Compare Two Word Documents

Open the Compare View

1. Click the Review tab on the ribbon.
2. Click the Compare button.
3. Select Compare.

   A dialog box appears where you can select the two documents that you'll be comparing.

   

4. Click the Original document list arrow.

   Documents that you’ve opened recently will be listed here. If the document you’re looking for is listed, select it. Otherwise, click the Browse button and locate it.

5. Select your document.
6. Click the Revised document list arrow.
7. Select the document you want to compare to the original.

   Once both documents are selected, you could compare them now by clicking OK, or access additional options to control how they’re compared.

   

8. Click the More button in the Compare Documents dialog box.

   You can, for example, choose whether to compare or ignore certain elements such as formatting, headers and footers, comments, or text case changes.

   You can also specify whether changes are marked at the character level or word level, and whether to show the changes between documents in the original document, the revised one, or in a new merged document.

9. Customize the comparison options.
10. Click OK when you’re done.
    

A new document is created, merging the two documents into one and highlighting any differences.