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Benefits of Using Comments and Changes in Microsoft Word 2007:

Preparing a File for Mark-up and Comments

  1. Open up a saved/submitted document in Microsoft Word by going selecting the File tab and Open and Browsing for the document you would like to insert comments in and mark-up.
  2. Save the document as a different name, but one that reflects the original name by going to the File tab > Save As.

Tip:

Use your initials at the end of the initial file name and include a word like "markup" or "comments." For example, if John Smith reviewed a document with the file name "homework1," John Smith would save the marked up version as "homework1-JS-comments." This is the version that would be returned to the student or other team member.

Tracking Changes

  1. Turn on the Track Changes tool by going to the Review tab and selecting Track Changes.
  2. Begin making changes to the document including typos, deletions, grammatical corrections, text insertions, etc. You will notice your changes are formatted differently than simply making changes when Track Changes is turned off. They will appear within the document text.

    An example of a marked up sentence in Word

  3. To preview how your changes look in the final version, from the Review tab, select Final from the drop-down menu.

Inserting Comments

  1. In the marked up document you created in the first section on this page, select and highlight the text, sentence, or paragraph that you would like to comment on.
  2. From the Review tab, select New Comment.
  3. A colored comment bubble appears in the margin of your document.
  4. Begin typing in the comment bubble. When you are finished with your comment, you can move on by putting your cursor in another location in the document.

Merging Changes

Why:

If you have received a document back with mark-up, you can merge the changes into the original file by doing the following:

  1. Open the original file you would like to merge changes into.
  2. From the Review tab, select Compare.
  3. Decide whether you would like to merge two different verions of the same file or whether you would like to merge comments and mark-ups from multiple reviewers into one document.
  4. The Compare Documents browser window appears. Browse for the other file you would like to merge into the original on your PC.
  5. When you have located the file, select Merge.
  6. The changes, with merge comments, should now be reflected in each document.

Accepting or Rejecting Changes Made by Others or by the Merge

Why:

If you are not satisfied or do not agree with a change that was made by a reviewer or during the merge, you can reject the changes. Alternatively, if you agree with the changes, you can accept them and the comments or markups will disappear in the document.

To accept or reject:

  1. In the marked up or merged file, select and click on text that has been changed.
  2. From the Review tab, select either the Accept Change or the Reject Change button.

    3. Tip:

    As an alternative to selecting change options from the Reviewing toolbar, you can also right-click on changed text to accept or reject changes.

  3. The text format converts either to the new change or reverts back to your original text depending on what you selected in Step 1.

Related Word 2010 Resources:

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