How to Track Changes in Excel (and What the Built-in Tools Miss)
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Excel tracks changes three ways: Show Changes lists individual cell edits, Version History saves whole-file snapshots, and the legacy Track Changes feature works on shared workbooks. All three record what changed and when. None of them capture why a number changed, and each has real limits, like a 60-day cap or a OneDrive requirement.
How do I turn on Show Changes in Excel?
Show Changes is Excel's modern change log. It records who changed a cell, the old and new value, the sheet and cell reference, and a timestamp, all in a side pane you can filter by sheet, range, or person. It works only when the workbook is stored on OneDrive or SharePoint and opened in Excel for the web or Microsoft 365.
- Save the workbook to OneDrive or SharePoint. Show Changes is unavailable for purely local files.
- Open it in Excel for the web or a current Microsoft 365 desktop app.
- On the Review tab, select Show Changes.
- Read the change feed in the pane; filter it down to a sheet, a range, or a person if the list gets long.
Show Changes keeps history for up to 60 days (Microsoft's documentation confirms the cap) and covers cell-level edits such as values, formulas, and moved or sorted ranges. Charts and formatting are not included.
How do I see version history in Excel?
Version History is a OneDrive and SharePoint feature surfaced inside Excel. It saves periodic snapshots of the entire file; you can open any snapshot read-only to compare it with the current version or restore it. It captures whole-file states, not a per-cell edit log, and it needs the file to live in the cloud.
To open it, with a cloud-stored workbook go to File → Info → Version History, or click the file name in the title bar and choose Version History. How far back it reaches depends on your OneDrive or SharePoint retention settings.
What happened to Track Changes in shared workbooks?
The original Track Changes, the highlight-changes feature tied to Excel's legacy Shared Workbook model, still exists but is hidden by default. It can highlight and list edits and, unlike Show Changes, works on locally saved, offline files. Microsoft now steers users away from it: it is deprecated in favor of co-authoring, incompatible with modern features such as tables, and tracks cell edits only.
To reach it, add the legacy Track Changes and Share Workbook commands from Excel Options → Quick Access Toolbar, then use Highlight Changes. Treat it as a fallback: it predates the cloud tools and does not play well with current workbooks.
What do Excel's change-tracking tools miss?
Between them, Show Changes, Version History, and legacy Track Changes cover a lot, but each leaves specific gaps. The biggest one is shared by all three: they record what changed and when, never why. The table below maps each tool against the limits that matter most.
| Capability | Show Changes | Version History | Legacy Track Changes | ExcelRewind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logs individual cell edits (who / what / when) | Yes | No (whole-file snapshots) | Yes | Yes |
| Works on offline or locally saved files | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| No fixed history time limit | No (60-day cap) | Depends on cloud retention | Configurable | Yes |
| Works without OneDrive / SharePoint | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Tracks charts, formatting, or macros | No | Snapshot only | No | No |
| Records why each change was made | No | No | No | Yes (a note per edit) |
Every row reflects documented behavior of Microsoft's tools. The built-ins do their job well. What they don't do is record the reasoning behind a change, and they carry the storage and time limits shown above.
How do I track why a number changed, not just what?
This is the gap none of the built-in tools close. To capture the reasoning, you record the edit and a short note together as you work, then share that recording. That's what ExcelRewind does. It picks up where Show Changes and Version History stop.
ExcelRewind is an Excel add-in (with a Google Sheets add-on) that records why the numbers in a spreadsheet change. It captures every cell edit with timing and a note explaining the reasoning, and saves them to a shareable, replayable .rewind companion file. It never modifies the original workbook and never uploads spreadsheet content1.
Because it writes a separate companion file and keeps your data on your machine, it works on any workbook regardless of where it is stored, and the history never expires. You can read how it never uploads your spreadsheet content, then replay a recording edit by edit to see each value change alongside the note explaining it.
See a real recording replay in your browser. You don't need an account or an install.
Watch a live replayInstall the add-in or see how ExcelRewind records the why behind every number.
Frequently asked questions
Does Excel track changes without OneDrive?
Not with the modern Show Changes feature. Show Changes requires the workbook to live on OneDrive or SharePoint and to be edited in Excel for the web or Microsoft 365; offline and locally saved files are not tracked. The older legacy Track Changes (Shared Workbooks) works offline but is deprecated and hidden by default. ExcelRewind records edits on any file, wherever it is stored, into a separate .rewind file on your machine.
How long does Excel keep change history?
Excel's Show Changes keeps change history for up to 60 days. After that, older changes drop off and can't be recovered. Version History depends on the retention settings of OneDrive or SharePoint. A .rewind file has no time limit: it is a recording you keep and can replay any time.
Does Excel track changes to charts, formatting, or macros?
No. Show Changes records cell-level edits such as values, formulas, and moved or sorted ranges, but not changes to charts, PivotTables, conditional formatting, cell formatting, or macros. If those matter, the built-in tools leave a gap. ExcelRewind is also cell-focused: it captures every cell edit with timing and a note explaining why it changed.
How do I see who changed a number in Excel and why?
Show Changes and Version History can show who changed a cell and when, but not why. ExcelRewind is an Excel add-in that records every cell edit with timing and a note explaining the reasoning, saved to a shareable, replayable .rewind file. It never modifies the original workbook and never uploads spreadsheet content.
What is the difference between Show Changes and Version History in Excel?
Show Changes lists individual cell edits (who, what, when) for a cloud-stored workbook and keeps them for up to 60 days. Version History saves snapshots of the whole file that you can open, compare, or restore. Neither records the reasoning behind an edit. ExcelRewind adds that missing why as a replayable, edit-by-edit timeline with notes.
1 The one exception: a Kiosk/Exam mode submission uploads the finished exam recording to ExcelRewind's storage for instructor review, sealed to the organization's encryption key when one is enabled.
Last updated: July 2026.
ExcelRewind is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft and Excel are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Questions? [email protected].