How to Redline in Word Using Track Changes or Manual Formatting

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Easily mark up a document while proofreading or editing
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"Redlining" is a form of editing in which red ink is used to indicate the removal or addition of text in Microsoft Word. You can redline a Word document using Word's built-in "Track Changes" feature, or manually redline the document with font color changes and strikethroughs. "Track Changes" is perfect for large-scale editing and feedback, while manual redlining is better suited to smaller documents.

Quick Steps

  1. Click the Review tab and select Track Changes .
  2. Choose All Markup to display added text in red.
  3. Click Show Markup to choose which changes are redlined.
  4. Insert or delete text as needed.
  5. Use the Accept and Reject buttons to implement or deny edits.
Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Using Track Changes

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  1. This tab contains tools to help with spell checking and editing, including the "Track Changes" feature. [1]
  2. A menu will expand.
    • On a Mac, click the menu next to the Track Changes icon, which is a sheet of paper with a pencil.
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  3. If you want everyone to be able to redline the document, select For Everyone . If you only want your own edits to be suggested in red, you can choose Just Mine instead.
  4. If this option is already selected, you'll see "All Markup" in the toolbar. If you see "Simple Markup," "No Markup," or "Original" here, click the menu and choose All Markup to ensure red lines appear on the text you're modifying. If you'd rather only see the changes in the margins, you can select Simple Markup . There are a few other options as well:
    • No Markup: Does not show redlines, and instead displays the document the way it would look if the changes are accepted.
    • Original: Does not show redlines or changes in the document. Instead, you'll only see the original document, with tracked changes only appearing in the margins.
  5. Click the Show Markup menu, then toggle different edit types on or off as needed:
    • Insertions and Deletions will redline any changes you make to grammar, spelling, and overall content.
    • Formatting also displays your formatting changes, such as bolding or centering text, in balloons.
  6. This is where you can choose to display redlining.
  7. Choosing this option ensures that the text you remove is crossed out with a red horizontal line, and new text is underlined in red.
    • Alternatively, you can use Show Revisions in Balloons option to see suggested changes in balloons next to the document rather than within it, or Show Only Formatting in Balloons to redline insertions and deletions but display formatting changes in balloons only.
  8. Now that you've enabled Track Changes, you can edit the document as needed. Whenever you delete or add a character, Word will place a red line on or under the text where the edit was made and describe the change in the corresponding balloon.
  9. Once you've made your changes, you can click through each redline and choose whether to implement the suggestions. If you want to keep a change, click Accept , and the suggested changes will be implemented, and the red ink will be removed. To keep the original text, click Reject instead.
    • To stop working in Track Changes mode, just click Track Changes in the toolbar to turn it off. Alternatively, click the menu at the top-right that says Reviewing , and select Editing instead.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Redlining Manually

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  1. If you don't want to deal with accepting and rejecting changes, you can redline manually by adding red lines manually. This tab contains tools such as text bolding, italicizing, and underlining.
  2. While text is highlighted, any tool you use will affect it. For example, selecting a font color will apply to all highlighted text.
    • It's best to leave at least one space after the selected text.
  3. Click the "A" in the toolbar with a colored line beneath it to open the color panel, then click red. This will turn the selected text red.
  4. This is the "ab" with a line through it in the toolbar. The selected text should now be crossed out with a red horizontal line, demonstrating recommended deletion of the highlighted content. [2]
    • Make sure there is a space between the end of your strikethrough and the next word. Otherwise, any following text you type will automatically have a line through it.
  5. If you're retyping the strikethrough text, you'll want to do it in a different color than the default text.
  6. Select any color other than red to indicate that these are your suggested changes, then click the strikethrough icon again to disable it. The original highlighted area will remain redlined, but your new text will be in your chosen color.
  7. The line through the former text combined with your new, red-ink text will clearly show which text was "deleted" and the text replacing it.
    • Make sure any additions are in your editing color. You need to show which text you've added to the document clearly. For example, use your editing color if you add a semicolon to a run-on sentence.
    • Repeat these steps to redline your entire Word document. You can then delete the redlined text once the changes are implemented.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    What does a wiggly green underline mean?
    Community Answer
    The green line is usually a grammatical error, or at least what Word considers a grammatical error.
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    Not Helpful 1 Helpful 1
  • Question
    How do you change the underlined words from red to black?
    Community Answer
    Right-click on the word and options will show. Click the correct one, and the word will be spelled correctly.
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    Not Helpful 4 Helpful 3
  • Question
    How do I get rid of red lining in a document to make it a clean copy?
    Community Answer
    The following is from Microsoft's OfficeSupport. "To delete the tracked changes permanently, accept or reject them. Word accepts the change or removes it and then moves to the next change. To accept all the changes at the same time, click the arrow by Accept and click Accept All Changes. To remove comments from your document, delete them."
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      References

      1. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/track-changes-in-word-197ba630-0f5f-4a8e-9a77-3712475e806a
      2. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/apply-or-remove-strikethrough-text-formatting-608ce6b6-13e4-42bc-834f-544375ab8295

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Click the Review tab.
      2. Click Track Changes .
      3. Click Simple Markup .
      4. Click All Markup .
      5. Click Show Markup .
      6. Select options to show.
      7. Highlight text and select New Comment .
      8. Edit the document and click Accept .

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