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Use a screen reader to track and review changes in a document in Word

This article is for people with visual or cognitive impairments who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Microsoft 365 screen reader support content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.

Use Word with your keyboard and a screen reader to track, show, and list the changes in your document. We've tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to accept or reject tracked changes.

Decorative icon Need instructions on how to track changes or accept tracked changes in a Word document, but not using a screen reader? See Track changes in Word or Accept tracked changes.

Notes: 

  • New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

  • To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.

  • When using a screen reader, you'll use that screen reader's modifier key, sometimes along with other related keys, to navigate and interact within the app and execute commands. In our documentation this will sometimes be indicated by "SR key."

In this topic

Turn on Track Changes

When you turn on Track Changes, Word marks up and shows any changes that anyone makes to your document. You can turn this feature on using either a direct keyboard shortcut, or the ribbon.

  1. To turn on Track Changes, do one of the following:

    • To use the direct shortcut, press Ctrl+Shift+E.

    • To use the ribbon, press Alt+R, G, G.

Choose how to show changes (revisions)

You can choose how to show the tracked changes in your document.

  1. Press Alt+R, T, D. The markup menu is expanded, and you hear the name of the currently selected markup.

  2. In the markup list, press the Up or Down arrow keys until you hear the name of the option you want. The following options are available:

    • Simple Markup is the default option, and indicates where the changes are with a vertical line in the document margin. Your screen reader announces that there's a change at the beginning of a changed paragraph.

    • No Markup hides markup to show what the incorporated changes will look like. This option does not delete the changes.

      Tip: To show the markup again, choose Simple Markup or All Markup.

    • All Markup shows all edits with different colors of text and lines. This option is the recommended markup. Your screen reader announces the change and change type where the change happened.

      If formatting has been changed, JAWS also reads the details of the change. With Narrator, you need to move to the margin notes or Reviewing Pane to hear the details. For instructions, go to Move to the details of formatting changes with Narrator or Show all changes in the Reviewing Pane.

    • Original shows the document in its original form.

    To select and apply an option, press Enter.

  3. To select which changes are tracked, press Alt+R, T, M. The Show Markup menu is expanded. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the option you want, and then press Enter.

    Repeat this step for all the markup types you’d like to select.

Check and navigate the tracked changes

You have several options to check and navigate the tracked changes in a document. You can simply let your screen reader read the document announcing the changes. If the document is long or there are many tracked changes, you might want to use the listing options that Word or the screen reader offers for an overview of the changes. Alternatively, you can navigate through the document change by change.

Show all changes in the Reviewing Pane

  1. Press Alt+R+T, P. The Reviewing Pane menu is expanded.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • To display the pane horizontally, press H.

    • To display the pane vertically, press V.

  3. To browse the changes in the pane, press the Up or Down arrow key.

  4. When you are done working with the Reviewing Pane, to close it, press Alt+R+T, P, and then press Enter.

Show all changes in the JAWS Virtual Viewer

  1. Press the Windows logo key+Semicolon (;). The Items to Display in Virtual Viewer dialog box opens.

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Revisions," and then press Enter. The Virtual Viewer opens and you hear the total number of revisions in the document.

  3. Press the Tab key to browse the list of revisions. JAWS reads the change and its details.

  4. When on a change, press Enter to jump into the document body.

Show all changes in the JAWS Revisions window

  1. Press Shift+SR key+R. The Revisions window opens.

  2. Press the Down arrow key to browse the list of changes.

  3. When on a change, press Enter to jump into the document body.

Read the tracked changes inline

The way your screen reader announces the changes and change types when reading through the document depends on the selected markup and the screen reader you're using.

For instructions on how to use a screen reader to read a Word document, go to Read a document.

Tip: With JAWS, you can open the speech history if you want to check what JAWS has been saying. At any point, press the SR key+Spacebar, followed by H. To browse the speech history, press the Up or Down arrow key.

Navigate the changes one by one

You can use keyboard shortcuts to move through the tracked changes one by one.

  • To go to the next change in the document, press Alt+R, H, 1.

  • To go to the previous change in the document, press Alt+R, F.

Move to the details of formatting changes with Narrator

You can navigate from the document editing area to the margin to check the details of a tracked formatting change.

  1. Select the All Markup option as instructed in Choose how to show changes (revisions).

  2. Let your screen reader read the body text until it announces a formatting change. Then press the SR key+A.

  3. The focus moves to the margin and Narrator announces the change detail. To return back to the body text, press the Left arrow key.

Remove tracked changes

The only way you can remove tracked changes permanently in a document is to accept or reject them.

Accept a single tracked change

You can accept single changes in the document body, Reviewing Pane, or margin notes.

  1. Navigate to the tracked change you want to remove.

  2. To accept the change, do one of the following:

    • Press Shift+F10. The context menu opens. Press E. The change is accepted, and the focus returns to the body text.

    • Press Alt+R, A, 2. You hear: “Accept and Move to Next.” Then press Enter. The change is accepted, and the focus moves to the next change.

Reject a single tracked change

You can reject single changes in the document body, Reviewing Pane, or margin notes.

  1. Navigate to the tracked change you want to remove.

  2. To reject the change, do one of the following:

    • Press Shift+F10. The context menu opens. Press R. The change is rejected, and the focus returns to the body text.

    • To reject the change, press Alt+R, J. You hear: “Reject and Move to Next.” Then press Enter. The current change is rejected, and the focus moves to the next change.

Accept or reject all tracked changes

  • To accept all tracked changes, press Alt+R, A, 2, L.

  • To reject all tracked changes, press Alt+R, J, L.

Keep Track Changes turned on

To prevent someone else from turning off Track Changes, turn on Lock Tracking and add a password. When Tracked Changes is locked, anyone opening your document can view the changes but they can't turn off the feature, and they can’t accept or reject changes.

  1. Press Alt+R, G, L. You hear: “Lock Tracking.”

  2. Choose and type a password, and press the Tab key. You hear: “Re-enter to confirm.” Type your password again, and then press Enter.

Turn off Lock Tracking

  1. Press Alt+R, G, L. You hear: "Unlock Tracking window, password.”

  2. Type your password and press Enter.

Turn off Track Changes

When you turn Track Changes off, Word stops marking up new changes. All changes that were already tracked remain marked up in the document, until you remove them. You can turn this feature off using either a direct keyboard shortcut or the ribbon.

  • To turn off Track Changes, on the keyboard, press Ctrl+Shift+E.

  • To use the ribbon to turn off Track Changes, on the keyboard, press Alt+R, G, G.

See also

Use a screen reader to add, read, and delete comments in Word

Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel

Use Word for Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to see who’s been making changes to your document, manage tracked changes, and delete comments in your Word for Mac document.

Decorative icon Need instructions on how to track changes or accept tracked changes in a Word document, but not using a screen reader? See Track changes in Word or Accept or reject tracked changes in Word.

Notes: 

  • New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

  • This topic assumes that you are using the built-in macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.

  • For the best reading and editing experience, we recommend using the Print Layout View and the All Markup option.

In this topic

Turn Track Changes on and off

When you turn on Track Changes, Word for Mac marks up and shows any changes that anyone makes to your document. You can turn this feature on using a direct keyboard shortcut.

To toggle Track Changes on and off, in the document text area, press Command+Shift+E.

Show changes (revisions) in a document

You can choose how you’d like to show the tracked changes in your document.

  1. Press F6 until you hear the currently selected tab. If you're already on the Review tab, proceed to step 3.

  2. Press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Review tab," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. You hear: "Review tab, selected."

  3. Press the Tab key until you hear the current markup, followed by "Display for review, pop up button."

  4. To expand the markup menu, press Control+Option+Spacebar.

    A list with the following four view options opens:

    • Simple Markup is the default option, and indicates where the changes are with a red line in the document margin.

    • No Markup hides markup to show what the incorporated changes will look like. This option does not delete the changes.

      Note: To see the markup again, choose Simple Markup or All Markup.

    • All Markup shows additions in the body text with different colors, and deletions and format changes in the comments pane. This option is the recommended markup and best supported by screen readers.

    • Original shows the document in its original form.

  5. Press the Up or Down arrow keys until you hear the option you'd like to select, and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. You hear the selected markup, followed by "Display for review."

  6. To choose the type of markup you'd like to see, press the Tab key until you hear “Markup options, menu button,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

    A list with the following options opens:

    • Comments

    • Ink

    • Insertions and Deletions

    • Formatting

    • Track Moves From/To

    • Balloons

    • Reviewers

  7. In the list, press the Up or Down keys until you hear the name of the option you’d like to choose. Then press Control+Option+Spacebar. Repeat this step for all the markup types you’d like to select or unselect.

Navigate to tracked changes

When Track Changes is on, Word marks up the body text or the comments pane in your document. VoiceOver announces the changes and the change types when reading through the text.

  • Underline and color are used for insertions in the body text. You hear "Insertion change" when navigating by the beginning and end of a tracked change.

  • Word marks deletions in the comments pane. VoiceOver announces the deleted word.

  • If the formatting has been changed, you hear: "Format change.” To hear details about the formatting changes, you need to navigate to the margin of your document.

Note: Make sure you’ve selected the All Markup option as instructed in Show changes (revisions) in a document.

Use the Next and Previous buttons

  1. To navigate through all tracked changes in your document one by one, navigate to the Review tab as instructed in Show changes (revisions) in a document.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear "Previous button, previous" or "Next button, next," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. Repeat this step until you've gone through the changes.

Use the Comments pane

  1. To move through deletions and formatting changes logged in the Comments pane, in the editing area, press Control+Option+Right arrow key. The focus moves to the comments pane.

  2. To move in the list, press Control+Option+Up or Down arrow key.

Use the Reviewing pane

  1. To navigate to the Reviewing pane, press Control+Option+M. You hear: "Menu bar, Apple."

  2. Press the Right arrow key until you hear "View," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Sidebar," and the press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  4. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Reviewing," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  5. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Summary." To listen to the overview of the changes, press the Right arrow key. You hear the total number of changes and the number of insertions, deletions, moves, formatting changes, and comments.

  6. To move from the summary to the change details, press VO+Shift+Up arrow key. You hear: "Out of reviewing pane group."

  7. Press the Down arrow key once, and then press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow key. VoiceOver reads the change details line by line.

  8. To close the Reviewing pane, press Control+Option+Shift+Up arrow key. Press the Up arrow key until you hear: "Thumbnails pane." Press the Right arrow key until you hear "Close button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

Remove tracked changes

The only way you can remove tracked changes permanently in a document is to accept or reject them.

Accept or reject a single tracked change

  1. Navigate to the tracked change you'd like to remove as instructed in Navigate to tracked changes.

  2. Navigate to the Review tab as instructed in Show changes (revisions) in a document.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To accept the change, press the Tab key until you hear “Accept menu button," and then press Control+Option+Shift+M. Press the Tab key until you hear "Accept and move to next” and press Control+Option+Spacebar. The change is accepted, and the focus moves to the next change in your document.

    • To reject the change, press the Tab key until you hear "Reject menu button," and then press Control+Option+Shift+M. Press the Tab key until you hear “Reject and move to next” and press Control+Option+Spacebar. The change is rejected, and the focus moves to the next change in your document.

Accept or reject all tracked changes

  1. Navigate to the Review tab as instructed in Show changes (revisions) in a document.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • To accept all tracked changes, press the Tab key until you hear “Accept menu button," and then press Control+Option+Shift+M. Press the Tab key until you hear "Accept all changes" and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

    • To reject all tracked changes, press the Tab key until you hear “Reject menu button," and then press Control+Option+Shift+M. Press the Tab key until you hear "Reject all changes" and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

Keep Track Changes turned on

To prevent someone else from turning off Track Changes, you can lock the feature. You can also add a password for further protection. When Tracked Changes is locked, anyone opening your document can view the changes but they can't turn off the feature, and they can’t accept or reject changes.

  1. Navigate to the Review tab as instructed in Show changes (revisions) in a document. Press the Tab key until you hear "Protect Document, unchecked checkbox" and press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Password Protect dialog box opens.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear "Protect document for," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  3. Press the Tab key until you hear "Tracked changes, radio button" and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  4. To set a password, press the Tab key until you hear "Protection secure, edit text." Type a password and press the Tab key.

  5. In the confirmation dialog box, type the password again, and press the Tab key until you hear: "OK default button." Press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  6. Press the Tab key until you hear "OK, default button" and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

Turn off Track Changes locking

  1. In the Password Protect dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear "Protect document for," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  2. Type the password and press the Tab key until you hear "OK default button" and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  3. Press the Tab key until you hear "OK default button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.

See also

Use a screen reader to share a document in Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel

Use VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to switch Track Changes on or off in your Word for iOS document. Find the existing changes in the document, and then accept or reject them. Lock Track Changes on so others cannot switch it off.

Notes: 

In this topic

Turn Track Changes on and off

When you turn Track Changes on, all changes made to your Word document are tracked and shown.

  1. Open the document in Word. Swipe right until you hear "Show ribbon, button," and double-tap the screen.

  2. You hear the currently selected tab, such as: "Home, tab." To change to the Review tab, double-tap the screen and swipe right or left until you hear "Review, tab," and double-tap the screen.

  3. Swipe right repeatedly until you hear "Track Changes, off, button" (if Track Changes is currently off) or "Selected, Track Changes, on, button" (if Track Changes is currently on), and double-tap the screen to turn on or off.

  4. To close the tab and return to the document, swipe left repeatedly until you hear "Hide ribbon, button," and double-tap the screen.

Navigate to tracked changes

Use the Review tab in the Print Layout view to navigate the tracked changes and comments in your Word document.

  1. Make sure the document is open in the Print Layout view in Word.

    To change to the Print Layout view, swipe right until you hear "Print Layout, button," and double-tap the screen. If you hear "Mobile View, button," you're already in the Print Layout view.

  2. Swipe right or left until you hear "Show ribbon, button," and double-tap the screen.

  3. You hear the currently selected tab, such as: "Home, tab." If needed, double-tap the screen and swipe right or left until you hear "Review, tab," and double-tap the screen.

  4. To navigate to changes in the document, swipe right repeatedly until you hear "Next change, button" or "Previous change, button," and double-tap the screen.

  5. To hear the change or comment, swipe right repeatedly until you hear the person who's made the change and the changed text or comment.

  6. To move to the next change, swipe left until you hear "Next change, button," and double-tap the screen. To hear the change or comment, swipe right until you hear it. To move back to the Next change button, swipe left.

Accept or reject changes

You can check and accept or reject the changes in a Word document one by one or select to accept or reject all of them at once.

  1. Navigate to the change you want to accept or reject as instructed in Navigate to tracked changes.

  2. Swipe left repeatedly until you hear "Accept, button" or "Reject, button," and double-tap the screen.

  3. The Accept or Reject menu opens. To hear the available options, swipe right. When you hear the option you want to select, double-tap the screen.

Keep Track Changes turned on

To prevent someone else from turning off Track Changes in your document, you can select to block other authors. Others opening your document can still view it but they can't turn off Track Changes, or accept or reject changes.

  1. Open the document in Word. Swipe right until you hear "Show ribbon, button," and double-tap the screen.

  2. You hear the currently selected tab, such as: "Home, tab." To change to the Review tab, double-tap the screen and swipe right or left until you hear "Review, tab," and double-tap the screen.

  3. Swipe right repeatedly until you hear "Block other authors, button," and double-tap the screen.

  4. The Block Authors menu opens. Swipe right until you hear "Block other authors, button," and double-tap the screen.

See also

Use a screen reader to share a document in Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel

Use TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to switch Track Changes on or off in your Word for Android document. Find the existing changes in the document, and then accept or reject them.

Notes: 

  • New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

  • This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.

In this topic

Turn Track Changes on and off

When you turn Track Changes on, all changes made to your Word document are tracked.

  1. Open the document in Word. Swipe right until you hear "Not checked, more options, switch," and double-tap the screen.

  2. You hear the currently selected tab, such as: "Tab menu, Home, selected." To change to the Review tab, double-tap the screen and swipe right or left until you hear "Review, tab," and double-tap the screen.

  3. Swipe right repeatedly until you hear "Track Changes, not checked, switch" (if Track Changes is currently off) or "Track Changes, checked, switch" (if Track Changes is currently on), and double-tap the screen to turn on or off.

  4. To close the tab and return to the document, swipe left repeatedly until you hear "Checked, more options, switch," and double-tap the screen.

Navigate to tracked changes

Use the Review tab to navigate the tracked changes in your Word document.

  1. Swipe right or left until you hear "Not checked, more options, switch," and double-tap the screen.

  2. You hear the currently selected tab, such as: "Tab menu, Home, selected." To change to the Review tab, double-tap the screen and swipe right or left until you hear "Review, tab," and double-tap the screen.

  3. To navigate to the changes in the document, swipe right repeatedly until you hear "Next change, button" or "Previous change, button," and double-tap the screen. You hear the changed text.

  4. The focus remains on the Next change or Previous change button. To cycle through the changes, just double-tap the screen.

Accept or reject changes

You can check and accept or reject the changes in a Word document one by one or select to accept or reject all of them at once.

  1. Navigate to the change you want to accept or reject as instructed in Navigate to tracked changes.

  2. Swipe left repeatedly until you hear "Accept, menu" or "Reject, menu," and double-tap the screen.

  3. The Accept or Reject menu opens. To hear the available options, swipe right. When you hear the option you want to select, double-tap the screen.

See also

Use a screen reader to share a document in Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel

Use Word for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to see who’s been making changes to your document and manage tracked changes. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge, JAWS in Chrome, and NVDA in Firefox, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

Notes: 

  • If you use Narrator with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have to turn off scan mode in order to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Microsoft 365 for the web. For more information, refer to Turn off virtual or browse mode in screen readers in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

  • New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

  • To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.

  • When you use Word for the web with a screen reader, switch to the full screen mode. Press F11 to toggle the full screen mode on and off.

  • When you use Word for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Word for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not Word for the web.

  • If the Xbox Game Bar app is running on your device, opening the Review tab in Word for the web with the shortcut Alt+Windows logo key+R can cause unintentional activation of the screen recording feature in the app. To prevent this, close the Xbox Game Bar app.

In this topic

Turn on Track Changes

When you turn on Track Changes, Word marks up and shows any changes that either you or everyone makes to your document.

  1. To turn on Track Changes, do one of the following:

    • To enable tracking changes for everyone, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, G, F.

    • To enable tracking changes for just yourself, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, G, J.

Navigate the tracked changes

  1. To navigate the tracked changes in a document, do one of the following:

    • To navigate to the next tracked change, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, H.

    • To navigate to the previous tracked change, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, J.

Remove tracked changes

The only way you can remove tracked changes permanently in a document is to accept or reject them.

  1. Navigate to the change you wish to accept or reject, as described in Navigate the tracked changes.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • To accept the change, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, A, 2.

    • To reject the change, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, J.

    The focus moves to the next tracked change.

Turn off Track Changes

When you turn Track Changes off, Word stops marking up new changes. All changes that were already tracked, remain marked up in the document until you remove them.

To turn off Tracked Changes, press Alt+Windows logo key+R, G, O.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel

Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.

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