How to track changes in Microsoft PowerPoint

Updated: 11/30/2020 by Computer Hope
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If you've created a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and shared it with others to review and edit, you may want to know what changes were made so you can approve or reject them. Unfortunately, PowerPoint does not include a "track changes" feature like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Instead, you'll need to compare your original presentation file and the changed file of another person.

Review changes made to your PowerPoint presentation

  1. Open the original PowerPoint presentation you created and sent to other people for review.
  2. In the Ribbon, click the Review tab.
  3. In the Compare section, click the Compare option.

PowerPoint Compare option on Review tab

  1. In the Choose File to Merge with Current Presentation window that opens, find and select the modified PowerPoint presentation file, then click Merge.
  2. The Revisions section is now visible on the right side of the PowerPoint program window. Changes to the currently-selected slide are displayed under Slide Changes. Changes to the entire presentation are displayed under Presentation Changes.
  3. Select a change in the Revisions section, which highlights the text, picture, shape, or another object that was changed.
  4. To review the change, click the Accept option in the Compare section of the Review tab.

PowerPoint Accept option on Review tab

  1. Review the change and determine if you want to accept or reject it.

Accept the change

  1. To accept the change, click the Next option on the Review tab to move to the next change.
  2. Repeat the steps above, starting with step 7, for each additional change.

PowerPoint Next option on Review tab

Reject the change

  1. To reject the change, click the Reject option on the Review tab to revert the change.

PowerPoint Reject option on Review tab

  1. Click the Next option to move to the next change.

PowerPoint Next option on Review tab

  1. Repeat the steps above, starting with step 7, for each additional change.