Word; Review; Show Formatting

The option certainly sticks here, if I save the document after having changed the setting in the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box.

However, turning off the format tracking won't affect any format changes that have already been tracked. You will have to manually accept (or reject) these changes.

Toggling off the "Formatting" option does not stick. It doesn't stick in an active document once the file is closed; it doesn't stick in the Normal template; and it doesn't stick in a Startup template.

There are also display options for the markup that is currently present in your documents. You can show so-called balloons with markup. You can also decide how changes should display in the main body of the document. These options are specific to your Office installation and they do not travel with the document.

Balloons with markup

Use the Display for Review drop down to decide what you want shown in balloons in the Markup area on the right hand side of the Word window. You will find the drop down in the Tracking group on the Review tab. The main distinction is between showing markup in the so-called balloons (that is, in the Markup area) and showing the markup inline in the document. There is a third option to show formatting, only, in balloons. (In the screen shot shown below, that option also affects comments but this is because I am displaying comments in the classic way, and not the modern comments.)

If you choose not to display markup balloons, they won't print, either.

Note that comments usually print in balloons regardless of these settings. This applies to the modern comments in Word (no to classic comments).

Inline formatting of markup

Finally, you can use the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box to decide how insertions and deletions should display and print.

You can control what is being tracked in a document. This applies to anyone who opens that document.

When Track Changes is active in Word, insertions and deletions are always tracked, but you can choose if you want the program to track moves and/or formatting.

Do the following to open the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box: On the Review tab, click the dialog launcher in the Tracking group. In the dialog box, click Advanced Options.

In the Advanced Track Changes Options dialog box, you can clear "Track moves" to prevent Word from tracking moves as a particular change. More importantly, you can clear the check mark next to "Track formatting" which means that applying formatting to text and modifying styles won't be tracked.

These choices apply to the current document. However, you can open your template for editing and change the options there. Future documents will track (or not track) moves and formatting, according to the choices you make.