8/21/2017 Word: Jump to next Track Change with keyboard | CyberText Newsletter

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Word: Jump to next Track Change with keyboard June 2, 2010

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5 Votes

If you use Words Track Changes, youre probably familiar with the Review tab (Word 2007) or the
Reviewing toolbar (Word 2003), and the bu ons to skip to the next change to review it.

Word 2007: Changes group on the Review tab, showing Next and Previous bu ons

Word 2003: Next (and Previous) bu ons on the Reviewing toolbar

The problem is, sometimes you need to make other edits in between accepting or rejecting changes,
or need to add further comments. Moving your mouse back up to that Next bu on becomes tedious
very quickly.

What you need is a keyboard shortcut for skipping to the next change. There isnt one set by default
in Word, so you need to create your own.

Heres how

Word 2007
1. Click the small drop-down arrow at the very right of your Quick Access Toolbar (QAT).

2. Select More Commands.

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2. Select More Commands.

3. Click the Customize bu on.

4. On the Customize Keyboard window, select the Review Tab from the Categories list (1 in the
screen shot below), then select NextChangeOrComment from the Commands list (2).

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5. Put your cursor in the Press new shortcut key eld, then press the key combination you want to
use for this action (3). (In the example above, I pressed Alt and c you can press whatever key
combination you think you will remember easily. Just make sure that its not currently assigned to
another action by checking the Currently assigned to information below the Current keys box).
6. Click Assign (4), then click Close (5).

Youre now ready to use this keyboard shortcut for skipping to the next Track Change in your
document.

Word 2003
1. Go to Tools > Customize on the menu.
2. Select the Commands tab.
3. Click the Keyboard bu on (bo om of the dialog box).
4. Select All Commands from the Categories list (1 in the screen shot below).

5. Select NextChangeOrComment from the Commands list (2).

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5. Select NextChangeOrComment from the Commands list (2).

6. Put your cursor in the Press new shortcut key eld, then press the key combination you want to
use for this action (3). (In the example above, I pressed Alt and c you can press whatever key
combination you think you will remember easily. Just make sure that its not currently assigned to
another action by checking the Currently assigned to information below the Current keys box).
7. Click Assign (4), then click Close (5).

Youre now ready to use this keyboard shortcut for skipping to the next Track Change in your
document.

Posted in Word | Tagged keyboard shortcuts, track changes |

10 comments

Useful. I used Alt-Shift-O / Alt-Shift-P for previous / next change.

Will have a look at the other shortcuts later.

by Danny Hamilton March 8, 2011 at 6:06 pm

[] h ps://cybertext.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/word-jump-to-next-track-change-with-keyboard/
[]

by Copyediting from a copyeditors perspective CyberText Newsle er May 17, 2011 at 5:32 am
Thanks, this was a really clear and useful reminder.

by Robert Amos June 26, 2011 at 5:32 pm

Thanks much for posting this.

by Milan Davidovi April 25, 2012 at 10:31 pm

Very useful. Thanks.

by Dinesh April 26, 2013 at 2:07 am

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by Dinesh April 26, 2013 at 2:07 am

This is a shining example of how to do tutorials properly. Took only a quick moment to go
through the instructions and implement; didnt even have to read the texts. Thanks a lot for this!

by Lauri May 29, 2013 at 3:10 pm

Thanks Lauri! Looks like I chose the right career as a technical writer ;-)

by Rhonda May 29, 2013 at 3:20 pm

Moving your mouse back up to that Next bu on becomes tedious very quickly.

This is one of the reasons why I prefer touchscreens. Windows 8 may not have done much good
but promoting touchscreens and making them cheaper through economies of scale is a positive
outcome.

by Nitin Reddy Katkam July 5, 2013 at 11:58 pm

[] youre using other versions of Word, see this article for specic instructions for assigning a
shortcut key to functions in ribbons and []

by How Not to Miss Your Editors Suggestions | Tech Tools for Writers September 3, 2015 at 8:02 pm
Wonderful to nd this tip about assigning keyboard shortcuts. I have tried to create a macro for
the Go to next change since Word 2013, but that very function would not stick into a macro. No
my life is worth living again!

by Bri May 9, 2017 at 1:51 pm

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