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How to Copy and Paste Text with Comments and Track Changes in Microsoft Word

By Erin Wright 6 Comments

This tutorial shows how to copy and paste text with comments and Track Changes in Word from one file to another.

If you want to copy comments separately from the text or other Track Changes, visit “How to Copy and Paste Comments into a New File in Microsoft Word.”

The images below are from Microsoft Word for Office 365, which is currently the same as Word 2019. The steps are the same for Word 2016 and similar for Word 2013 and Word 2010. However, your interface may look slightly different in older versions of the software.

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than fifty other videos about Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on my YouTube channel.

Important Privacy Alert: When you paste text with comments and Track Changes into someone else’s file, your user name or initials will appear with the copied comments and Track Changes. If you don’t want your user name or initials to appear in the other person’s file, remove your user information before copying the text. (The process for removing user information is permanent, so always make a copy of your file before starting the process.)

Also note that this process copies and pastes comments and Track Changes from all reviewers even if you are only viewing comments and Track Changes from specific reviewers when you copy the text.

How to Copy Text with Comments and Track Changes in Word from One File to Another

1. Open the file that contains the text you want to copy.

2. Select the Review tab in the ribbon.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Reivew Tab | Step 2 in How to Copy and Paste Text with Comments and Track Changes in Word
Figure 1. Review tab

3. Turn off Track Changes in the Tracking group.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Track Changes Turned Off | Step 3 in How to Copy and Paste Text with Comments and Track Changes in Word
Figure 2. Track Changes turned off

Note that Track Changes is turned on when the icon’s background is darker than the rest of the ribbon and turned off when the icon’s background is the same color as the rest of the ribbon.

4. Select the Home tab in the ribbon.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Home Tab | Step 4 in How to Copy Text with Comments and Track Changes in Word
Figure 3. Home tab

5. Select the text you want to copy.

Image of Text with Comment and Track Changes Selected | Step 5 in How to Copy and Paste Text with Comments and Track Changes in Word
Figure 4. Text with comment and Track Changes selected

6. Select Copy in the Clipboard group in the ribbon. (Alternately, you can press Ctrl + C on your keyboard or right-click on the selected text and then select Copy from the pop-up menu.)

Image of the Word 365 / Word 2019 Copy in the Clipboard Group | Step 6 in How to Copy and Paste Text with Comments and Track Changes in Word
Figure 5. Copy in the Clipboard group

7. Open the second file that should receive the copied text.

8. Select the Review tab in the second file (see figure 1).

9. Turn off Track Changes in the ribbon of the second file (see figure 2).

10. Select the Home tab in the ribbon of the second file (see figure 3).

11. Place your cursor where you want to paste the copied text in the second file.

12. Select Paste in the Clipboard group in the ribbon. (Alternately, you can press Ctrl + V on your keyboard or right-click where your cursor is placed and then select Paste from the pop-up menu.)

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Paste in the Clipboard Group | Step 12 in How to Copy and Paste Text with Comments and Track Changes in Word
Figure 6. Paste in the Clipboard group

The text with comments and Track Changes edits should now appear in the second file.

Pro Tip: If the comments and Track Changes edits don’t appear with the copied text, select the menu arrow in the Paste Options pop-up menu and ensure that the first icon in the drop-down menu, Keep Source Formatting, is selected.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Paste Options Pop=Up Menu
Figure 7. Paste options pop-up menu

13. Save the file to save your newly pasted text.

Related Resources

How to Change the Font and Font Size of Comments in Word

How to Change the Color of Track Changes in Microsoft Word

6 Comments Filed Under: Microsoft Word Tagged With: Track Changes, Word 2010, Word 2013, Word 2016, Word 2019, Word 365

Home » How to Copy and Paste Text with Comments and Track Changes in Microsoft Word
Technical Writer and Editor Erin Wright

Meet the Author

Hello! My name is Erin. I am a technical writer and editor who shares step-by-step software tutorials and writing tips for the real world on this blog and YouTube

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Comments

  1. charles says

    February 17, 2020 at 1:10 pm

    Very helpful, thank U!

    Reply
    • Erin Wright says

      February 18, 2020 at 7:45 am

      Thank you for visiting my blog!

      Reply
  2. Jane says

    August 13, 2020 at 10:28 am

    Thank you. So easy when you know how!

    Reply
    • Erin Wright says

      August 15, 2020 at 7:22 am

      Thank you for stopping by!

      Reply
  3. Jackie Malek says

    December 18, 2020 at 1:04 pm

    So very helpful! Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Erin Wright says

      December 18, 2020 at 2:30 pm

      Thank you for stopping by!

      Reply

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