The Show Changes feature displays the most recent changes to your workbook. This means you can track past edits for specific cells, ranges, sheets, or the entire workbook. For help with common scenarios or questions, see below.
Important: To make sure all changes are saved and tracked, everyone should use any Excel app that supports co-authoring. See the section, Where can I use Show Changes for more information.
Where can I use Show Changes?
The Show Changes feature is available on the Excel desktop applications and on Excel for the web, however changes made with any Excel app that supports co-authoring will show in the Changes pane, such as:
-
Excel for the web
-
Up-to-date Excel app for Microsoft 365
-
Excel mobile apps
Caution: Edits made using a one-time purchase or older version of Excel can’t be tracked and will also clear the Changes pane. See the section, The Changes pane is empty below for more information.
I made a change, but don't see it in the Changes pane
The Changes pane shows changes made to cell values and formulas. This includes operations like moving, sorting, inserting, deleting cells or ranges.
These are some of the changes that are currently not shown:
-
Chart, shape, and other object edits
-
PivotTable operations
-
Formatting changes
-
Hiding cells or ranges, or filtering
-
Deleted location
To make sure all changes are saved and tracked, everyone should use any Excel app that supports co-authoring. See the section, Where can I use Show Changes for more information.
How can I view older changes?
The Changes pane shows only the most recent changes. To view changes over a longer period of time, use Version History by selecting File > Info > Version History and then select a version to preview it.
The Changes pane is empty, but I know changes were made.
Certain actions may force Excel to clear the Changes pane. You may see an empty pane if someone has:
-
Edited from one-time purchase or older version of Excel.
-
Used an Excel feature that is not fully supported in Excel co-authoring yet.
-
Uploaded the file, Saved a copy, or replaced the file.
Any new changes you or someone else makes in any of the supported Excel apps will be tracked. If you need to view a past version of the workbook, see How can I view older edits above.
Some of my changes are missing previous values.
The Changes pane sometimes doesn’t show the previous values of certain edits. This can happen if:
-
The values were edited through code, for example changing a value through Visual Basic (VBA) or by using an Add-in.
-
Someone edited the workbook with Excel that wasn't updated to the most recent version.
Resetting the Change Pane
If you'd like to clear the history of changes in the Change Pane, there is an option to do so in the File > Info menu when the file is opened in Excel for the web.
Confirming this request will clear the history of changes in the Change Pane for everyone using this workbook. It cannot be undone, but you can still view or restore past versions using Version History.
Note: This does not clear all traces of past changes. Revision logs, version history, and other tracking may still show previous changes to the workbook.
