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Why can't I see the author of track change when I hover over deleted/added text?

Anonymous
2023-03-17T13:46:15+00:00

Since a recent update in Word, the look of Track Changes has changed and I can no longer see who has made tracked changes. It is not the same as the problem I have had before when all changes appear under "Author". Comments are properly showing with the author's name. Tracked changes show in a different colour for each person but there is no way to see the name of the person who has made those changes. When I hover over added or deleted text, no author name appears. How do I fix this?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | Windows

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Anonymous
2023-04-29T01:19:25+00:00

I've had the same problem and its been huge setback because I use this feature daily for redlining and tracking changes in legal documents; sometimes with other people collaborating. Jessica S_14, I feel your pain. The notes below highlight the solution that worked for me. See also the link to the help article below that explains some of the more detailed steps for how to roll Word and Office 365 back to a prior version. I'm running Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016, which is the version having the problem. [FWIW, a different set of computers is running the latest Microsoft 365, and the hover feature also disappeared from those computers as well (and we successfully rolled them back to the 2022 December 13 Version 2211 (Build 15831.20208, using the same procedure below.)] https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/revert-to-a-previous-version-of-office-365/79138c95-80b4-48fb-bef7-08619af3593e

A Microsoft Support Ambassador (Afeez) has been helping me for the past few weeks and he's been great. Afeez provided the link to the article above.

First we tried reverting back to older versions of Microsoft/Office 365 (Current Channel).

This version below didn't restore the 'authors' feature when you hover over a redline change.

2023 February 14 Version 2301 (Build 16026.20200)

Next I tried this version, but it still didn't restore the hover feature.

2023 January 10 Version 2212 (Build 15928.20216)

As an aside, this is the "<Add>" line that was added (replaced an existing Add line of xml code) to the xml file that the setup.exe program needs to access. (see link to article).

<Add OfficeClientEdition="32" Channel="Current" Version="16.0.15928.20216">

I noticed that Windows 10 pushed out a new set up updates, so I installed the latest Windows 10 update

April 25, 2023—KB5025297 (OS Build 19045.2913) Preview

Windows 10, version 22H2, all editions

After I restarted and the Windows 10 updates finished, I opened Word up to check for changes. To my surprise, the hover feature came back! So at least on my computer, the 2023 January 10 Version 2212 (Build 15928.20216) Office 365 Current Channel software roll back definitely brought back the old hover feature in Word. Its not the new "Cards" feature that Microsoft 365 is pushing in the latest versions, its the old hover over feature we've all known and loved as part of Track Changes for so many years. Looks just like the example shown below in Stefan Blom's post.

I'm not able to tell if the Windows 10 update released April 25, 2023 is what fixed this or not. But the combination of this Windows 10 update, and rolling Word and Office 365 back to 2023 January 10 Version 2212 (Build 15928.20216) definitely brought back the old hover feature.

Remember to go into the Account setting in Word and disable future updates so the fix doesn't get overwritten by a future update. Microsoft definitely needs to get this feature fixed and preserve the classic hover over feature. Knowing who made edits and what date/time the edits were made is an essential feature.

I hope others are able to benefit from this.

Cheers!

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  1. Jay Freedman 207.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-03-17T15:54:33+00:00

    Femi, none of that is going to help with the absence of the hover popups. It's something Microsoft stuck into an update.

    Jessica, this has been discussed in multiple posts over the last month or so. Examples:

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/hover-over-tracked-change-does-not-show-up/ff80eb61-2589-4e57-824c-b9ab93493c28 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/why-arent-commentors-names-and-datetime-of-change/22192e2a-eaaf-4f5e-99ac-61fe6bd8655c

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-04-21T08:59:52+00:00

    Yes this is happening to me too. It is infuriating to say the least, as I rely on drafting to show me when people have made changes, not just what.

    I am using 360 and am unhappy using this system when its basic functionality has been effectively hijacked.

    Can Microsoft deal with this matter urgently please. Thanks.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-04-30T19:28:52+00:00

    Last night we updated a newer desktop computer by:

    1. Running latest Windows 10 Pro update(s) that were available
    2. Running the Microsoft 365 updates (subscription version; not perpetual version like 2021) to the latest April 25, 2023 Version 2304 (Build 16327.20214) 
      https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-microsoft365-apps-by-date
    3. Rebooting computer

    Contrary to Stefan's experience, the Word hover feature did not return. From my experience Version 2304 no longer supports the legacy hover feature that shows author and date/time information for tracked changes. We had success getting the hover feature to return by reverting back to either the Jan 10, 2023 Version 2212 (computers running Word 2016), or the Dec 13, 2022 Version 2211 (computers running subscription version of Microsoft 365).

    The Microsoft Ambassador helping us shared that Word is moving toward this new "cards" feature which isn't the same. The intention of the cards feature is to allow you to see details about tracked changes made by other people (but not your own changes) when multiple people make changes within the same document. However, since the cards feature only allows you to see changes made by other people, there's no way for you to see any details about your own changes. In my view the new cards feature has very limited value due to its reduced functionality.

    Microsoft should really make it a priority to bring back the hover feature that it recently eliminated.

    Greg

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-03-17T15:20:03+00:00

    Hi Jessica S,

    I'm Femi and I'd be happy to help you with your question.

    It is possible that the setting for showing author information has been turned off. To turn it back on, kindly follow these steps: Open the Word document that contains the tracked changes. Open the word document and click on the Review tab in the ribbon. In the Tracking group, click on the drop-down arrow next to "Show Markup." Select "Reviewers" from the list of options. Make sure that the "Show all revisions inline" option is selected. If the "Show markup in balloons" option is selected, click on the drop-down arrow next to it and select "Show revisions in balloons" instead. Click on the drop-down arrow next to "Reviewers" and make sure that "Always" or "When editing" is selected.

    Best Regards,

    Femi

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