How to Use Different Author Colors in Word Track Changes
Question details
The user wants to display tracked changes made by different reviewers in separate colors to easily distinguish between authors.
- Product
- Word
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Collaborating on a document with multiple reviewers and needing a clear visual distinction of who made which edits.
- Observed behavior
- Word tracks the changes, but requires specific settings to automatically assign unique colors to different authors. It also cannot automatically assign new colors for multiple editing rounds by the same author.
Ensure that the Track Changes feature is enabled in your document and that multiple reviewers have contributed edits, or are about to, so you can clearly see the color differences.
Set Track Changes Options to 'By Author'
Configure Word's advanced tracking settings to automatically assign a distinct color to each reviewer's insertions and deletions.
Navigate to the Review tab on the ribbon. In the Tracking group, click the small dialog box launcher arrow in the bottom right corner.
In the Track Changes Options dialog box, click on the 'Advanced Options' button.
Locate the 'Insertions' and 'Deletions' dropdown menus. Change the color selection for both to 'By author'.
Click 'OK' to save your advanced options, then click 'OK' again to close the main dialog box. Edits will now display in different colors based on the author.
Manage Multiple Editing Rounds by the Same Author
Since Word cannot automatically assign new colors to the same author for different editing rounds, use a workaround to separate the revisions.
Easily Track Changes and Manage Author Colors in WPS Writer
WPS Writer provides intuitive, built-in collaboration tools that allow you to track changes from multiple authors with clear, color-coded markups. It handles document revisions efficiently and seamlessly.
- 1. Open your document: Launch WPS Writer and open the document you wish to review.
- 2. Enable Track Changes: Navigate to the Review tab and click the 'Track Changes' button to turn on the feature.
- 3. Open Track Changes Options: Click the drop-down arrow next to Track Changes and select 'Track Changes Options'.
- 4. Set colors by author: In the dialog box, ensure that the color settings for Insertions and Deletions are set to 'By author', then click OK.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do my Track Changes colors look different when I send the document to someone else?
Word assigns author colors dynamically based on the local computer's settings and the order in which users open or edit the file. The specific color mapping (e.g., John is red, Jane is blue) is not saved within the document itself, which causes the colors to vary across different devices.
Can I manually choose a specific color for a specific reviewer?
No, Microsoft Word does not allow you to assign a specific fixed color to a specific author. You can only set the option to 'By author', which lets the software automatically distribute distinct colors among the reviewers.
How do I change my author name for future tracked changes?
You can change your author name by going to File > Options > General. Scroll down to the 'Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office' section and update the 'User name' field. Note that this will only affect new changes; previous edits will retain the old name.
