How to Keep Track of Changes in an Excel Document

When you're creating a spreadsheet with a group, it can be difficult to remember who made changes and why these changes were made. Use the Track Changes option in Excel to simplify this process. These steps work with Microsoft Excel 97.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Excel Book
• Microsoft Excel

Tracking Changes

1. Start Microsoft Excel and open the file you want to change.
2. Open the Tools menu and select Track Changes, then Highlight Changes.
3. In the Highlight Changes dialog box, select "Track changes while editing."
4. Select "Highlight changes on screen."
5. Open the When menu and select All.
6. Open the Who menu and select Everyone.
7. Click OK.
8. Click OK. This will save your changes and your file/workbook.
9. Enter your new changes.

Accepting or Rejecting Changes

10. Open the Tools menu and Track Changes menu and select Accept and Reject Changes option.
11. In the Select Changes to Accept or Reject dialog box, select "Not yet reviewed" to see all changes or "Since date" to see changes after a certain day.
12. Click OK.
13. In the Accept or Reject Changes dialog box, review the edits to the spreadsheet.
14. Select the Reject or Accept button for each edit.

Tips & Warnings

• Changed cells have a triangle in the left corner.
• All the changes in a file will be tracked.
• Selecting Everyone in the Who menu will make your file shared.
• If you want to make changes but not see them on screen (useful if you're making a lot of changes), don't select the "Highlight changes on screen" option. Select the option later to see the changes you made.
• To review your changes later, select Close in the Accept or Reject Changes dialog box.
• Rejecting your changes will erase the change and restore the cell back to the original entry.

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