How to turn off Show (track) formatting as a default in Word?

Hello,

Thank you for writing to us here in the Microsoft community.

To turn off Show Formatting as a default in Word, you can follow these steps:

1. Click on the Review tab in the ribbon.
2. Click on the Track Changes drop-down arrow and select Change Tracking Options.
3. In the dialog box that appears, uncheck the box next to "Track Formatting."
4. Click OK to save the changes.

For more information: Track changes in Word - Microsoft Support

This should turn off Show Formatting as a default when you turn on/off Track Changes. However, if you open a file that has Track Changes and Show Formatting on, it will still show the format changes on the right side.

To permanently turn off Show Formatting for all documents, you can modify the Normal.dotm and create a Custom Template to use it.

1. Click on File in the ribbon and select Options.
2. In the Word Options dialog box, select Add-Ins.
3. At the bottom of the dialog box, select "Manage" and choose "Templates" from the drop-down menu.
4. Click on the Go button.
5. In the Templates and Add-ins dialog box, select the Normal.dotm template and click on the Attach button.
6. In the Attach Template dialog box, select "Open as Copy" and click OK.
7. In the new copy of the Normal.dotm template, uncheck the box next to "Track Formatting" in the Track Changes Options dialog box.
8. Save and close the template.

Now, whenever you create a new document, it should use the modified Normal.dotm template with Show Formatting turned off by default.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Regards,

Michael Jr

Microsoft Moderator

There is a difference between hiding markup (which is temporary) and actually turning it off (which is permanent).

To accept all changes and prevent Word from tracking revisions in a document, do the following: On the Review tab, click the arrow on the Accept button (in the Changes group), and then choose Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking.

Does unticking the Track Formatting work for all documents even ones that have already been created and come from other sources? That is what I need to do for a user.

Karen,

If you want to prevent Word from tracking format changes, do the following: Open your template and turn off the "Track formatting" option in the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box. Save and close the template.

For example, if you want to make this modification for new, blank documents, you need to open the Normal template for editing.

When the template is open, you'll see the file name ("Normal.dotm") on Word's title bar. Go to the Review tab. In the Tracking group, click the dialog launcher icon, that is, the little arrow on the bottom right.

In the Track Changes Options dialog box, click Advanced Options. Clear the check mark next to "Track formatting" and confirm with OK.

When you are back in the document, save and close the template.

I do not see this option: In the Attach Template dialog box, select "Open as Copy" and click OK. We are trying to have the formatting option under show mark-up unchecked by default.