When working on a document reviewed by multiple people, you may want to see only the changes from one or two reviewers while hiding the rest. The built-in Show Markup menu in Word lets you filter tracked changes by author without deleting any edits. This article explains how to hide specific reviewer changes in Word using the Reviewing Pane and the Show Markup options. You will learn to temporarily hide changes from chosen reviewers and restore them later.
Key Takeaways: Hide Specific Reviewer Changes in Word
- Review > Show Markup > Specific People: Opens a check list of all reviewers whose tracked changes appear in the document.
- Uncheck a reviewer name: Hides all insertions, deletions, and formatting changes made by that person without deleting them.
- Reviewing Pane > Show All Reviews / Show Only Comments and Formatting: Controls the level of detail shown in the pane but does not replace the per-reviewer filter.
How the Specific People Filter Works in Word
Word stores tracked changes with each reviewer’s name and initials. The Specific People filter, located under Review > Show Markup, lets you hide all changes from one or more reviewers. When you uncheck a reviewer, Word hides their tracked changes from the document body and the Reviewing Pane. The changes remain in the document’s revision history and can be shown again by re-checking the same reviewer. This filter does not affect comments, which are managed separately via the Comments button in the Tracking group.
The filter applies to all tracked change types: insertions, deletions, moves, and formatting changes. It works in all Word editions from 2013 onward, including Word for Microsoft 365. The filter is document-specific and session-specific—it resets when you close and reopen the document unless you save the view settings as part of a custom view.
Steps to Hide Changes From a Specific Reviewer
- Open the Review tab
Go to the ribbon and click the Review tab. The Tracking group contains all markup controls. - Show the Markup menu
Click Show Markup in the Tracking group. A drop-down list appears with several options. - Select Specific People
Point to Specific People in the drop-down. A sub-menu opens showing a list of all reviewers who have made tracked changes in the document. - Uncheck the reviewer you want to hide
Click the check box next to the reviewer’s name to clear it. All tracked changes from that reviewer disappear from the document body and the Reviewing Pane. The changes are not deleted. - Repeat for additional reviewers
To hide changes from multiple reviewers, uncheck each one individually. You can also uncheck All Reviewers to clear all check boxes at once, then re-check only the reviewers you want to see. - Restore hidden changes
To show the hidden changes again, return to Review > Show Markup > Specific People and re-check the reviewer’s name. All their tracked changes reappear.
Using the Reviewing Pane to Confirm Which Changes Are Hidden
The Reviewing Pane gives you a vertical list of all tracked changes and comments. When you hide a reviewer via the Specific People filter, the Reviewing Pane updates immediately to show only the changes from the visible reviewers. To open the pane, click Reviewing Pane in the Tracking group and choose Vertical Reviewing Pane or Horizontal Reviewing Pane. The pane shows the reviewer name, type of change, and the affected text for each visible change. This helps you confirm that the correct reviewer’s changes are hidden.
Limitations and Things to Avoid
The filter does not hide comments
The Specific People filter affects only tracked changes. Comments remain visible for all reviewers unless you hide them separately. To hide all comments, click Show Comments in the Comments group to toggle them off. To hide comments from a specific person, you must delete those comments or ask the reviewer to resolve them.
The filter resets after closing the document
Word does not remember which reviewers you unchecked when you close and reopen the document. You must reapply the filter each time you open the file. If you need a permanent filter, consider accepting or rejecting changes from specific reviewers instead.
You cannot hide changes from a reviewer who has no name
If a reviewer’s name appears as Author or Unknown, Word cannot reliably separate their changes from others. This happens when the document was received from an external source that stripped author metadata. In this case, the Specific People list may show only one entry for all anonymous changes. You cannot hide changes from individual unknown authors.
The filter does not work in Print Layout view for some change types
In Print Layout view, deletions appear as strikethrough text with balloons. When you hide a reviewer, their deletions disappear, but the remaining text may shift. If the document layout looks wrong after applying the filter, switch to Draft view (View > Draft) to see the filtered content without layout distortions.
Word Online vs Desktop: Reviewer Filter Differences
| Item | Word Desktop (Microsoft 365) | Word Online |
|---|---|---|
| Filter tracked changes by reviewer | Yes, via Review > Show Markup > Specific People | No, Word Online does not offer per-reviewer filtering |
| Hide comments by reviewer | No, only hide all comments | No, only hide all comments |
| Filter persists after save and reopen | No, resets when document is closed | Not applicable |
| Reviewing Pane shows filtered changes | Yes, updates in real time | No Reviewing Pane available |
If you work primarily in Word Online, you cannot hide specific reviewers. You must use Word Desktop to apply the filter. After applying the filter in the desktop version and saving the document, the filter does not carry over to Word Online—the online version shows all tracked changes regardless.
Now you can hide tracked changes from specific reviewers in Word without deleting them. Use the Review > Show Markup > Specific People filter to temporarily remove clutter from authors you do not need to review. For a permanent solution, accept or reject changes from the unwanted reviewer before sharing the final document. If you frequently filter by the same set of reviewers, consider creating a macro that applies the filter automatically.