Track Changes only shows edits made after it was turned on. If a colleague sent back a document edited with it off, the changes are invisible unless you know exactly what to compare against.
Word has a dedicated tool for exactly that situation, built to compare two finished files rather than track edits in real time.
Here's the trick:
Review > Compare lines up both files and highlights exactly what changed, word for word.
How to use it
- Go to the Review tab and click Compare, then choose Compare again from the dropdown.
- Select your original file under "Original document."
- Select the edited version under "Revised document."
- Word generates a new document showing every change between the two, which you can accept or reject line by line.
Where it helps most
Reviewing a colleague's edits when Track Changes wasn't switched on, or checking exactly what changed between two drafts that were saved as separate files.
One thing to watch for
It works best when both files started from the same original document. Comparing two documents that were never related to begin with just produces an overwhelming wall of differences.
Found a faster way to do this, or a version that works differently on Mac? That's what the comments are for — this section connects to your comment system of choice (Disqus, giscus, etc.) once the site is live.