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How to Compare Two Word Documents & Accept or Decline Changes

Comparing two Word documents is very helpful when collaborating and reviewing edits. For example, if you sent your document for review and received feedback, you can compare the reviewed version with your original to easily spot changes. The good thing is that you can use the built-in Word options to find differences and then accept or decline the changes either individually or all at once. In this article, let me show you the steps to compare Word documents and how to accept or decline the detected changes.

Comparing Two Word Documents

1. First, press the Start button, search for Word, and click Open.

2. Click on the Blank Document option to get to the main Word UI.

3. Go to the Review tab, click on the Compare dropdown menu, and then click on Compare.

click compare

4. Click the Folder icon under the “Original Document” section.

click the folder icon

5. Select your first or original document and click Open.

select original document

6. Next, click the Folder icon under the “Revised Document” section.

click the folder icon

7. Select the second or revised document and click Open.

select revised document

8. Click OK in the Compare Documents dialog box.

clilck ok to compare two word documents

This action makes Word compare both documents and highlight the differences. It strikes through text that was removed from the original document and underlines or highlights text that was added in the revised version.

word compare results of two documents

Accept or Decline Suggestions in Word

Once you compare both Word documents and find the differences, you can accept or decline the change one at a time or all at once. Here’s how.

Accept or Decline Individual Changes

After comparing the two documents, click on the strikethrough or underlined text to see the Review Suggestions dialog box. You can then choose to accept or reject the change by clicking the “Checkmark” or “X” buttons, respectively. Declining the change keeps the text from the original document and accepting the change keeps the text from the revised document.

accept or decline a change

Accept All Changes at Once

To accept all changes at once, go to the Review tab, click on the Accept dropdown menu, and select the Accept All Changes option. This action will keep the text from the revised document.

accept all changes

Save Changes

Finally, press Ctrl + S to save changes to a new document. Enter a name in the File Name field, select a location from the dropdown menu, and click Save. This will save the Word document with changes.

click save

Wrapping Up — Comparing Documents in Word

As you can see, comparing documents in Word is a simple task thanks to the Compare option. After comparing, you can save the document to a new file with or without the changes of your choice.

If you have any questions, comment below and I will answer.

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