After track changes, compare sees no differences

Question

When I compare two documents after doing track changes, Word says they see no differences in the two documents, and there definitely are lots of differences. I had both documents opened and designated in the two compare options. What is the problem? Thank you.

Answer 1

What is the nature of the differences between the documents? Different formatting? Different content? Both?

In particular, note that if differences were created as Tracked Changes, you may have to accept the changes in one version and reject them in the other version of the document, before you do the comparison.

Also, what is the result you are looking for? Perhaps a Combine is a better choice than a Compare? For more, have a look at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/compare-document-differences-using-the-legal-blackline-option-dbfc7351-4022-43a2-a0c4-54d1898702a0.

Answer 2

I just did as you suggested, it still says “word found no differences between the two documents.”

Answer 3

Make copies of each document and accept the changes. Then can you do the comparison?