Microsoft Word has been the default currency for contracts for decades. Any lawyer thatâs ever pushed a contract through revisions will have redlined in Word – or at least tried to.Â
But familiarity doesnât get contracts negotiated faster, efficiency does. And there are certainly more efficient ways to redline contracts in 2024.Â
This Juro guide explains how to redline a Word document, and how you can make your current redlining process better.Â
Redlining is an editing technique used to track changes made to documents like contracts, reports, articles, and other professional papers. When redlining edits show up marked in red making it easy to identify and review proposed revisions.
Microsoft Word has built-in redlining functionality to help streamline the editing and review process. In this guide I’ll show you how to use redlining in Word to efficiently track changes to your documents.
By the end, you’ll have a solid understanding of:
- What redlining is and its benefits
- How to turn on redlining in Word
- Best practices for redlining and reviewing changes
- Tips to collaborate with others using redlined documents
Whether you’re editing your own drafts or collaborating with colleagues, redlining can save time and improve clarity. Let’s dive in!
What is Redlining?
Redlining refers to editing a document while tracking changes in red markup. As you edit, deletions show crossed out in red, additions are underlined in red, and comments are highlighted in the margin.
This allows you to clearly see the evolution of the document as it gets revised. Redlining has several key benefits:
- Identifies precisely what was changed
- Keeps a record of the editing history
- Allows collaborators to review and approve changes
- Maintains visibility of the original text
- Improves clarity for complex document revisions
Redlining functionality originated manually with red pens or markers to indicate edits on physical documents. Today, digital tools like Microsoft Word have automated redlining capabilities.
How to Turn on Redlining in Word
Word makes it simple to start redlining your documents. Here are the steps:
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Open the Word document you want to edit.
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On the top toolbar, go to the Review tab.
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In the Tracking section, click Track Changes.
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The Track Changes button will appear highlighted when activated.
Once enabled, any edits made will automatically display in red markup for easy tracking. You’re now ready to start redlining!
Some additional options:
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Track Formatting Changes to also highlight formatting edits.
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Use the Change User dropdown to attribute changes to specific collaborators.
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Click Track Changes Options to customize visibility settings.
Redlining is enabled on a per-document basis, so remember to turn it on for each new document you want to track changes in.
How to Use Redlining for Document Revisions
With redlining turned on in Word, you can start making edits to see how the process works:
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Deleted text appears with a red strikethrough.
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Inserted text is underlined in red.
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Changed text shows the old text struck out in red and the new text underlined.
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Comments appear as red balloons in the margin.
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Formatting changes highlight changed fonts, sizes, alignment, etc.
As you revise text, watch your edits come to life in vibrant red markup! The beauty of redlining is seeing the evolution of the document over time.
Don’t forget to add comments explaining changes where helpful. Collaborators can also reply with feedback on edits using comments.
Reviewing and Approving Redlined Changes
Once a document has been redlined, reviewers can now easily process and approve changes:
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Hover over edits to see more details like when a change was made and by whom.
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Click or highlight edits to accept or reject individual changes.
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Use the Reviewing Pane to scroll through and handle edits in one place.
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Choose Accept All Changes to finalize and integrate accepted edits.
Communicate with collaborators using @mentions in comments to directly notify them. This facilitates productive redlining discussions.
Best Practices for Redlining
To get the most from redlining, keep these best practices in mind:
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Enable redlining from the start – Turn it on before drafting to capture the full history.
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Use moderate edits – Avoid excessive revisions to maintain clarity.
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Re-order cautiously – Limit rearranging text to minimize confusion.
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Finalize periodically – Accept all changes to cleanup redlines.
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Comment thoughtfully – Add context to explain the purpose of changes.
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Review painstakingly – Double check no errors were introduced in edits.
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Direct discussions – Use @mentions to loop in others on comments.
Following these tips will help ensure an efficient redlining process from start to finish!
Collaborating Using Redlining
Redlining becomes even more powerful for collaborating on group documents. Here are some tips:
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Assign editing roles – Allow specific collaborators to redline the master doc.
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Mention reviewers – Loop in key stakeholders using @mentions.
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Set review deadlines – Keep the process moving forward on schedule.
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Use version control – Save incremental revisions in case you need to revert.
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Communicate outside of Word – Follow up on comments via email, chat, etc.
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Consolidate redlines frequently – Accept all changes to simplify for next round.
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Record final approval – Get signoff from approvers in a comment.
With a coordinated process, redlining enables seamless collaboration on deliverables.
Alternative Ways to Track Changes in Word
In addition to redlining, Word offers other ways to track edits:
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Simple Markup – Shows additions and deletions inline without red color.
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Comments Only – Adds comments without affecting text.
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View Markup Options – Customize amount of markup shown.
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Compare Documents – Review changes between two versions of a document.
Pro Tip: Toggle on Format Changes to catch unintended style tweaks.
The key is choosing the tracking method that provides the right level of detail for your purposes. Redlining tends to be the happy medium for most users.
There you have it – a comprehensive guide to redlining in Word to help streamline your document editing and reviews. The key takeaways include:
- Activating redlining with the Track Changes button
- Making additions, deletions, and comments to see markup
- Reviewing and approving changes using the pane and mentions
- Following best practices for productive redlining
- Collaborating effectively using redlining
With these skills, you can leverage redlining to improve clarity, transparency, and alignment on important documents.
Disadvantages of redlining in Word
Unfortunately, there are more cons of adding a redline in Word than there are pros. These include the ones listed below.
What if you want to do more than just add redlines to contracts? What if you want to hide certain comments from counterparties, or control who can edit which elements of the contract?Â
The truth is, Word simply doesnât offer the advanced functionality parties need to collaborate effectively on agreements. There are workarounds, but these are often more hassle than theyâre worth.Â
After all, Microsoft Word wasnât built with complex contract negotiations in mind. But contract tools like Juro were.Â
Another important drawback of adding redlines in Word is that they arenât as secure as they would be in other platforms.Â
The biggest risk is that counterparties can bypass document protection by copying and pasting a controlled document into another Word document version and editing in that instead.Â
This isnât possible in more secure platforms like Juro, so you can trust that you have full control over contract versions at all times.Â
Although legal and business teams rely on Microsoft Word for both the drafting and redlining phases of the contract lifecycle, that doesnât make version control any easier. Microsoft Word users still need to download and share copies of the Word document with counterparties. This means creating multiple versions of the same contract, each littered with different edits.Â
With multiple versions of the document floating around it can quickly become difficult to track which changes have been made and when. This creates risk within your contracts.
One of the biggest drawbacks of redlining in Word is that it results in a loss of contract data. Distinct from Juro where contract data is captured automatically using smartfields, Word doesnât capture the data contained within contracts, as it only manages static files.Â
Instead, users have to manually extract all of the data from negotiated and redlined contracts and input this into an excel spreadsheet if they wish to track it. This is time-consuming and prone to errors.Â
How to redline in Word
There are two ways to redline in Word: manually or by using track changes.Â
Firstly, users can redline in Word manually. This is a more tedious process than using track changes, but it gets the job done.Â
- Open the file that you wish to redline and select the specific part of the document where youâd like to add or remove text from.Â
- Click on the âHomeâ tab which can be found at the top of the page. This will present you with a toolbar of editing and text formatting options.Â
- Once you have found the âFontâ section of the toolbar, select the icon that has the letters A, B and C striked through.Â
- Highlight the text that youâre suggesting to remove and click on the âStrikethroughâ button. This will put a line through any of the text highlighted without completely deleting it from the document. This is useful since it provides visibility around what is being deleted before it has been fully removed.Â
- To add text in a red font, select the âFont colorâ section of the âFontâ toolbar instead. This will be presented as a button containing an âAâ with a straight line beneath it.
- Click the arrow beside the button to see all of the colour options available. From here, select one of the red shades and start adding your changes by typing in the red coloured font. This will distinguish the existing text (which is in black) from the new recommended text (which will be in red).Â
The slightly more intuitive way to add redlines in Word is by using the softwareâs track changes feature. This works in the following way:
- Open up the document or contract that you want to add redlines to in Word.Â
- This time, select the âReviewâ section of the toolbar at the top of the page, and then click on the Track Changes icon. This may appear differently depending on the version of Microsoft you have, but in the most recent version it will look like a piece of annotated paper with a pencil over the top of it and a folded corner.Â
- Next, set the markup settings to âAll Markupâ. This will show you any text that you add or remove in red and will connect the change with a comment bubble in the right-hand margin. This section allows you to add an explanation and makes the changes traceable.Â
- Once track changes have been enabled you can go ahead with making any amendments to the contract or document you like.
How to Redline in Word
How to turn on Redline in word?
We will show you in simple, stepwise instructions how to turn on the redline feature in Word. Let us begin. Open the document you are sharing with others. Click on the Review tab in the top menu bar to change the ribbon. In the section Tracking, click on the Track Changes icon. In the drop-down menu, click on the Track Changes icon.
What does Redline mean in Microsoft Word?
“Redlining” is a form of editing in which red ink is used to indicate removal or addition of text in Microsoft Word. You can redline a Microsoft Word document by using Microsoft Word’s built-in “Track Changes” feature, or you can manually redline the document with font color changes and strike-throughs.
How do I Redline a document?
Open the document you wish to edit. Manually redlining a document is preferable if you’re editing a document in an outdated version of Word or if you want more control over which changes are displayed. Manual redlining is compatible with all versions of Word. Click the “Home” tab if it isn’t already open.
What is redlining a document?
Redlining documents is making changes to a document that allows users to see which changes were made. It’s an important feature when you have multiple people working on a single document. What does it mean to redline a document? To redline a document means marking it with red lines or annotations that indicate changes, edits, or revisions.
