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Fix Word for Mac Review Pane Not Showing Change Dates
Question details
The user is unable to see the dates and times for tracked changes in the Review pane on Microsoft Word for Mac.
- Product
- Microsoft Word
- Device & OS
- Mac
- Scenario
- Reviewing document edits and attempting to verify exactly when a specific tracked change was made by an author.
- Observed behavior
- The Review pane in Word for Mac does not display the timestamp or date for tracked changes as clearly as the Windows version.
Ensure that 'Track Changes' is enabled and that your document view is set to 'All Markup' so that inline edits and balloons are fully visible.
Use the Document Hover Workaround to View Change Dates
Since the Review pane on Mac lacks the date display found in Windows, you can inspect timestamps by hovering over the actual changes inside the document.
This is currently a known UI limitation in Microsoft Word for Mac. The application still records the exact date and time of every edit, but it does not display them side-by-side in the Review pane. You must use your cursor to reveal the hidden timestamp information.
Navigate to the 'Review' tab on the top ribbon and click 'Reviewing Pane' to see the list of all edits and comments in your document.
Scroll through the Review pane to find the edit you want to check. Double-click the change in the pane to instantly jump your cursor to that specific location in the main document.
Move your mouse pointer directly over the tracked change text in the document and wait for a second. A small tooltip box will appear displaying the author's name, along with the exact date and time the change was made.
Need a Better Document Review Experience on Mac? Try WPS Office
If UI limitations in Microsoft Word for Mac are complicating your editing workflow, consider switching to WPS Office. It provides a lightweight, highly compatible, and feature-rich word processor for macOS, allowing you to easily track changes and manage document reviews without expensive subscription fees.
- 1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website to download and install the free macOS version of WPS Office.
- 2. Open Your Document: Launch WPS Writer and open your existing Word document to view all previously tracked changes seamlessly.
- 3. Review Edits: Navigate to the 'Review' tab to comfortably inspect, accept, or reject tracked changes with full visibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Word for Windows show change dates in the Review pane but Mac does not?
Microsoft develops Word for Windows and Word for Mac as distinct applications. Because of this separate development cycle, the Mac version sometimes lacks specific interface details present in the Windows version, such as displaying the full timestamp directly inside the Review pane.
Is there a hidden setting to force dates to appear in the Mac Review pane?
No, there is currently no built-in preference or display setting in Word for Mac to force the dates to show up within the Review pane itself. The hover-tooltip method is the only built-in way to view this data.
Can I print a document and include the exact dates of the tracked changes?
By default, Word prints the markup (like deleted text and insertions) but does not print the hover-tooltips containing the exact edit dates and times. To extract this information for printing, you would typically need a custom macro or a specialized third-party add-in.
Does saving the file as a PDF preserve the track changes timestamps?
When you save a document showing markup as a PDF, the tracked changes are visible as styled text and margin lines. However, the interactive hover tooltips that contain the date and time metadata are not preserved in the standard PDF format.
