Learn how to compare documents in Word to generate accurate redlines, catch untracked edits from external reviewers, and streamline your legal review process using Microsoft Word’s built-in comparison tool.
Highlights: Quick Guide to Comparing Documents
- Built-in Comparison Tool: Quickly compare two documents in Word for differences without needing expensive third-party legal software.
- Redline with Precision: Automatically generate a legal backline view to catch all untracked changes, text edits, and formatting adjustments.
- Customize Your View: Easily adjust character- vs. word-level tracking and manage the document panes to keep your screen uncluttered.
- Accept or Reject in Bulk: Manage changes fast using Word’s Review tab to finalize contracts and legal drafts in seconds.
Whether you’re sending a contract to a client, opposing counsel, or co-counsel for feedback, you need to know exactly what edits were made. Even if you locked Track Changes before sending the file, reviewers can easily bypass the lock and make untracked edits. To be completely certain, you need to know how to compare documents in Word using the built-in comparison tool to generate a clean, reliable legal redline.
How to Compare Two Word Documents (Step-by-Step)
To get started, open Microsoft Word and head to the Review tab in the top ribbon. Click the Compare button to launch the built-in word document comparison tool.
In the dialog box, click the folder icon under Original document to upload your base file. Next, click the folder icon under Revised document to select the updated version you want to check for differences.
Once both files are selected, Word is ready to analyze and map every single edit between the two versions.
Before clicking OK, don’t stop there—click the More >> button at the bottom of the window to reveal advanced comparison settings that give you full control over your redline.
Managing Formatting Changes in Your Redline
First, determine whether you need to track formatting changes. If formatting isn’t critical to your review, uncheck the Formatting box under the Comparison settings menu. Otherwise, if an external reviewer changes the font or spacing across the entire draft, you’ll end up with an overwhelming stream of “Formatted: Font: Name” sidebar alerts when trying to redline a document in Word.
Showing Changes at Character or Word Level
Next, choose whether you want Word to highlight edits at the character level or word level. For example, if an author changed the word “capital” to “capitol” character-level tracking shows only the altered letters (a vs. o), whereas word-level tracking redlines the entire word.
Saving Your Redlined Document
Finally, choose to display the markup in a New document.
Pro Tip: Always save this newly generated redline as a separate file rather than overwriting your base draft. Keeping an independent comparison file preserves your original versions intact and gives you a permanent record to share with colleagues or clients.
Managing the View When Comparing Two Documents in Word
If you haven’t adjusted your layout, Word’s default comparison layout can feel overwhelming. Balancing four separate windows—the Revisions pane, the combined redline document, the original draft, and the revised copy—creates unnecessary clutter, especially when comparing two documents in Word for differences.
To streamline your screen and focus solely on the edits, click the X in the top right corner of the Revisions pane to close it. Next, click the X on the original document window in the top right. (Note: It feels slightly counterintuitive, but closing the original pane automatically collapses both the original and revised source documents, leaving only your clean redline view visible.)
How to Accept and Reject Changes in Word
Saving a separate copy of your final markup is essential, especially when comparing two fast-moving contract drafts. Once your redline document is generated, the next step is deciding which edits to accept or decline.
When you compare documents in Word, all resulting redlines are automatically converted into standard tracked changes. You can review each modification individually or accept/reject all changes at once—a huge time-saver when navigating lengthy legal agreements.
Use the Changes group on the Review ribbon to jump between individual edits and finalize your text. To accept or reject all modifications in one step, click the lower half of the Accept or Reject button and select Accept All Changes or Reject All Changes.
More Microsoft 365 Resources for Legal Professionals
For more step-by-step guidance, explore our Legal Tech Resource Hub or check out Affinity Consulting Group’s legal training manuals, including “Microsoft Word for Legal Professionals,” “Excel for Legal Professionals,” “Outlook for Legal Professionals” and “PowerPoint for Legal Professionals.” Each guide is tailored specifically to law practice workflows, offering practical advice from legal tech experts to help you master your daily software tools.
How to Compare Documents in Word FAQ
About Affinity Consulting Group
Affinity Consulting Group inspires, enables and empowers legal teams of all sizes to work smarter, from anywhere. The company’s holistic approach incorporates people, process and technology. Affinity’s passionate, well-connected industry experts work hand in hand with you to help you better understand and optimize your business — from software to growth strategy, and everything in between.
