What a comparison does with comments
Reviewers argue in the margins. By the time a draft comes back, the comments on it are part of the record: the partner's question, the associate's answer, the other side's objection. A comparison that drops or misstates them is wrong in the way that matters most to the people reading it.
Version Story reads the comments in both versions and classifies each one:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Unchanged | The same comment, with the same text, in both versions |
| Edited | The comment exists in both versions and its text changed |
| Added | The comment is in the later version only |
| Removed | The comment is in the earlier version only |
A whole thread is handled the same way: a new thread shows as added, a thread removed in the later version shows as removed, and a reply added to an existing thread shows as added within it.
A comment survives the deletion of its text
The case that matters most is a comment whose anchor text was deleted with tracked changes. In Word's file format, a tracked deletion wraps the deleted run, and when that run carries a comment, the comment's markers end up inside the deletion. Read naively, the comment looks deleted. It isn't. Only the text under it is pending deletion; the comment, and any replies added since, are still in the document and still visible in Word.
Version Story classifies a comment as removed only when the comment itself is gone from the later version. A comment anchored to deleted text is kept, with its status worked out from the comment, not from the text. Its anchor is shown as a deletion in the redline, and the thread, including replies added after the deletion, stays intact.
This matters because the usual pattern is exactly this: a reviewer leaves a question on a clause, the next reviewer deletes the clause and replies to the question explaining why. The comparison shows the question as unchanged, the reply as added, and the clause as deleted, which is what happened.
Where the comments appear
- Word redline (.docx): every comment from both versions is present, each with its status, so the thread can be read in Word's review pane.
- PDF redline: comments are drawn in the margin, with added and removed comments distinguished from unchanged ones.
Documents with tracked changes
Comments often arrive in documents that still contain pending tracked changes. A comparison accepts those changes before comparing, so the comments are classified against the text as the reviewer left it. See Documents with Tracked Changes.
Related
- Compare Documents in Claude and in ChatGPT
- Find Changes Made Without Tracked Changes
- Capabilities: everything a comparison covers
Frequently asked questions
Does comparing two Word documents keep the comments?
Yes. The comments from both versions are carried into the comparison. Each one is classified as added, removed, edited, or unchanged, and the Word and PDF redlines show them with that status.
Why would a redline show a comment as deleted?
Because the comment itself is gone from the later version. Deleting the text a comment is attached to does not count: the comment stays, with its anchor text shown as deleted, until someone removes the comment.
What happens to comment replies in a comparison?
A reply added in the later version is shown as a new comment in its thread. A reply that exists in both versions is unchanged. Replies are kept even when the text under the thread was deleted with tracked changes.
