Google Docs has an editing history, which makes it possible to make a tracing of the changes made by other people on a shared document. In this article we will see in detail how to do it and with the options we have.
Turn on suggestion mode
When working on a document in Google Docs, “Edit” mode is activated by default. This means that all edits are permanent and are saved in the edit history. In order to track the changes we make to the document as suggestions, we would need to switch to “Suggestions” mode.
The first thing we will have to do is open the Google document to which we want to suggest modifications. In the upper right corner of the window, just below the Share button, we will see a Pen-shaped icon. We will click on this icon to see a drop-down menu.
We will click on the Suggestions mode to enter it. From this moment on, each edition we make will be tracked. A green strikethrough will appear on deleted text, and any new text we add will appear green. The text, which was already in the document, will remain black, as usual.
Invite more users to suggest edits
Once we are in the sharing window, we will first have to add the email of the person with whom we want to share the document, we will click on the arrow pointing down next to the “Editor” option and then we choose “Commentator” in the drop-down menu.
The commenter will be able to make suggestions in the document, without deleting any of the original text. However, if we configure it as Editor, we must take into account that this range allows the document to be freely edited without being tracked.
Accept or reject suggestions
After someone makes suggestions to our document, we can track the changes in Google Docs, and accept or reject them. This is quite simple, since each change can be viewed individually and we can see the details on the right side of the window.
To accept a change we will have to choose the check mark. In case we want to reject it, we will press the X. If we need to ask any question or clarification, it is also possible to leave a comment on the suggestion.
