Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 29, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013
In an environment where multiple people work on the same workbook, you may want a way to keep track of when people last changed a workbook. There are a couple of ways you can approach this task. One is to simply figure out when a workbook was last saved. This approach works well if you assume that any changes to the workbook are always saved. (Unsaved changes, of course, are not really a lasting change at all.) The following macro returns the date that a workbook was saved and stores that date in cell A1:
Sub DateLastModified() Dim fs, f Set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") Set f = fs.GetFile("D:\MyFolder\MyFile.xlsx") Cells(1, 1) = f.DateLastModified End Sub
To use the macro, just replace the D:\MyFolder\MyFile.xlsx file specification with whatever is appropriate for you.
If you want a history sheet of who did what with your workbook, then a different approach is necessary. Perhaps the best solution is to try Excel's sharing feature, which can be configured to keep a history log for a workbook. Follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Editing tab of the Share Workbook dialog box.
Figure 2. The Advanced tab of the Share Workbook dialog box.
As changes are made to the workbook, Excel tracks those changes (along with who made them) and puts them in a separate worksheet so you can review them later.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (7924) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Noting When a Workbook was Changed.
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2025-04-06 10:15:31
J. Woolley
Re. Create a Custom Sort Order, the Tip fails to mention how to sort with the custom list. First select the range to be sorted, then click Data > Sort; under Order in the Sort dialog, pick Custom List and select the new list of ranks. This is explained in the referenced Microsoft site. For more on this subject, see https://excelribbon.tips.net/T008733
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