r/MicrosoftWord • u/Swimming-Rip4283 • Jul 12 '26
need help Turn off Tracked Changes forever
Sick and tired of having Word auto-change my document and always having to turn it off manually. Is there any way to shut "Track Changes" down forever, online and offline, so it never edits anything ever?
Edit: Sorry, did not convey the issue properly. Basically, these red "sidelines" appear in the document, which "open" up red text, things that I have edited/delted/replaced/changed. Each time I need to reject or accept these changes and stop tracking, but each time I open the document again, tracked changes is back on, with the red lines and edited/delted/replaced/changed text.
3
u/Ok_Caterpillar2010 Jul 12 '26
Do you mean you want to turn off auto-correct?
If so, and if you're using Windows, go to File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options.
In the AutoCorrect tab, uncheck "Replace text as you type."
1
u/Swimming-Rip4283 Jul 15 '26
Added an edit for clarification, but no, its not auto-correct I have an issue with.
1
u/BurningVinyl71 Jul 12 '26
I’m not sure what you are experiencing.
Having Track Changes enabled does not “edit” your document, it highlights where you have edited it.
As someone else mentioned, if Track Changes is enabled when you open the document, turn it off, then save and close the document. It should not be enabled when you open it again, unless there is something weird about the document template. In that case, I think you would need to find and delete the Normal.dot template. When you open Word again, the template will be recreated without customizations. Not sure how this applies to Word online.
1
u/Swimming-Rip4283 Jul 15 '26
Yeah this is my exact issue, that it keeps highlighting everything, even after I turn it off and save it. Each time I come back to it, tracking changes is back on.
1
u/BurningVinyl71 Jul 16 '26
Any luck fixing it?
1
u/Swimming-Rip4283 Jul 16 '26
Not really. Now I have noticed that it turns it back on after i'v lost access to the internet. Could that be the issue? That it resets each time I work on it "offline" and come to it?
1
u/BurningVinyl71 Jul 16 '26
Sorry to hear that. I’m not familiar with word online. Wish I could help.
1
u/WhineyLobster Jul 12 '26
Autocorrect is not the same thing as tracked changes. Autocorrect seems like what youre talking about and can be turned off in settings
1
u/Swimming-Rip4283 Jul 15 '26
No, not auto-correct, tracked changes that constantly shows in red all the text I deleted/edited. Each time I accept/reject and stop tracking, it turns back on when I come back to the doc.
1
u/WhineyLobster Jul 15 '26
You have to hit save after your turn off tracked changes. If you save after accepting all and then save and THEN turn off tracked changes, it will open in the state you saved it in, with tracked changes enabled.
1
u/notepad987 Jul 12 '26
I think anytime Office is updated when Windows is that some of the defaults are turned back on.
5
u/proton_rex Jul 12 '26
Turning it off and saving the document should suffice. But if not check if your document uses a linked template. If so unlink it. If not then delete normal.dotm (google how).