPoint Slides
Forced to edit a slide presentation and missing Word’s Track Changes? “Compare” to the rescue! Just save the PowerPoint file with a new name, and make your changes. Then, select Compare on PowerPoint’s Review ribbon. (Only Windows users get this option, sorry Mac users.)
Continue reading Tracking Changes in PowerPoint SlidesQ&A: Why are there weird boxes around tracked changes?
QWhat are these weird boxes around some text?
Continue reading Q&A: Why are there weird boxes around tracked changes?Q&A: Tracked changes balloons are showing only what’s left!
QSuddenly Word is showing all changes clumped into a single marginal balloon, not as separate entries. And what’s showing in the balloon is what’s left, not what was deleted!
Continue reading Q&A: Tracked changes balloons are showing only what’s left!Try This! Track Changes in Word
Track Changes is a feature of Word that lets each person on the team show their suggested revisions and leave comments “attached” to content without becoming part of the content itself (and thus avoiding the disastrous embarassement of comments making it into the final product).
Download this 132 kb file, then try the steps below. Check your work against the answer figure shown at the end.
Continue reading Try This! Track Changes in WordQ&A: How Can I Cross-reference Comments in Word?
QHow can I cross-reference comments in a Word manuscript now that Word doesn’t show comment numbers?
Continue reading Q&A: How Can I Cross-reference Comments in Word?Reject Tracked Changes Cleanly

Every time you replace a word (or words) in MS Word using tracked changes, Word annotates two changes: a deletion and an insertion. To reject a change and reinstate the original, you have to reject BOTH changes.