Need a quick overview on how to use Track Changes in a Word document?
I got you, friend!
This is an over-the-shoulder tutorial that just covers the basics, but it should be enough to get you back to work on revisions rather than worrying about which buttons you should and shouldn’t click.
First, when you receive your edited document back from your editor, save it.
When you open the document to start going through your edits, save it as a new name.
This is me stomping my foot three times for emphasis. (My military battle buddies recognize that stomping is how we were taught the important stuff 🫡)
If you saved the original edit as Spicy Rom Com_JS CE (that’s how I save the file of a copy edited manuscript before I send it back to clients), then when you open it to work on it, save that working version as Spicy Rom Com_JS CE_working or Spicy Rom Com_CE_revisions or some other file name.
💡You want to keep that original edited version separate from the file you’re working in.
If you don’t do this, you can always grab the original document the editor sent from your email again, but I like the habit of creating a new file name each time for version control.
Okay, now you have that working copy open on your computer and you see what looks like a normal document with some red lines down the left side.