How to Redline a Contract in Word: A Practical Guide for Law Students

Redlining a contract means making proposed changes visible so another person can identify and review them. A useful redline shows what has changed, preserves the document’s structure and explains important drafting decisions through appropriate comments.

For law students and fresh graduates, the task combines document skills with careful judgment. Before editing, understand whose position you are reviewing, which version forms the starting point and what changes you are authorised to propose.

The Word instructions below refer primarily to the desktop application for Windows. Menu labels may differ between versions.

Confirm the instructions and preserve the starting version

Before opening Track Changes, establish which party your team represents. A clause may create different concerns for a customer, supplier, landlord or tenant.

Ask what the assignment requires: proofreading, identifying issues, proposing revisions or checking compliance with an approved template. Also confirm whether the document is for internal review or external circulation.

Save the received version unchanged and create a working copy. Follow the office’s naming system. For a learning exercise, filenames could be:

• Services_Agreement_v01_received.docx
• Services_Agreement_v02_internal_redline.docx

If the received document already contains revisions or comments, clarify how they should be handled. Preserve that history until you receive instructions about the intended starting text.

Turn on Track Changes before editing

In Word, open Review → Track Changes. Select All Markup to inspect revisions, and check the Show Markup settings so relevant insertions, deletions and reviewers are visible.

Microsoft distinguishes between displaying revisions and removing them. No Markup hides revision marks; switching off Track Changes stops tracking subsequent edits but leaves existing revisions in the document.

Make a small test edit in your practice document and confirm that Word records it.

Use tracked insertions and deletions for proposed textual changes. Manually colouring text or applying strikethrough formatting does not provide the same review process.

Read the whole agreement before changing individual clauses

Begin by understanding the transaction: what each party must provide, when performance is due and how payment works.

Then examine the definitions, schedules and related clauses. A proposed change may affect more than the sentence you are editing.

For example, changing a defined payment period might require checking references elsewhere in the agreement. Deleting an obligation may also affect a provision dealing with failure to perform it.

Separate issues you can correct within your instructions from those requiring a legal or commercial decision. An unclear amount, missing service description or unconfirmed deadline may need a question before revised wording.

Also Read: Contract Drafting in Practice: A Step-by-Step Guide

Make a targeted change and explain its effect

Hypothetical example: You are assisting the customer’s team. The instruction is to propose payment thirty days after receipt of an invoice.

The existing clause says:

“The Customer shall pay each invoice within seven days of the invoice date.”

Your proposed wording is:

“The Customer shall pay each invoice within thirty days after receipt of the invoice.”

In Word, record both changes through Track Changes: the payment period and the event from which it runs.

An accompanying comment might say:

“Revised to reflect the Customer’s proposed payment period of thirty days following receipt of the invoice.”

The revision changes two things. It extends the period and moves the starting point from the invoice date to its receipt. Both should be deliberate.

Read the revised sentence as a whole. Then check related provisions, including any definitions or arrangements governing invoice delivery.

This is an editing illustration. In an actual assignment, the appropriate wording depends on the agreement and the instructions received.

Use comments to explain decisions or request information

A comment should identify a reason, question or decision needed.

“Please check” gives the reviewer little direction. A more useful internal comment would be:

“Please confirm whether Finance has approved a thirty-day payment period before this revision is circulated.”

A comment intended for the other side could instead explain the proposed position:

“Please confirm whether invoices will be sent to the designated billing email address.”

Keep internal questions and negotiation comments appropriate to their intended audiences. Before external circulation, prepare the approved outgoing version and review its comments individually.

Avoid adding a comment to every minor correction. Concentrate on changes whose purpose may otherwise be unclear or which require a decision.

Compare documents when changes were not tracked

If you receive an edited version without visible revisions, Word’s comparison feature can help identify differences.

In desktop Word for Windows:

1. Open Review → Compare.
2. Select the received baseline as the Original document.
3. Select the later version as the Revised document.
4. Review the comparison settings.
5. Set the results to appear in a new document.

Microsoft explains that this option produces a separate comparison document while preserving the source files. Choosing to display the results in an original or revised document can modify that selected file.

Check the output carefully. Confirm the comparison direction and investigate unexpected changes, particularly where numbering or formatting has shifted.

If either source contains unresolved revisions, establish how those should be treated before proceeding.

Also Check: How to Prepare a Legal Writing Sample Without Internship Experience

Prepare a clean copy only from the intended text

A redline displays proposed revisions. A clean copy presents the selected wording without outstanding revision marks.

When instructed to prepare both, preserve the redline and create a separate copy. In that copy, review and accept or reject revisions according to the approved instructions.

Selecting No Markup does not create a clean file: the revisions remain. Microsoft states that tracked changes must be accepted or rejected to remove them.

Handle comments separately. Remove those that should not remain in the clean version.

Afterwards, compare the clean text with the intended revised wording. Pay particular attention to deleted passages, punctuation, tables and numbering.

Also Read: Career in Legal Knowledge Management: What the Work Involves and Who It Suits

Check the outgoing document as a separate task

Before sending the file for approval or circulation, inspect:

• Party names, dates, amounts and defined terms.
• Clause numbering and cross-references.
• Schedules, annexures and signature blocks.
• Remaining blanks or drafting placeholders.
• Comments and revisions intended for the recipient.
• Filename, version description and attachments.

Word’s File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document can help identify hidden information and document properties. Microsoft recommends inspecting a copy because some removed information may be difficult to restore. Review findings selectively so you retain material that the recipient is supposed to see.

Reopen the saved outgoing file and check it again. If providing a PDF, inspect that export too.

Practise the complete process on a fictional agreement

Create a short fictional agreement and save a baseline copy. Give yourself three instructions: change a payment period, clarify a service deadline and raise a question about a missing schedule.

Prepare a tracked version with concise comments, then produce a corresponding clean copy. Compare both against the baseline and check whether every intended change appears correctly.

Finally, explain each revision aloud: what changed, why you changed it and what still needs a decision. That exercise tests both your control of the document and your understanding of the proposed wording.