Microsoft Word:  Compare and Merge Documents

If multiple reviewers return changes and comments in separate copies of the original document, you can merge all their changes into a single document, and then you can review each change from the single document. You can continue to work on a document after you send it for review; Word will show both what you added and what the reviewer changed.

1. Open the edited copy of the document.
2. Go to the Tools menu and select Compare and Merge Documents.
3. Select the original document, click the arrow next to Merge, and then do one of the following:
   • To display the results of the comparison in the original document, click Merge.
   • To display the results in the currently open document, click Merge into current document.
   • To display the results in a new document, click Merge into new document.

If you’ve used the Versions command to save multiple versions of the document in one file, and you want to compare the current version with an earlier one, you must first save the earlier version as a separate file under a different name.

If you have any questions regarding this tip or need help implementing it in your own projects, contact Ranelle Maltas, Application Support Associate, at 472-0585 or e-mail at rmaltas2@unl.edu.