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Let's say someone asked you to proofread or collaborate on a workbook. If you had a printed copy, you might use a red pen to edit cell data, mark spelling errors, or add comments in the margins. Excel allows you to do all of these things electronically using the Track Changes and Comments features.
Alert! The Track Changes command has been removed from the Review Tab in Excel 2016.
Optional: Download our practice workbook.
Watch the video below to learn more about track changes and comments.
When you turn on the Track Changes feature, every cell you edit will be highlighted with a unique border and indicator. Selecting a marked cell will show the details of the change. This allows you and other reviewers to see what's been changed before accepting the revisions permanently.
In the image below, each edited cell has a blue border and a small triangle in the upper-left corner.
There are some changes Excel cannot track. Before using this feature, you may want to review Microsoft's list of changes that Excel does not track or highlight.
You cannot use Track Changes if your workbook includes tables. To remove a table, select it, click the Design tab, then click Convert to Range.
When you turn on Track Changes, your workbook will be shared automatically. Shared workbooks are designed to be stored where other users can access and edit the workbook at the same time, such as a network. However, you can also track changes in a local or personal copy, as seen throughout this lesson.
You can also view changes on a new worksheet, sometimes called the Tracked Changes history. The history lists everything in your worksheet that has been changed, including the old value (previous cell content) and the new value (current cell content).
To remove the History worksheet from your workbook, you can either save your workbook again or uncheck the box next to List changes on a new sheet in the Highlight Changes dialog box.
Tracked changes are really just suggested changes. To become permanent, the changes must be accepted. On the other hand, the original author may disagree with some of the tracked changes and choose to reject them.
To accept or reject all changes at once, click Accept All or Reject All in the Accept or Reject Changes dialog box.
Turning off Track Changes will remove any tracked changes in your workbook. You will not be able to view, accept, or reject changes; instead, all changes will be accepted automatically. Always review the changes in your worksheet before turning off Track Changes.
Sometimes you may want to add a comment to provide feedback instead of editing the contents of a cell. While often used in combination with Track Changes, you don't necessarily need to have Track Changes turned on to use comments.
You can also choose to show and hide individual comments by selecting the desired cell and clicking the Show/Hide Comment command.
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