What happens to Word comments and tracked changes when you import a .docx into Obsidian

Description and use

The DOCX Review Import plugin turns Word comments into Markdown footnotes and accepts tracked changes silently, but it does not preserve change authorship or anchor comments to the original text.

Problem

How Word review elements (comments, tracked changes, footnotes) are represented when converting a .docx to Markdown in Obsidian using the DOCX Review Import plugin.

Outcome

The plugin preserves comments as footnotes with metadata, retains reply relationships, converts Word footnotes to Markdown footnotes, and accepts tracked changes silently. However, it does not show original change authors or anchor comments to the exact words.

Workflow

• Create or obtain a .docx with review elements.
• Run DOCX Review Import plugin in Obsidian with settings: tracked changes "accept", comments on, plain Markdown style.
• Review the generated Markdown file for comments, replies, footnotes, and heading conversion.
• Verify that tracked changes are accepted silently and comments are not anchored to original text.
• Optionally disable comments in settings to remove footnote markers.
• Use the Markdown file in Obsidian for further editing and review.

Evidence

I built a small .docx with a script (a few lines of hand‑written OOXML). It is synthetic: invented reviewers, and it was not saved by Microsoft Word or LibreOffice, so real files may differ.

Source

The plugin’s code was run in a throwaway Node sandbox on 2026‑10‑05, with these settings: tracked changes "accept", comments on, plain Markdown style.

Source

Comments became Markdown footnotes named c1, c2, each with author and date. They render as footnotes in Obsidian’s reading view, so you can click through them.

Source

Tracked changes are accepted silently. The output says "15 October" and "two weeks after launch", but nothing tells you the date used to be "1 October" or who changed it.

Source

The comment is not anchored to its words. The footnote marker lands after "fifty testers", but the Markdown does not highlight which words the reviewer selected.

Source