How do I turn off Track Changes?

Turn off the tracking by pressing Ctrl+Shift+E (which may be the way you inadvertently turned the tracking on in the first place). Then accept all changes via Review tab | Accept | Accept All Changes.

Since your question isn't directly related to the original question in this thread, I'm creating a separate thread for you (subject: How do I turn off Track Changes?).

If Track Changes is turned on every time you start a new document, then it has been turned on for your Normal.dotm template. The way to get rid of it is to open the template as a document, turn off Track Changes, and save and close the template.

Because the Normal.dotm template is stored in a hidden folder, the easiest way to get it open in Word is:

• Press Alt+F11 to open the macro editor.
• Press Ctrl+G to open the Immediate window in the bottom right area of the macro editor.
• Type or paste the following line into the Immediate window and press the Enter key:

NormalTemplate.OpenAsDocument

• Close the macro editor. Notice that the title bar of the main Word window now shows Normal.dotm as the "document" name.

If the moderator had not removed this from the thread in which I posted (which was asking the exact same question so was totally relevant) you would know that I have already tried all of these things and they do not work.

I've turned it off on my template and saved, but it's on again when I start a new document.

I've turned it off on my documents as I work, but it's on again next time I open the document. The default seems to be that Word turns on track changes when I open any document. I want to stop that happening. I have never found the slightest use for track changes and it just gets in the way by making it impossible to see the document for all the red lines and crossed out words, and impossible to update my index.

My question was exactly the same as the thread in which I posted  and your answer is not at all relevant to what I asked. I have not 'inadvertently' turned track changes on.

Word does it automatically every time I open my document.

I already know how to turn it off in an open document. I want to know how to disable it completely so that it never turns on again because it is always turned on when I open my documents.

Also, by starting a new thread you made it very difficult for me to find this again. I had no notifications of replies and no idea why my post was no longer in the original thread or where to find it.

In future, when moving a post, I suggest that you contact the person with a link to the new thread so that they know where it is. Thank you.

Already tried this and it does not work.

Track changes is still on when I open my document.

If you have turned off the tracking in your Normal template (or whatever template you usually base your new templates on), and the tracking still returns, then it's time to troubleshoot for poorly designed add-ins. As a first step, see what happens when you start Word in Safe mode.

To start in Safe mode: Exit Word if it is currently running. Then hold the Window logo key as you press R; in the Run dialog box, type winword /safe and press Enter (note that there is a space before but not after the slash). 

You can always find your posts by looking at the thread list in your profile. Access your profile by clicking on your name at the top of the page or in any thread.

Splitting a post from a thread that has already been marked as answered ensures that it will be seen even by those who don't always look at threads that have answers.

Thanks. That was how I eventually found it. Took me half an hour to discover that there was a list in my profile though.

As a moderator on another large site, I always send messages when I split out posts to a new thread because if I don't, the OP is likely to start a new thread complaining that they can't find their original post. Saves time and irritation all round to simply let them know where it went.

Thank you, I'll try it later on when I'm home. However, so far as I am aware, I have no add-ins of any kind in my copies of word. (2007 on one device, 2010 on another, and 2013 on another, and the android App.)

I don't only want the template turned off though, I want it off in my document. It's a bit long for copy paste and was started in a version of Word before the track changes started coming on by default. (Word 2000 if I remember correctly).