I am a big fan of track changes in Word. If I'm reviewing something Zeyad wrote up, I like that I can press one button, edit his document, and not worry about having to list all of the changes I made in an email…track changes does that for me.

But, this only works if I track changes. One of the most frustrating things I have ever experienced is sending a document out for review, and getting revised copies back without "changes tracked." Worst case: I have to comb through the document word by word trying to determine what was changed. That is painful. Better case: the reviewer itemized their changes in an email like this:

1. I changed 'must' to 'should' in the second sentence in the second paragraph
2. The second column in the table is not necessary so I deleted it
3. …

This is certainly easier than a word by word manual compare of the documents, but it takes a lot of time for me and the reviewer, and a whole lot of window switching (i.e. read the first change in the email—switch windows—check the reviewed document to see the change in context—switch windows—look back at my original to see how compares…and on and on).

Document Compare in Word 2007

Fortunately, I can avoid this with the compare feature in Word 2007. If I want to compare two documents with Word 2007, I point Word at an original and revised document, and Word gives me back (in a single window):

1. My original document
2. The revised document
3. A compared version of the document: what the revised document would have looked like if track changes were turned on

When I scroll in the any of the documents, the other two instances scroll in sync. I don't scroll to page three of the original, and then need to scroll to page three of the revised and compared versions. I can just review the changes in context…nothing else. You can check-out a quick demo of this here.

How to Compare

Here's how this comparison is done.

Step 1

On the Review tab of the ribbon, click the 'Compare' button:

Step 2

You'll see this dialogue where you give Word 2007 the original and revised documents.

If you want more granular control on what is tracked and how, click 'More':

When you click "OK", you'll see the nifty three pane compare layout. That's it. Nice.

Other Assorted Niceties

• This used primarily in situations where the person doing the compare is not be the person who revised the document. For example, an attorney makes changes to a document and then a paralegal runs the compare.
• All of the "Comparison settings" you choose are "sticky": Word 2007 remembers which options you selected, so you don't need to set them over and over each time you run a compare.
• SharePoint integration: If the documents are SharePoint versions, then additional items will appear in the Compare drop-down allowing you to pick the most recent major version, minor version, or pick a version.
• You can granularly compare tables. In the example below, I added Column One & changed the values of the cells in Column Two in the revised version of the document. Each of these changes is clear in the compared document.

- Jonathan