You have a Word document with Track Changes turned on and multiple reviewers have made edits. You want to accept all changes from one person at once without reviewing each mark individually. Word provides a filtering feature that lets you view changes by reviewer name and a command that accepts only the visible changes. This article explains how to find the reviewer filter and accept changes from a single reviewer in just a few clicks.
Key Takeaways: Accepting Changes From One Reviewer Only
- Review > Show Markup > Specific People > check only one name: Filters the document to show only that reviewer’s tracked changes.
- Review > Accept > Accept All Changes Shown: Accepts every visible change while leaving all other reviewers’ changes untouched.
- Repeat for each reviewer: You must filter and accept one reviewer at a time because Word does not have a single-click “accept by author” command.
How the Reviewer Filter Works in Word’s Track Changes
Word stores the original author name for each tracked change. When you open the Review tab and use the Show Markup menu, you can check or uncheck individual reviewer names. The document then hides changes from unchecked reviewers. This filter is visual only — it does not delete or modify the hidden changes.
The Accept command includes an option called Accept All Changes Shown. This command processes only the changes that are currently visible on screen. Changes from reviewers whose names are unchecked are ignored. This is the only built-in way to accept changes from a single reviewer in Word.
There is no menu item that says “Accept changes by John Smith only.” You must combine the filter with the Accept command. The steps below assume you have a document with Track Changes already active and at least two reviewers.
Steps to Accept Track Changes From a Specific Reviewer
- Open the Review tab
Click the Review tab on the ribbon at the top of Word. This tab contains all Track Changes commands including filtering options. - Open the Show Markup menu
In the Tracking group, click Show Markup. A dropdown menu appears with several categories: Comments, Insertions and Deletions, Formatting, Balloons, and Specific People. - Select Specific People
Hover over Specific People. A submenu lists all reviewers who have made changes in the current document. Each reviewer has a checkbox next to their name. There is also an All Reviewers option at the top. - Uncheck All Reviewers
Click All Reviewers to uncheck every name. This hides all tracked changes in the document. You will see the document as if no changes exist, but the changes are still stored. - Check only the desired reviewer
Click the checkbox next to the reviewer whose changes you want to accept. Only that person’s tracked changes become visible. All other changes remain hidden. - Open the Accept menu
In the Tracking group, click the bottom half of the Accept button (the small arrow). This opens a dropdown menu with options such as Accept and Move to Next, Accept This Change, Accept All Changes, and Accept All Changes Shown. - Choose Accept All Changes Shown
Click Accept All Changes Shown. Word immediately accepts every tracked change that is currently visible — which is only the changes from the reviewer you selected. The hidden changes from other reviewers remain untouched. - Repeat for other reviewers if needed
To accept changes from a second reviewer, go back to Show Markup > Specific People, uncheck the first reviewer, check the second reviewer, and use Accept All Changes Shown again. Repeat this process for each reviewer you want to accept.
Common Mistakes and Limitations When Filtering by Reviewer
“Accept All Changes Shown” is grayed out
This happens when no tracked changes are visible. Confirm that you checked at least one reviewer name in Show Markup > Specific People and that the reviewer actually has changes in the document. Also check that Insertions and Deletions is checked under Show Markup — if it is unchecked, all changes are hidden regardless of reviewer filter.
I accidentally accepted all changes from every reviewer
This occurs when you click Accept All Changes instead of Accept All Changes Shown. The first command accepts every change in the document regardless of the filter. To recover, press Ctrl+Z immediately after the mistake. If you saved and closed the document, use File > Info > Version History to restore a previous version.
The reviewer name is missing from the list
Word shows only names that exist in the document’s Track Changes metadata. If a reviewer’s name does not appear, no tracked change from that person exists. This can also happen if the document was edited by someone whose user name was changed later. The original author name is stored per change and does not update when the user changes their Word profile.
The filter does not work with comments
The Specific People filter affects both tracked changes and comments. If you want to accept only changes but not comments, uncheck Comments under Show Markup. Comments are not affected by the Accept command and must be deleted manually or using the Delete button in the Comments group.
I need to accept changes from multiple reviewers at once but not all
Word does not support selecting multiple reviewers in the Specific People submenu. You can only check one reviewer at a time. To accept changes from two specific reviewers, you must run the filter-and-accept process twice — once for each reviewer. There is no workaround in the standard Word interface.
Accept All Changes Shown vs Accept All Changes: Behavior Differences
| Item | Accept All Changes Shown | Accept All Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Affected changes | Only changes currently visible after filtering | All tracked changes in the document |
| Reviewer filter respected | Yes — hidden changes are ignored | No — filter is bypassed |
| Use case | Accept changes from one specific reviewer | Accept everything at once |
| Risk of unintended accept | Low — only visible changes are processed | High — accepts all changes including unwanted ones |
| Keyboard shortcut | No dedicated shortcut; requires mouse or ribbon access | No dedicated shortcut; same ribbon menu |
You can now filter Word documents by reviewer and accept only the changes you want. Use Show Markup > Specific People to isolate one reviewer, then choose Accept All Changes Shown. Repeat for each reviewer whose changes you want to keep. As an advanced tip, you can combine this method with the Lock Tracking feature (Review > Restrict Editing > Allow only this type of editing in the document > Tracked changes) to prevent additional changes while you process existing ones.