Comparing and Combining Documents

At times, you might want to expedite a reviewing process by sending reviewers separate copies of an original document. Then, when reviewers return the documents, you can combine the changes into one document. At other times, you might want to compare two versions of a document and just look at the differences between the two documents. In Word, you can perform both of these actions by using the Compare feature on the Review tab. This section of the chapter describes comparing and combining documents.

Comparing Two Versions of a Document (Legal Blackline)

When you compare two versions of the same document, you can see what changes have been made to the original document regardless of whether Track Changes was turned on when modifications were made. The differences are shown in the original document as tracked changes. To compare two versions of one document and view the differences, follow these steps.

  1. Click Compare on the Review tab and then click Compare on the menu. The Compare Documents dialog box opens.

  2. In the Original Document section, use the arrow and folder icon to navigate to and select the original document.

  3. In the Revised Document section, use the arrow and folder icon to navigate to and select the revised document.

  4. Click More to set comparison options and verify that New Document is selected in the Show Changes In section (you can also choose to show changes in the original or revised document), as shown here:

    Comparing Two Versions of a Document (Legal Blackline)

  5. Click OK. The original and revised documents remain unaltered and a new document is created and shown automatically.

    Note

    If either (or both) of the documents being compared includes tracked changes, you’ll see a message box stating that Word will compare the documents as if the tracked changes have been accepted. Click Yes to continue the comparison.

  6. To view all three versions of the document at once, click Show Source Documents on the Review tab and choose Show Both. In this view, the original, revised, and compared documents are shown in your work area, as shown in Figure 11-11.

    You can view the original, revised, and comparison results on the screen at the same time.

    Figure 11-11. You can view the original, revised, and comparison results on the screen at the same time.

The new document displays the changed text in an unnamed document file. You’ll need to save and name the file if you want to store it for future use.

Combining Revisions from Multiple Authors

You can combine revisions from multiple authors into one document to possibly streamline the review process. To do so, use the Combine option on the Compare menu, as follows.

  1. Click Compare on the Review tab, and click Combine. The Combine Documents dialog box opens, which looks similar to the Compare Documents dialog box.

  2. In the Original Document section, use the arrow and folder icon to navigate to and select the original document.

  3. In the Revised Document section, use the arrow and folder icon to navigate to and select the revised document and then click OK.

Figure 11-12 shows a sample combination in which the original document (Combine Result 2, the result of a previous combination) is combined with a third revised document, resulting in the document labeled Combined Result 3.

To combine more than two documents, simply combine your combined result document with another document containing changes. This figure shows the result of combining Combine Result 2 with a third revised document.

Figure 11-12. To combine more than two documents, simply combine your combined result document with another document containing changes. This figure shows the result of combining Combine Result 2 with a third revised document.

Note

When you add a revised document to an existing combined document, the combined result file name appears in the drop-down lists so you can select it as part of the new combine process.

Note

At times, you might want to compare two documents side by side without merging them. In those cases, you should adjust your view without using the Compare or Combine features.

Troubleshooting: What happened to the File Versions feature?

In Word 2003, you could save versions of your document and store the information within the document file. Word 2007 does not offer the capability to save versions of your local documents. You can, however, view the version history of documents stored in a Document Library. To do so, open a file stored in a Document Library and then click the Microsoft Office Button, Server, View Version History, as shown here.

Troubleshooting: What happened to the File Versions feature?
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