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