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Word change bar along left, but no insertions/deletions/comments shown

Anonymous
2023-10-03T16:10:19+00:00

I accepted all changes in two documents and deleted all comments. I then used Word to compare them. Along the left a change bar indicating the presence of changes. However, no changes are actually shown.

I am using Word 2019. Tracked Changes are set up to show insertions/deletions inline and formatting as balloons.

Why is there a change bar along the left when no changes are visible?

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-10-03T16:59:44+00:00

    Hi, Stefan,

    I appreciate your illuminating the deeper options in Tracked Changes, but I think the answer is simpler than that. My Advanced Options show that underlining is used for insertions, but I found that inserted spaces are not underlined, so you can only recognize inserted spaced by colour. As you can imagine, this is not very reliable. If I look closely at the image in my originally posted question, I can see a space at the end of the paragraph. Even though it's hard to tell, it *is* a different colour.

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  2. Stefan Blom 341.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-10-04T22:22:40+00:00

    Displaying nonprinting marks should help a little with that task. Based on your screen shots, it seems that you have already done so.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-04T19:28:17+00:00

    Thanks. I was just trying to see what the changes were before accepting.

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  4. Stefan Blom 341.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-10-03T16:17:04+00:00

    Which options are selected for displaying insertions and deletions, in the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box?

    To display the dialog box, click the dialog launcher icon Image in the Tracking group on the Review tab and then click Advanced Options.

    Image

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  5. Stefan Blom 341.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-10-03T19:23:12+00:00

    Thanks for the follow-up. Indeed, an individual space character will be tracked if you inadvertently add or delete one. At the same time, these tracked changes are difficult to spot.

    Note that you can always select a whole text line that includes a tracked space and then, on the Review tab, click Accept > Accept This Change.

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