# MS Word: turning off Reveiw Changes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543 "2017-10-11T04:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/1 "2017-10-11T04:40:48Z")
I’ve got an irritating issue with MS Word. I’m working on a document and each time I open it, it comes up in Track Changes Mode - Final Showing Mark-Up. I don’t want it to open in mark-up version; I want it to open in Final without mark-up. I’ve tried opening it several times and turning off Track Changes and switching to “Final”, then saving, but nothing has any effect. It keeps re-opening in Track Changes, showing mark-up. Any suggestions how I can solve this issue? Bueller? Bueller? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/2 "2017-10-11T09:35:21Z")
You need to ACCEPT ALL CHANGES. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/3 "2017-10-11T15:18:35Z")
Done that, several times. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/4 "2017-10-11T15:32:48Z")
Does it happen with every document or just this one? If it’s just this one, try selecting the whole document and copying and pasting it into a new document and save it. Then open it to see if it’s still in Track Changes. If it’s every document, I suspect your default template may be set up to have Track Changes on, so you will need to find where your computer stores normal.dotm, open it, turn off Track Changes, enter and delete something, and save the file. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/5 "2017-10-11T15:35:35Z")
[quote=“Northern\_Piper, post:1, topic:798543”] I’ve tried opening it several times and turning off Track Changes and switching to “Final”, [li] then saving, but nothing has any effect.[/li][/QUOTE] Try making a change to the document where I inserted the \* ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/6 "2017-10-11T15:57:59Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Does it happen with every document or just this one? > > If it’s just this one, try selecting the whole document and copying and pasting it into a new document and save it. Then open it to see if it’s still in Track Changes. > > If it’s every document, I suspect your default template may be set up to have Track Changes on, so you will need to find where your computer stores normal.dotm, open it, turn off Track Changes, enter and delete something, and save the file. It just happens with this document, but Last night I tried the “select all” with Teack Changed off, coped and pasted - and the new doc opened with Track Changes on. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/7 "2017-10-11T18:58:14Z")
Check the top menu to the right of Track Changes. It has four settings: All Markup, Simple Markup, No Markup and Original. This setting will be the same for all your documents, not just the one you have open. It might be set on All Markup, so change it to No Markup. btw Simple Markup collapses the markups, but shows vertical lines to the sides of text that has been changed, so you’ll know something was changed. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/8 "2017-10-11T21:51:45Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > You need to ACCEPT ALL CHANGES. Ah-ha! Buried way at the back there was a note! That had to be deleted manually, and now it comes up without any side-bar. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/9 "2017-10-12T13:53:30Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Ah-ha! > > Buried way at the back there was a note! That had to be deleted manually, and now it comes up without any side-bar. Awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/10 "2017-10-12T14:32:47Z")
Thanks for the suggestion. It’s a hundred page document and i just missed that one note. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/11 "2017-10-12T16:53:53Z")
I believe it can be documented that MSWord was created in hell by Satan. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/12 "2017-10-12T18:25:36Z")
[clippy]It looks like you’re trying to roll a boulder up a hill![/clippy] ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/13 "2017-10-13T00:36:34Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I believe it can be documented that MSWord was created in hell by Satan. Concur! I loved me my Word Perfect! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/14 "2023-04-20T14:34:41Z")
I’m having the same problem. I have a document that says Reviewing. I change it to Editing, but it immediately reverts to Reviewing. I tried to copy the entire document, but it won’t Select All. I went to the Review tab, and Changes is greyed out. I clicked Protect and tried to Stop Protection, but it says I need a password. I understand the need to not allow changes to the text because the document is a contract. There are areas where you can enter text; e.g., a company name, a date, names, address, etc. If I type in them, the text is red and there are red lines preceding the inputted text. I don’t mind the protections, but I don’t want the red lines and text in the fillable text boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-turning-off-reveiw-changes/798543/15 "2023-04-20T15:58:49Z")
I’ve contacted the company who wrote the Agreement. My contact is sending a request to change the font colour and to get rid of the leading line. Hopefully, this will be acceptable.