Microsoft Office

Using Excel in a Workgroup 30
FIGURE 30.5
Use the Highlight Changes dialog box to track changes made to a workbook.
You can also specify the period to track (When), which users to track (Who), and specify a range of cells to
track (Where). If you enable the Highlight Changes on Screen option, each changed cell displays a small triangle
in its upper-left corner. And when a changed cell is selected, you see a cell comment that describes
what change was made (see Figure 30.6).
After you select the option(s) that you want, click OK to close the Highlight Changes dialog box and enable
tracking. To stop tracking changes, choose Review ➪ Changes ➪ Track Changes ➪ Highlight Changes
again, and then remove the check mark in the Track Changes While Editing check box.
When tracking changes is enabled, the workbook always becomes a shared workbook — which
severely limits the types of changes you can make. Shared workbooks are discussed earlier in
this chapter (see “Sharing Workbooks”).
CAUTION
FIGURE 30.6
Excel displays a descriptive note when you select a cell that has changed.
Following are some points to keep in mind when using the Track Changes feature:
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Changes made to cell contents are tracked, but other changes (such as formatting changes) aren’t
tracked.
The change history is kept only for a set interval. When you turn on Track Changes, the changes
are kept for 30 days. You can increase or decrease the number of days of history to keep in the
Highlight Changes dialog box (use the When setting).
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