Track Changes function thinks I'm two people

Anonymous
2014-10-26T16:00:11+00:00

I am a copyeditor, which means I use the track changes function all the time. Since I switched to Word 2013 I've had a problem with some documents whereby after I close the document and open it again, the track changes function treats me as a new user. The problem with this is that I often go over any given bit of text several times, potentially making new changes each time, and when the system treats me as a new user, any earlier additions that I later delete show up in the margin as deleted text (rather than simply disappearing).  This is confusing for my clients, who only want to see my final changes and not the history of my train of thought. Of course, I can resolve the problem by rejecting the change instead of deleting the added text, but (a) I don't always remember to do that, and (b) this is still awkward, especially where I rewrite a given bit of text several times, making new additions and deletions each time. Can anyone advise as to how I can alert the system that when I return to a document, it should treat previous tracked changes as still active? I know there must be a way to do this because the problem only arises with some documents. I suppose there is something about the settings in the original document as it is sent to me that affects this, but for the life of me I can't figure out what that is. Thanks to anyone who can help!

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  1. Stefan Blom 352.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-10-26T22:35:19+00:00

    No restart should be necessary. Do note that selecting the option won't fix existing edits or comments, but it should work for future comments that you create (in any document).

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-10-26T20:37:45+00:00

    It doesn't actually appear to be working. Unless I need to restart my computer first?

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  3. Stefan Blom 352.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-10-26T20:06:34+00:00

    The option you have found should ensure that Word uses the user name in the Options dialog box (as opposed to looking at the Office account).

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-10-26T19:24:34+00:00

    To Rohn007: Yes, I am using the same USERID. There's no reason why it would change. But I see that under the user names there's a box for 'Always use these values regardless of sign in to Office'. This was unticked, and I've now ticked it. I'll see whether that makes a difference.

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-10-26T17:09:45+00:00

    That should not be happening.

    Please confirm that you are using the same USERID to access the file.  The track changes mechanism is very simple (stupid). 

    Go into File menu > Options command > General option.  Look at the value in "User Name".  There should be a name entered there and it should not be changing between sessions.  This is the name that is associated with the changes being tracked.  Do you notice any difference in the names associated with the tracked changes?

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