How to View and Revert Changes Made in Google Docs

Google Docs offers a powerful version history feature that allows you to track, view, and revert changes made to your documents. This feature is particularly useful for collaborative work, enabling you to see who made changes, when they were made, and to restore previous versions if needed.

Accessing Version History

To access the version history of your Google Doc, follow these steps:

Using the File Menu: Click on the File tab in the top menu bar, then select Version history > See version history.
Using the Last Edit Icon: Click the Last edit panel in the top right corner, near the comments button. This icon looks like a clock.

Exploring the Version History Panel

Once you access the version history, a panel will appear on the right side of your document, showing a timeline of every version ever created. Here’s what you can see:

Dates and Times: Each version has a timestamp indicating when it was saved.
User Names: If your document is shared, you’ll also see the names of the users who made edits in each version.
Highlights: New or changed text within a version is highlighted for easy comparison.

Reviewing Specific Versions

To review the contents of a specific version, simply click on it in the timeline. The document will be replaced with the content of that version, but your current draft won’t be affected.

Viewing Changes by Date and Time

If you're looking for changes made at a particular date and time, you can use the scroll bar on the version history pane to navigate to a specific point in time. This allows you to focus on a particular period or event and review the edits made during that timeframe.

Viewing Changes by User

To view changes made by a specific user, click on the Show changes from drop-down menu at the top of the version history pane. From there, you can select the user whose edits you want to examine. This feature is particularly useful for tracking the contributions of individual collaborators or identifying the work done by yourself.

Restoring Previous Versions

If you decide that a previous version of your document was better than the current one, you can easily restore it.

Selecting a Version to Restore

Access the Version History Panel: Follow the steps above to access the version history.
Find the Desired Version: From the timeline, find the version you want to restore and click on it. A preview of the document at that specific version will appear.
Restore the Version: You will have the option to either Restore this version or Make a copy of it. If you choose to restore, a confirmation dialogue box will appear, asking if you want to replace the current version of the document with the selected version.

Confirming Restoration of a Version

Review the dialog box carefully and ensure that you are restoring the correct version. Once you click Restore, the selected version will replace the current document.

Naming Versions for Better Organization

If you collaborate frequently or your document goes through many edits, it might be helpful to assign names to different versions. Here’s how:

Access the Version History Panel: Follow the steps above to access the version history.
Name the Version: Click on the More button (⋮) beside a specific version, and then click Name this version. You can add up to 40 named versions per document.

Comparing Versions

If you want to compare two versions of a document, you can use the built-in compare feature:

Make a Copy of the Version: Click on the More button (⋮) beside a specific version, and then click Make a copy.
Compare Documents: In either document, click Tools > Compare documents, and select the other document to compare it to. This will create a third document that shows the differences as suggestions.

Additional Tips

Show Changes: If you prefer to view the document without any visual clutter, you can uncheck Show changes in the version history panel to turn this feature off.
Suggesting Mode: If you’re frequently collaborating on documents, enable Suggesting mode under Tools > Suggesting. This allows you to preview proposed edits before accepting them, making reviewing edits even easier.

By leveraging these features, you can effectively manage and track changes in your Google Docs, ensuring that you can always revert to a previous version if needed and maintain the integrity of your work.