Forum Discussion
Posible to copy/paste a text with visable changes?
Hi.
I'm editing a manuscript in Word with the "Track changes"-function activated. Does anybody know if it's possible to copy a text from one document and paste it into another and keep the red-marked changes in the text?
When I try to do this, the text follows into the new document. The changes I've made stays in the text, but they are no longer visible.
Elin
- Lenka_KerumovaIron Contributor
Hello Elvin333 ,
the function you are looking for is called the "Spike".
1. Have your target document opened.
2. Go to your source document, select the text you want to copy.
3. Press Ctrl+F3. The text will be essentially deleted from the source document: don't panic.
4. Go to target document, press Ctrl+Shift+F3.
5. Go back to your source document and hit Ctrl+Z for undo to undelete the source text.
The Spike was programmed for other purposes, but it's the only native Word function I know that can move trackchanges and comments.
- SystemsArchitectCopper ContributorThis worked perfectly - just awesome. Big thanks!
- davidbailey700Copper Contributor
The rules for copying and pasting text that contains tracked changes are discussed at https://shaunakelly.com/word/sharing/howtrackchangesworks.html#HowToCopyTextContainingTrackedChanges.
For example, the article explains that if you want to copy text with markup and keep the markup, make sure that tracking if turned off in both the source and target documents.
- What are you wanting to do? If it is just to compile a document with the containing details of the changes, you could make screen captures and paste them into another document.
- RSMcA6Copper ContributorBy accident, I discovered that I can block a section of text containing tracked changes, then use the mouse to drag and drop the block in another place in the document, and the tracked changes are preserved. If I have another Word document open on the screen (or on a second screen), I can even drag the text to the other document (still preserving the tracked changes). The undo function (ctrl-Z) restores the tracked-changes text that was moved to its original position and deletes it from its destination, even from a different document. if it is important to retain the integrity of the original document with tracked changes, work from a copy to drag and drop.
This also works with text created using Compare Documents, that shows the differences between two documents.The rules that apply to copying and pasting tracked changes are discussed in the article at https://shaunakelly.com/word/sharing/howtrackchangesworks.html#HowToCopyTextContainingTrackedChanges.
I don't know how helpful that is to your situation. Dragging & dropping would be treated as a deletion followed by an insertion, I think.