Check Version History in Google Sheets [2024] - Ultimate Guide to Find What’s Changed

Google Sheets is a powerful spreadsheet program built for team collaboration. It has useful features such as Version history that lets users identify all the changes made over time. You can access it by clicking on the Clock icon that appears on the upper-rightmost corner of the screen.

It automatically records all the changes made to your spreadsheet.

Sometimes, users may feel the previous version was better than the current one.

They can restore any version within a few seconds!

In this article, let us learn to restore the information, revert changes made by your teammates, and identify the person responsible for the given edit in Google Sheets.

This is a quick guide with lots of helpful information, so make sure to read till the end.

Click on the following links to jump to that particular section of the article:

What is Version History in Google Sheets?
How to view or edit the history of a spreadsheet in Google Sheets
How to view the edit history of a given cell in Google Sheets
How to restore old versions of a spreadsheet in Google Sheets
How to name versions of a spreadsheet in Google Sheets
How to create a separate spreadsheet from a previous version of Google Sheets

Now, without any further ado, let’s begin.

What is Version History in Google Sheets?

Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet program which has gained tremendous popularity over the last few years. It boasts state-of-the-art tools for collaboration and productivity.

Here’s the snapshot of the Version history in Google Sheets,

As you can see, on the right side of the screen, Google Sheets displays the date, time, and name of the person responsible for the change or edit.

Often, users accidentally delete something, or calculations may go wrong.

The Version history feature in Google Sheets allows users to revisit the different versions of a spreadsheet.

If you are used to making different copies of your spreadsheet for the record, then this feature is for you.

It automatically records the changes to the spreadsheet and creates different versions which can be edited or restored later.

How to view or edit the history of a spreadsheet in Google Sheets

It is effortless to view and edit version history in Google Sheets. The program comes with an intuitive and easy-to-use interface.

Follow the steps below to see the entire log of the changes made to a given spreadsheet.

Go to the main menu
Click on the “File” tab
Select the “Version history” option from the popup
Now, choose “See version history”

A new window will popup as shown below,

There are two sections in the above image. The first is where you can view a particular change and its location in the spreadsheet.

The second is the log or record of the changes made to the given spreadsheet.

The log contains the date, time, and name of the person responsible for the edit. When you click on each record, it will take you to that particular spreadsheet section with the changes highlighted in either light blue, orange, or green.

Each record represents a separate spreadsheet version, which can be restored with simple clicks.

There is a small checkbox at the bottom of the change log section that lets users decide if they wish to see the changes in the spreadsheet after clicking on the timestamp.

How to view the edit history of a given cell in Google Sheets

Apart from having a bird’s eye view of all the changes made to the entire spreadsheet, Google Sheets allows users to identify changes made to each cell.

Follow the steps below to see the edit history of a cell,

Open the Google Sheet
Select the desired cell
Right-click to see more options
Click on “Show edit history” from the popup
A new dialog box will appear, as shown in the following image

This little dialog box displays all the changes made within a cell.

Use the arrows on the upper-rightmost corner of the dialog box to navigate through all the changes. It also displays the name of the person responsible for a particular change.

Along with the name, you will see the timestamp that conveys the date and time of the change.

It is a beneficial feature when dealing with a report where each cell plays a crucial role.

How to restore old versions of a spreadsheet in Google Sheet

There are various circumstances where you may feel like the previous version was better than the current one.

It includes,

The times you make mistakes and wish to revert them
The times when the calculations go wrong and lead to unexpected outputs
The times when your colleague mistakenly changes the content of a cell which was not meant to be edited
And more…

Google Sheets is a powerful tool that automatically creates a change log and records all the changes as a separate spreadsheet version.

You can restore that separate version of the spreadsheet at any time in the future.

Here are the steps to restore a spreadsheet version in Google Sheets,

Open the Google Sheet
Go to the main menu
Click on the “File” button
Select the “Version history” from the popup
Choose the “See version history” option
A new popup will appear, as shown below
On the right-hand side of the screen, choose the version you wish to restore
A green button will be displayed on the upper-leftmost corner of the screen as “Restore this version”
Now, a confirmation popup will appear, as shown below
Click on the “Restore” button

Your current tab will be reloaded as soon as you click the Restore button in the last step.

In any case, if you change your mind, simply click the Back button of your browser instead of following the above steps.

Additionally, Google Sheets displays the restored spreadsheet copy with proper information, including the date and time, as shown below.

How to name versions of a spreadsheet in Google Sheets

Sometimes, we prefer to create different spreadsheet versions for the record and end up with a series of copies on our local or online drive.

With Google Sheets, you can avoid that mess!

It allows you to rename different versions of the spreadsheet while you and your colleagues keep on making the changes.

You can view those versions at any time in the future.

Let’s discuss the steps to name versions in Google Sheets,

Open the desired Google Sheet
Hover to the main menu and click on the “File” tab
Now, choose the “Version history” from the popup
Select the second option named “See version history”
A new dialog box will appear, as shown in the following image
Next, select the version you wish to assign the name
Click on the three dots that appear beside the timestamp of the respective version. Refer to the following image,
Choose “Name this version” from the popup
Type “Demo” as the name
(Make sure to replace the keyword “Demo” with your desired name)
Press “Enter” on your keyboard

You can name all the versions recorded by the Google Sheets.

To view the named versions, click the dropdown below the Version history header, as shown in the following image.

Then, select “Named versions” from the popup.

Google Sheets displays the current version of the spreadsheet at the top and all the named versions below it.

How to create a separate spreadsheet from a previous version of Google Sheets

Now, in this section, let us learn to create an entirely new spreadsheet from our recorded or named version.

It is pretty simple.

Here are the steps,

Open the Google Sheet
Go to the main menu and select “File”
Click on the “Version history” option from the popup
Now, choose the second option, “See version history”
Version history popup will be displayed across the screen as shown in the following image
Click on the version you wish to convert into the spreadsheet
Click on the three dots beside the timestamp, as shown below
Select “Make a copy” from the popup
A new dialog box will appear, as shown in the following image
Enter the name for your new spreadsheet
Assign a specific folder if you want
Click on the “Make a copy” button in the green

You will be redirected to a new tab on your browser where you will find the new Google Sheet.

Make sure to tick the box before the “Share it with the same people” option, as shown below, if you wish to share the new Google Sheet with your colleagues and friends.