Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Making Revisions.

Making Revisions

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 15, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013


2

Once you turn on revision marking, Excel starts tracking your changes. You can still make changes to your workbooks as you normally do, the only difference is that Excel pays a bit closer attention to what you are doing. When you edit a cell, Excel places a blue triangle indicator in the upper-left corner of the cell. When you position the mouse pointer over the changed cell, Excel displays a comment indicating what change was made to the cell.

You should note that as you are tracking your revisions, Excel only keeps track of the last edit made to each cell. This can cause problems if you want to see a complete history of changes. In that case, you should instruct Excel to keep a complete tracking history on a separate worksheet using the List Changes On a New Sheet check box, at the bottom of the Highlight Changes dialog box. This check box causes Excel to track your changes on a revisions worksheet, instead of the actual worksheet you are changing. This option is available only if you have saved your workbook as a shared file.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8151) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Making Revisions.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Creating Add-Ins

Want to create your own add-in? Excel makes it easy to do. Here are all the steps you need.

Discover More

Selecting a Text Block

Word has an interesting way of allowing you to select a rectangular block of text, without reference to what may be ...

Discover More

Replacing Spaces in Part Numbers with Dashes

Word has a power capability to search for information and then replace that information in some way. Finding the right ...

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel 2013 Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Understanding Auditing

Excel provides some great tools that can help you see the relationships between the formulas in your worksheets. These ...

Discover More

Using Subtotals and Totals

You can insert subtotals and totals in your worksheets by using either a formula or specialized tools. This tip explains ...

Discover More

Customizing Quick Access Toolbar Icons

The standard way to customize Excel is to add tools to the Quick Access Toolbar. The program provides only a limited ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 5?

2016-11-21 08:19:50

Henry Noble

Further to Ray's question:

It appears that 'List Changes on a new sheet' is a toggle that is active only when certain conditions are met.
- Changes have been made (in other words, no changes, no list)
- The changed worksheet must have been saved with tracking enabled

When the conditions are met, the box becomes active.

Changes are listed in a new worksheet called "History".

If a change is rejected, the rejection will appear in the History after the next save.



2013-04-27 07:19:05

Ray

"List changes on a new sheet" is grayed out and can not be selected. How do I overcome this? [Excel 2010]


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.