Comparing and combining documents

In this topic, you will learn how to compare different versions of a document and combine revisions from multiple authors.

If two reviewers receive the exact copy of a document with changes made to both, the documents can be compared using the Compare Documents utility. This feature takes two documents that have gone through the editing process and combines only what has changed between them into a new third document. The two original documents are not changed.

1. Open the first document to be used to compare with another. Here, we will open Resume1Furkidds.docx. 

2. Select Review | Compare, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

3. You will be offered the following two options:

• Compare two versions of a document (legal blackline).
• Combine revisions from multiple authors into a single document.

4. Click Compare…
5. A dialog box will present itself and will allow you to choose the two documents to compare, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

6. Choose the original document from the drop-down list or browse to locate it on your computer, and click the revised document from the drop-down list or browse to locate it on your computer, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

7. There are more settings that can be changed by using the More >> icon on the dialog box and selecting desired options, which are illustrated in the following screenshot:
   

8. By default, the changes will appear in a new document (a third document).
9. Click on OK to compare the documents.
10. Your Word screen will now change to a new document called Compare Result 4. The screen is split into four parts, as follows:  

• The original document, called Resume1Furkidds.docx 
• The revised document, called Resume2Furkidds.docx
• The compared document, which shows both revisions
• A summary of changes highlighted and explained on the left of the screen, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

11. The next step is to accept or reject the changes in the compared document, to reach a combined final document, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

12. Right-click on the changes highlighted in the compared document and decide whether to reject or accept them, or go to the ribbon and locate the Accept Insertion and Reject Insertion options.

13. Once the revisions are complete, you will notice the Revisions pane will display 0 revisions, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

14. Save the compared document as ResumeFinal.docx, and close all other windows to see the final document. 

You have now learned how to compare two documents and combine the changes into one document.