Legal redlines, editorial reviews, contract markups — tracked changes are how the world reviews documents. When you send the result as a PDF, you need to decide what the recipient sees.
Default behaviour
Flint's Word to PDF preserves tracked changes as visible markup in the PDF — insertions shown with underline, deletions with strikethrough, formatting changes annotated.
This matches Word's own export and is what most legal reviewers want when sending a redlined version.
Strip tracked changes first
If you want a clean PDF without tracked changes, accept or reject them in Word first: Review tab > Accept > Accept All Changes (or Reject > Reject All Changes). The DOCX becomes a clean working document. Then convert.
This is the most common source of "why is this redlined?" confusion. Always check the Word doc's track changes state before exporting.
Show/hide markup vs accept changes
Important distinction. Word's Review > Display for Review > No Markup hides changes from view but they're still in the file. Converting to PDF in that mode usually still includes them — the PDF generator looks at the underlying document, not the display setting.
To guarantee a clean PDF: accept (or reject) all changes, then convert. Don't rely on display mode.
Show multiple reviewers' changes
Word can track changes by reviewer name. The PDF preserves the colour-coding and attribution. Useful for legal documents that pass through multiple reviewers — the PDF audit trail shows who changed what.
FAQ
Can I show changes in colour?
Yes — Word colour-codes changes by reviewer and the PDF preserves the colours.
Will deleted text be readable?
Yes — strikethrough deletions show the deleted text. Easy to see what was removed.
How do I get a clean PDF in one step?
Accept all changes in Word first, then convert. Two steps but reliable.
What about formatting changes?
Annotated as comments in the margin. Detail varies by viewer — Acrobat shows everything; lighter viewers may show less.
Tracked changes are preserved by default. Accept them first for a clean version. Convert your Word to PDF either way.