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How to Compare Two Versions of a Document in Word 2016

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Updated:  
2018-12-05 20:24:07
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Word 2010 For Dummies
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Word 2016's revision-tracking tools make reviews of your documents possible. You have the original copy of your document — the stuff you wrote. You also have the copy that Brianne, from the legal department, has worked over. Your job is to compare them to see exactly what's been changed from the original. Here's what to do:

  1. Click the Review tab.

  2. In the Compare group, choose Compare→Compare.

    The Compare Documents dialog box shows up.

  3. Choose the original document from the Original Document drop-down list.

    The list shows recently opened or saved documents. Choose one, or use the Browse item to summon the Open dialog box and hunt down the document.

  4. Choose the edited document from the Revised Document drop-down list.

    Choose the document from the list, or use the Browse item to locate the changed, altered, or mangled document.

  5. Click OK.

Word compares the two documents. The changes are displayed in a quadruple-split window, as shown here. This presentation is actually a third document titled Compare Result.

The shameful changes show up here.
The shameful changes show up here.

Look it over! Peruse the changes made to your pristine prose by the barbarian interlopers: Scrolling is synchronized between all three documents: original, edited, and compared. Click a change in the Reviewing pane (shown on the left) to quickly see which part of your document was folded, spindled, or mutilated.

  • Changed text is highlighted in two ways: Added text is underlined. Removed text is shown in strikethrough style.

  • You can confirm or reject the changes in the Compare Result document just as you would when tracking changes manually.

About This Article

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About the book author:

Dan Gookin has been writing about technology for 20 years. He has contributed articles to numerous high-tech magazines and written more than 90 books about personal computing technology, many of them accurate.
He combines his love of writing with his interest in technology to create books that are informative and entertaining, but not boring. Having sold more than 14 million titles translated into more than 30 languages, Dan can attest that his method of crafting computer tomes does seem to work.
Perhaps Dan’s most famous title is the original DOS For Dummies, published in 1991. It became the world’s fastest-selling computer book, at one time moving more copies per week than the New York Times number-one best seller (although, because it’s a reference book, it could not be listed on the NYT best seller list). That book spawned the entire line of For Dummies books, which remains a publishing phenomenon to this day.
Dan’s most recent titles include PCs For Dummies, 9th Edition; Buying a Computer For Dummies, 2005 Edition; Troubleshooting Your PC For Dummies; Dan Gookin’s Naked Windows XP; and Dan Gookin’s Naked Office. He publishes a free weekly computer newsletter, “Weekly Wambooli Salad,” and also maintains the vast and helpful Web site www.wambooli.com.