How to Redline a Word Document: Track Changes, Comments, and Markup Explained

Redlining a Word document means marking it up with edits, deletions, insertions, and comments so that every change is visible — and the original text is preserved for comparison. It's the digital equivalent of a lawyer or editor taking a red pen to a printed draft. Microsoft Word has built-in tools that handle this automatically, but how you use them (and what the result looks like) depends on your version of Word, your workflow, and who else is reviewing the document.

What "Redlining" Actually Means in Word

The term comes from legal and editorial practice, where physical documents were literally marked in red ink. In Word, redlining is done through the Track Changes feature. When Track Changes is active, every edit you make is flagged rather than applied silently. Insertions typically appear underlined, deletions appear in strikethrough, and formatting changes are noted in the margin. The document retains both the original and the proposed version simultaneously.

This is different from simply highlighting text or leaving a comment — though both of those are often used alongside Track Changes in a full redline workflow.

How to Turn On Track Changes ✏️

The most direct path in any modern version of Microsoft Word:

1. Open the document you want to redline.
2. Go to the Review tab in the ribbon.
3. Click Track Changes — it toggles on and stays active until you turn it off.

Once active, every insertion, deletion, or formatting change you make is recorded with your name and a timestamp. If multiple reviewers are editing the same document, Word assigns each person a different color so their edits are visually distinct.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + E (Windows) or Command + Shift + E (Mac) toggles Track Changes without opening the ribbon.

Understanding the Markup Display Options

Word gives you four ways to view a redlined document, which can be confusing at first:

You switch between these using the dropdown next to Track Changes in the Review tab. All Markup is the standard redline view — it shows everything. Simple Markup is useful when the document is heavily edited and hard to read in full markup mode.

Adding Comments Alongside Edits

Tracked changes show what was changed. Comments explain why. In a redline workflow, you'll often use both together.

To add a comment:

• Select the text you want to annotate.
• In the Review tab, click New Comment.
• Type your note in the comment bubble that appears in the margin.

In Word 365 and newer versions, comments support threaded replies, so multiple reviewers can discuss a specific point without cluttering the document. Older versions show comments as flat margin notes.

Accepting and Rejecting Changes

Once a document has been redlined and reviewed, the next step is resolving the markup. You can do this one change at a time or all at once:

• Accept Change — applies the edit and removes the markup.
• Reject Change — restores the original text and removes the markup.
• Accept All Changes — cleans up the entire document at once.
• Reject All Changes — reverts all edits simultaneously.

These options are all in the Review tab under the Accept and Reject dropdowns. Be careful with "Accept All" on a document you haven't fully reviewed — it applies every change without confirmation.

Redlining a Document Shared by Someone Else

If someone sends you a Word document and asks you to redline it, the process is the same — turn on Track Changes before you start editing. If they've already made changes and the document arrives with existing markup, you'll see their edits alongside yours once you start.

🔍 A common issue: reviewers forget to turn on Track Changes before editing, so their changes are absorbed silently. Word's Compare feature (also in the Review tab) can help here — it compares two versions of a document and generates a redlined version showing the differences, even if Track Changes wasn't active during editing.

Where Version and Platform Differences Matter

The core Track Changes workflow is consistent across Word versions, but there are meaningful differences in experience:

• Word 365 / Word 2021 — most refined comment threading, co-authoring with real-time redlines visible to all editors simultaneously.
• Word 2016 / 2019 — full Track Changes support, but no real-time co-authoring markup.
• Word for Mac — functionally equivalent to Windows for most redlining tasks, with minor UI differences.
• Word Online (browser) — supports Track Changes and comments, but with a simplified interface; some markup display options aren't available.
• Mobile (iOS/Android) — basic Track Changes support; reviewing and accepting changes is possible but reviewing dense markup on a small screen is awkward.

If you're exchanging redlined documents with someone using a different platform — say, you're on Word and they're using Google Docs or Pages — compatibility becomes a variable. Google Docs can import .docx files with tracked changes and display them as suggestions, but the visual formatting and behavior aren't identical to Word's native markup.

The Factor That Changes Everything

How straightforward redlining feels — and how well it works — depends heavily on who else is in the review loop. A solo editor reviewing their own draft has a simple, controlled workflow. A legal team with five reviewers, external counsel, and a client all marking up the same document across different Word versions and platforms introduces real complexity around version conflicts, color-coded authorship, and comment resolution.

The tools are consistent. What varies is how your specific review process, document type, collaborator setup, and platform mix interact with them.