Microsoft today announced a new feature for Excel on the web called Show Changes. As the name suggests, the feature brings a way for users to track changes made to a spreadsheet when collaborating with multiple users. This is especially useful for those that want to keep a track of changes made to complex formulas.
For those familiar, Excel on the desktop has for long allowed users to create shared workbooks and track changes, letting multiple users work together on a spreadsheet or workbook. However, the company began hiding the share workbook option with newer versions, instead pushing the real-time co-authoring feature, especially for Office 365 customers. The Show Changes feature aims to further improve remote collaboration on the web by letting file owners see the exact changes in values made to cells, including bulk edits.
The feature maintains a history of changes made to a workbook for up to 60 days and allows for users to select a range in a spreadsheet and look for changes made to the selected data. Information includes the name of the author, the location of the change, and the exact values that were changed. Show Changes can be accessed from the Review tab on the ribbon. Users can easily navigate to the desired cell for which a change was made from the pane by just clicking on the card.
The Show Changes feature is now rolling out to Microsoft 365 subscribers on the web. Though minor, it will be a welcome addition for those that collaborate extensively on spreadsheets, helping them not only track changes, but also fix accidental edits.