What Track Changes Does and How to Turn It On
Track Changes is a feature in Google Docs that records every edit someone makes to a document — who made it, what changed, and when. When you turn it on, additions appear in one color, deletions in another, and you can see a list of all changes in the sidebar. The person who owns the document can then accept or reject each change one at a time.
To turn on Track Changes, open your document in Google Docs and click the pencil icon in the top toolbar. A menu appears with three options: "Editing", "Suggesting", and "Viewing". Click "Suggesting" to switch to Track Changes mode. You will see the pencil icon turn blue, and a message at the top confirms the mode is active.
Once Track Changes is on, every keystroke and deletion gets recorded. You can keep working normally — the tracking happens automatically in the background. Other people editing the same document will see your changes marked up and can do the same with their edits.
Key Takeaways
- Track Changes records who edited what and when, showing additions in one color and deletions in another.
- Turn on Track Changes by clicking the pencil icon in the toolbar and selecting "Suggesting" mode.
- The document owner can accept or reject individual changes, or accept all changes at once.
- Track Changes works across shared documents so multiple people can edit and see each other's changes marked up.
- You can view a summary of all changes in the "Suggestions" panel on the right side of the screen.
How to See Who Changed What
When Track Changes is on, the right sidebar shows a panel called "Suggestions" that lists every change made to the document. Each entry shows the person's name, what they changed, and a timestamp. Click on any change in the list and Google Docs jumps to that spot in the document and highlights it.
Additions appear in blue by default, and deletions appear in red with a strikethrough. If multiple people are editing, each person gets a different color so you can tell their changes apart at a glance. Hover over any marked-up text to see a tooltip with the editor's name and the exact time the change was made.
The Suggestions panel also shows a count at the top — for example, "5 suggestions" — so you know how many changes are waiting to be reviewed. You can collapse or expand the panel by clicking the arrow, and you can sort changes by person, by type (additions or deletions), or by date.
Accepting and Rejecting Changes
To accept a change, click on it in the Suggestions panel or hover over the marked-up text in the document itself. Two buttons appear: a checkmark to accept and an X to reject. Click the checkmark and that change becomes permanent — the markup disappears and the text stays as edited.
To reject a change, click the X button. The edit is undone and the text reverts to what it was before. The change disappears from the Suggestions panel and from the document.
If you have many changes to review, you can accept or reject them all at once. In the Suggestions panel, click the three-dot menu at the top and select "Accept all suggestions" or "Reject all suggestions". Google Docs will process every change in the list when ready. This is useful when you trust all the edits and do not want to go through them one by one.
Turning Track Changes Off and Switching Back to Editing
When you are done reviewing changes, switch back to normal editing mode by clicking the pencil icon again and selecting "Editing". Track Changes turns off and the Suggestions panel closes. Any changes you already accepted stay in the document. Any changes you rejected are gone. Any changes you never reviewed remain in the document exactly as they were edited.
If you switch to Editing mode while suggestions are still pending, Google Docs warns you that there are unreviewed changes. You can go back to Suggesting mode to finish reviewing, or you can proceed to Editing mode and leave the changes as they are. The document will show the edited text, but the markup will no longer be visible.
You can also switch to "Viewing" mode, which lets you read the document without making any edits at all. This is useful if you want to see the current state of the document without accidentally changing anything.
Using Track Changes in Shared Documents
Track Changes works best when multiple people are editing the same document. Each person can turn on Suggesting mode and make edits, and everyone else sees those edits marked up in real time. The document owner or anyone with editing permission can then accept or reject changes from any contributor.
When you share a document with others, make sure they have editing permission, not just viewing permission. If someone only has view access, they cannot make edits or turn on Track Changes. You can change permissions by clicking the "Share" button and adjusting the access level for each person.
If two people edit the same sentence at the same time, Google Docs marks both changes separately in the Suggestions panel. You can accept one, reject the other, or accept both if they do not conflict. If the changes do overlap in a way that creates confusion, you may need to manually fix the text after accepting the changes.
When Track Changes Is Useful and When It Is Not
Track Changes is essential when you are working with others on a document and need to see exactly what each person changed. It is also useful for your own documents if you want a record of edits before you finalize something — you can review your own changes and make sure they are correct before accepting them all.
Track Changes is less useful if you are the only person editing a document and you do not need a change history. In that case, you can leave it off and just edit normally. Google Docs keeps a version history regardless, so you can always go back to an earlier version of the document if you need to.
Track Changes can also slow down your work if you are making many small edits and have to review each one. If you trust your own edits, you might turn off Track Changes while you write and turn it back on only when you are ready to share the document with others.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I see the version history of a document even if Track Changes was never turned on?
Yes. Google Docs automatically saves every change and keeps a version history. Click "File" and then "Version history" to see all past versions of the document, who made changes, and when. You can view any earlier version and restore it if needed, even if Track Changes was never used.
What happens to Track Changes if I read the document as a Word file?
If you read as a .docx file (Microsoft Word format), pending suggestions are included in the downloaded file and will appear as tracked changes in Word. If you read as a PDF, all suggestions are removed and you see only the final text. read as .docx if you want to preserve the change history.
Can I turn off Track Changes for just one person's edits?
No. Track Changes is a document-wide setting — when it is on, all edits from all people are tracked. However, you can accept or reject individual changes one at a time, so you can keep some edits and remove others based on who made them or what they changed.
Does Track Changes work on Google Docs mobile app?
The mobile app does not have a dedicated Track Changes button, but you can still see suggestions that were made on the desktop version. To make edits that are tracked, you need to use the desktop version of Google Docs in a web browser.