Turn on Track Changes to see who edited what and when
Track Changes in Google Docs records every edit someone makes — deletions, additions, formatting changes — and shows you who made each one and when. When you turn it on, edits appear in a different color and are marked as suggestions rather than permanent changes. You can then accept or reject each change one at a time, or accept all of them at once.
To turn on Track Changes, open your document and click the pencil icon in the top right corner. A menu appears with three options: Editing, Suggesting, and Viewing. Click Suggesting. From that moment forward, every keystroke and deletion will be tracked. The document will not change permanently until you or someone else approves each edit.
Track Changes is most useful when multiple people are working on the same document. One person can write a draft, another can edit it with Track Changes on, and the original author can review each suggestion before deciding whether to keep it. This prevents accidental overwrites and creates a clear record of who changed what.
Key Takeaways
- Suggesting mode (not Editing mode) turns on Track Changes and marks all edits as suggestions rather than permanent changes.
- Each tracked change shows the editor's name, the exact time it was made, and whether it was an addition, deletion, or format change.
- You can accept or reject individual changes, or accept all changes at once using the buttons in the suggestions panel.
- Track Changes works across shared documents and stays on until you switch back to Editing mode.
How to review and accept or reject changes
Once Track Changes is on and edits have been made, a panel appears on the right side of your document showing each change. The panel lists who made the change, when they made it, and what they changed. Hover over any tracked change in the document itself and you will see a small box with the editor's name and the timestamp.
To accept a single change, click the checkmark icon next to it in the suggestions panel. To reject it, click the X icon. You can also right-click directly on the change in the document and choose Accept suggestion or Reject suggestion from the menu. If you want to accept every change at once, click the three-dot menu at the top of the suggestions panel and select Accept all suggestions.
Once you accept a change, it becomes permanent and the suggestion disappears. Once you reject a change, the document reverts to what it was before that edit. If you are not sure about a change, you can leave it in Suggesting mode and come back to it later — the change will stay marked until you make a decision.
The difference between Suggesting and Editing modes
Google Docs offers three modes, and it is important to understand which one you are in. Editing mode makes changes permanent when ready — no one sees them as suggestions, and there is no way to undo them except by using the undo button or the version history. Suggesting mode marks every change as a suggestion that someone else has to approve. Viewing mode lets you read the document but prevents you from making any changes at all.
If you are the only person working on a document, Editing mode is fine. If you are collaborating, switch to Suggesting mode so that the document owner can review your work. If you are reviewing someone else's edits, stay in Viewing mode so you do not accidentally make changes while you are reading, then switch to Suggesting mode only when you are ready to edit.
You can see which mode you are in by looking at the pencil icon in the top right. It shows the current mode next to it. Switching modes does not delete any tracked changes — they stay in the document until you accept or reject them, no matter which mode you are in.
How to see the history of all changes in a document
Track Changes shows you suggestions that are currently pending. If you want to see every change that has ever been made to a document — including changes that were already accepted — use Version history. Click File in the top left, then Version history, then See version history. A panel opens on the right showing every saved version of the document, with the date and time each one was saved.
Click any version to see what the document looked like at that moment. The name of the person who made that version appears next to the timestamp. You can also click the three-dot menu next to a version and choose Restore this version to revert the entire document to that point in time. This is different from Track Changes — it does not show individual edits, but rather snapshots of the whole document at different moments.
Version history is useful if you want to see the big picture of how a document evolved, or if you need to recover text that was deleted several edits ago. Track Changes is better if you want to review and approve individual edits one by one.
Why Track Changes matters in shared documents
When you share a document with others, Track Changes prevents confusion about who wrote what. Without it, someone might delete a paragraph and you would not know who did it or why. With Track Changes on, you can see the deletion, see the person's name, and ask them about it before accepting or rejecting the change.
Track Changes also protects against accidental overwrites. If two people are editing at the same time and both are in Suggesting mode, their changes do not conflict — they both appear as suggestions that can be reviewed separately. If both were in Editing mode, one person's work could overwrite the other's without warning.
For documents that go through multiple rounds of review — like a contract, a report, or a proposal — Track Changes creates an audit trail. Anyone reading the document can see what changed between versions and who approved each change. This is especially important in professional and legal settings where accountability matters.
Common mistakes when using Track Changes
The most common mistake is forgetting to switch to Suggesting mode before editing. If you open a shared document in Editing mode and make changes, those changes are permanent when ready. The document owner might not realize you made edits, and there is no suggestion for them to review. Always check the mode before you start typing.
Another mistake is accepting all changes without reading them. If someone makes a large edit or deletes important text, accepting it without reviewing means you lose the chance to ask why they made that change. Take time to read each suggestion, especially in documents where accuracy matters.
A third mistake is confusing Track Changes with comments. Track Changes records edits to the text itself. Comments are separate — they are notes attached to specific parts of the document but do not change the text. You can use both at the same time: Track Changes to show edits, and comments to explain why you made them.
How to turn off Track Changes
To stop tracking changes, click the pencil icon in the top right and select Editing. From that moment on, new edits will be permanent and will not appear as suggestions. Any changes that were already tracked and not yet accepted or rejected will remain in the suggestions panel until you deal with them.
Before you switch back to Editing mode, make sure you have accepted or rejected all pending suggestions. If you switch to Editing mode and then make new changes, those new changes will not be tracked, and it will be harder to tell what happened. If you need to keep a record of who edited what, leave Track Changes on until all edits are finalized.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I see Track Changes on a document I did not create?
Yes. If someone shares a document with you and has Track Changes on, you will see all pending suggestions. You can accept or reject them if you have editing permission. If you only have viewing permission, you can see the suggestions but cannot approve them — only the document owner or someone with editing access can do that.
What happens to Track Changes if I read the document as a Word file?
Track Changes converts to Microsoft Word's track changes format when you read as .docx. The suggestions stay marked and can be reviewed in Word. If you read as a PDF, all suggestions are flattened into the document and cannot be edited or rejected separately.
Can I turn off Track Changes for one person but keep it on for others?
No. Track Changes is a document-wide setting. When it is on, it tracks edits from everyone. You cannot selectively track one person's changes and not another's. However, you can review each person's changes separately by looking at the suggestions panel and filtering by editor name if you need to.
Does Track Changes slow down Google Docs?
No. Track Changes does not noticeably affect performance. Google Docs handles tracked changes the same way it handles regular edits — the difference is just whether those edits are marked as suggestions or applied when ready.
Can I undo accepting a change?
Once you accept a change, it becomes permanent text in the document. You cannot undo the acceptance itself, but you can use the undo button (Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z) when ready after accepting if you change your mind. If you wait too long, your only option is to use version history to restore an earlier version of the document.