How to Compare Two Versions of a Word Document

Two copies of the same document came back with different file names and no note about what changed. Reading them side by side catches the paragraph that moved and misses the word that did not. Compare builds a third document that marks every difference between the two files as a tracked change.

Save both versions as separate files

Compare reads saved files, not open windows. Close and save any document with unsaved edits, and give the two files names that tell them apart, such as a draft and a returned copy.

Open the Compare dialog

Click Review, Compare, Compare. Pick the earlier file under Original document and the edited file under Revised document using the folder icons. Type a name in Label changes with so the revisions are attributed to the right copy.

Set what gets compared

Click More to expand the options. Clear anything that would add noise, such as Formatting or White space, when only wording matters. Set Show changes at to Word level for readable edits or Character level for fine detail, leave Show changes in set to New document, then click OK.

Read the compared document

Word opens a new document showing insertions, deletions, and moves as tracked changes, with the original and revised files in panes beside it. Turn on Review, Reviewing Pane to read the changes as a list instead of hunting through the margin.

Accept or reject and save under a new name

Work through the edits with Review, Accept and Reject, using Next to move between them. The compared document is untitled until it is saved, so save it under a new name rather than over either source file.

Combine revisions from two reviewers

When two people edited separate copies, use Review, Compare, Combine instead. Combine merges both sets of revisions into one document with each reviewer's changes labeled, which Compare cannot do.

For two versions of the same cloud file, use version history. If the document lives on OneDrive or SharePoint and was edited in place, click File, Info, Version History, then open an earlier version to view or restore it. Compare is unavailable in Word for the web, so a browser-only file has to be opened in the desktop app first.

Sources. Compare document differences using the legal blackline option, Combine document revisions, View previous versions of Office files.