We’ve all been there—scrolling through a maze of Final_v3(Updated)_FINAL.xlsx files, wondering which one is actually final. (gentle eye roll)
One wrong edit, one accidental overwrite, and suddenly, your Excel data is a mess of conflicting versions and missing information.
A survey by Adobe Acrobat found that more than 1 in 10 employees spend more than 4 hours a week searching for a document. That’s over 10% of the workweek lost to file confusion!
So, what’s the fix? A smarter way to track changes, prevent errors, and collaborate in real time. Ready to put an end to versioning headaches? Let’s break it down. 🚀
How to Use Excel Version Control for Better Collaboration
⏰ 60-Second Summary
- Excel version control prevents data loss, overwrites, and version conflicts, ensuring seamless collaboration
- Activate the Track Changes feature to monitor edits and highlight modifications
- Compare versions through Version History and see who edited what and when
- Easily restore previous versions to undo unwanted changes
- Manual tracking methods in Excel often lead to errors and inefficient workflows
- provides a better alternative with real-time tracking, built-in version history, and role-based access controls
What Is Version Control in Excel?
Version control in Excel refers to the systematic management of changes made to Excel files over time. This process allows users to track revisions, revert to previous versions, and collaborate more effectively with team members.
Understanding version control is crucial for professionals who rely on Excel for data analysis, reporting, and project management.
Whether you’re managing financial reports, marketing budgets, or project data, mastering Excel version control can save your team from chaos.
If you want expert tips on improving synchronous collaboration within teams, watch this:
How to Enable and Use Version Control in Excel
Version control in Excel ensures that every change is tracked, every edit is recoverable, and team collaboration is seamless.
Here’s how you can track changes in Excel:
Step 1: To enable tracking, go to the Review tab and click on Track Changes. In the new version of Excel, go to File > Options and add the Track Changes option to the Quick Access Toolbar.
Step 2: In the Quick Access Toolbar, click on the Track Changes icon and select Highlight Changes
Step 3: A pop-up will now appear, allowing you to select which type of changes you want to track using the checkboxes next to When, Who, and Where. You can also choose whether to highlight changes on the screen or list them on a new sheet for tracking.
Step 4: Check the box titled Highlight changes on the screen to highlight the cells where changes have been made.
If you want to see changes made in an individual cell, click on the highlighted cell to see the changes.
🔍 Did You Know? Excel files saved in XML format allow for structured data storage, making it easier to track changes. If your team needs to analyze changes at the code level, saving a workbook as an XML file can be useful.
How to restore or compare versions in Excel
Step 1: To compare two versions of the same worksheet, go to File > Info and select Version History.
This opens a small window on the right side of your worksheet where you can see different versions of the worksheet, the names of the contributors, and the changes they made.
Step 2: To restore a previous version, select it and click on Restore. You can also merge versions by clicking on Consolidate under the Data tab.
Bonus: Saving Excel data in a text format (CSV or TXT) makes it easier to track changes outside of Excel.
Steps to save Excel data as text files:
- Click File > Save As
- Select CSV (Comma delimited) (.csv) or Text (Tab delimited) (.txt)
- Choose a location and click Save
Benefits of Version Control in Excel
Keeping track of changes in an Excel file helps avoid costly mistakes, improving teamwork and ensuring data integrity. Excel allows you to assign user names to each collaborator, making it easier to manage edits.
Here are some benefits of version control in Excel:
💻 Prevents data loss and overwrites
Without version control, an accidental Save can erase hours of effort. With version control, you can restore previous versions of a file in seconds.
Take, for example, a marketing team tracking campaign performance. If one analyst accidentally deletes key metrics, version control allows them to revert to an earlier version instead of scrambling to reconstruct lost data
🤝 Enhances collaboration without file conflicts
Working on an Excel file with multiple people can be a nightmare—duplicate copies, conflicting edits, and messy email chains. Version control eliminates these issues.
- Multiple users can edit the same workbook simultaneously
- Changes are saved automatically, reducing confusion
Instead of merging different spreadsheets manually, everyone works on the latest version in real time.
Friendly Reminder: In older Excel versions, the ‘Merge Workbooks’ feature allows multiple users to edit different copies and then combine them. This method helps consolidate changes but works best when there are minimal conflicts between versions.
🧾 Creates an audit trail for accountability
In industries where compliance matters, such as finance, healthcare, and legal, tracking changes isn’t optional. Excel’s Version History logs edits, showing who made changes and when.
For example, an HR team managing salary data can quickly identify when and why an adjustment was made, ensuring compliance with company policies.
✔️ Reduces errors and improves accuracy
Typos, incorrect formulas, or accidental deletions can destroy an entire dataset. With version control, you can:
- Compare versions to spot discrepancies
- Restore previous versions if errors occur
- Reduce the risk of working with outdated or incorrect data
A great example? A financial analyst who is responsible for preparing quarterly revenue forecasts. If an incorrect formula skews projections, they can easily roll back to a previous version instead of manually fixing every sheet.
💡 Pro Tip: Instead of manually saving multiple versions of your workbook, you can use VBA code to create backup copies with timestamps automatically. To add, open the VBA module by pressing ALT + F11, insert a new module, and paste the code.
⌛ Saves time and boosts productivity
Manually tracking versions or merging changes wastes valuable time. Version control streamlines workflows, letting teams focus on analysis instead of file management.
For project managers handling complex budgeting spreadsheets, version control reduces back-and-forth approvals. Rather than manually verifying edits from multiple stakeholders, they can track changes in real time, approve revisions faster, and ensure the data stays accurate.
📮 Insight: 83% of knowledge workers rely primarily on email and chat for team communication. However, nearly 60% of their workday is lost switching between these tools and searching for information.
With an everything app for work like , your project management, messaging, emails, and chats all converge in one place! It’s time to centralize and energize!
Best Practices for Excel Version Control
Version control is a crucial part of managing Excel files, especially when multiple people are involved. Without a structured approach, you could find yourself drowning in outdated files, conflicting edits, or even accidental data loss.
Here’s how to maintain order and keep your spreadsheets working for you instead of against you.
Use standard file-naming conventions
One of the simplest yet most overlooked aspects of Excel version control is consistent file naming. A well-structured naming convention prevents confusion, makes it easier to track changes, and reduces the risk of working on outdated versions.
✨ Best practices for file naming:
- Include version numbers (e.g., Budget_Report_v1.2.xlsx)
- Add timestamps for reference (e.g., Sales_Q1_2024_02-06.xlsx)
- Use initials or user IDs to identify contributors (ProjectPlan_JD_v3.xlsx)
- Use descriptive file names and avoid vague terms like Final.xlsx or Latest.xlsx
A good rule of thumb? Stick to a structure like:
[ProjectName]_[Description]_[Version]_[Date]
For example:
✅ MarketingStrategy_Q2_v2_2024-02-06.xlsx
❌ Final_Marketing.xlsx
This approach minimizes confusion and ensures team members always know which version they should be working on.
Use ‘Track Changes’ and ‘Comments’ for transparency
Excel’s Track Changes feature (available in older versions) or the Co-authoring feature in newer Excel versions provides a record of who made what changes and when.
🤔 Alternatives for tracking changes in Excel:
- Use comments and notes: In Excel 365, use threaded comments for discussions
- Highlight manual edits: Use color coding or conditional formatting for cells that require tracking
Save incremental versions for major changes
Even if you’re using cloud-based version control, saving incremental versions manually for major updates is a good habit.
A practical approach is to save a new version when making significant changes (e.g., before updating formulas, adding new datasets, or making bulk edits).
📧 Example:
- Before updating, save as Inventory_Analysis_v2.1.xlsx
- After updates, save as Inventory_Analysis_v2.2.xlsx
Automate backups and use cloud storage
Why rely on manual backups when you can automate them? Excel files can be lost due to accidental deletion, corruption, or system failures. If your team frequently works with complex datasets, automated backups can save hours of work in case of unexpected disruptions.
🤝 To avoid this:
- Store files on OneDrive, Google Drive, or SharePoint for real-time cloud backups
- Enable AutoSave in Excel 365 to prevent losing unsaved work
- Schedule automated backups of critical Excel files to an external drive or cloud service
Limitations of Using Microsoft Excel
While MS Excel is a powerful tool for managing and tracking data, its version control capabilities have some inherent limitations that can pose challenges in collaborative environments.
Here’s what you need to watch out for:
- Lack of real-time collaboration: Unlike cloud-based collaboration tools like Google Sheets, Google Docs, or Microsoft 365 online, desktop Excel doesn’t support real-time editing. When multiple users work on a file simultaneously, conflicting versions can emerge, leading to data overwrites and inconsistencies ❌
- No built-in advanced version control system: Excel doesn’t provide advanced features such as branching, merging, or conflict resolution. This means that if two users edit the same cell, Excel lacks the tools to resolve or highlight conflicts automatically ❌
- Performance issues with large data sets: Excel workbooks with Version History or Track Changes enabled can quickly become large in size, especially for extensive spreadsheets with lots of data. This can slow down performance, making it difficult to work with large datasets ❌
- Security and access control challenges: Excel files shared via email or cloud storage are vulnerable to unauthorized access and data breaches. Unlike advanced file-sharing software, Excel doesn’t offer granular permissions, meaning anyone with access can modify or delete critical information. For sensitive or complex projects, this lack of version-specific access control can create challenges in managing data integrity ❌
- Difficult to compare multiple versions: For complex workbooks with many changes over time, manual comparison can be tedious and error-prone ❌
as an Alternative for Microsoft Excel
Excel often leads to version control headaches, lost formulas, and time-consuming manual fixes.
And that’s just the start of your struggle. That’s why you need a solution that takes the chaos out of data management and collaboration—something more organized than traditional spreadsheets.
Enter , the everything app for work known for data organization, management, and collaboration—all powered by the world’s most cohesive work AI.
Why over Excel? A quick summary
| Feature | Microsoft Excel | Table View |
| Version history | Basic | Detailed task edit history |
| Change tracking | Limited to shared workbooks | Activity logs per row |
| Real-time collaboration | Requires manual refresh | Instant cloud sync |
| Access permissions | File-level only | Row/column-level control |
| Team communication | Comments (basic) | Comments, mentions, task linking |
Table View
If you’re looking for a more collaborative and version-controlled alternative to Excel, ’s Table View offers the perfect solution.
It eliminates the common frustrations of manual file versioning, overwrites, and limited collaboration tools, giving teams an easier way to track, edit, and manage data without the hassle of multiple spreadsheets.
With ’s Table View, it’s easy to maintain version control, track changes, and set role-based access permissions.
The built-in version history eliminates the need to save multiple file copies or rely on Excel’s basic versioning. Every edit made to a table entry is automatically saved.
This means no more “Final_Version_v3.xlsx” chaos. Instead, you get a clear, organized history of changes directly in .
🍄 Example: A marketing team uses ’s Table View to track their quarterly advertising budget, ensuring clear visibility into spending, approvals, and changes. Instead of dealing with multiple Excel versions, they collaborate in a single, real-time table that everyone can access.
Let’s discuss how to track changes in , and its rich feature set that makes collaboration easy.
How to track changes in ?
Page history for version control
Docs maintains a detailed edit history for every document, tracking all modifications with timestamps. It records who made each change, what was altered, and when it occurred.
This feature enhances accountability and allows users to revert to previous versions if needed. To access the edit history:
- Open a document.
- Click the ellipsis (…) menu in the upper-right corner.
- Select ‘Page History’ from the dropdown menu.
- Browse through different versions to view detailed changes.
- To restore a previous version, select it and click ‘Restore‘
Real-time collaboration features
When multiple team members edit a document simultaneously, ’s Collaboration Detection provides real-time visibility into who is working on each section.
Active collaborators’ cursors are displayed in documents, allowing users to see edits as they happen and preventing overlaps. This helps maintain alignment since all changes, comments, and status updates are immediately visible to all team members.
Tracking with ’s Activity View
Excel’s ‘Track Changes’ feature is limited to shared workbooks and often causes conflicts when multiple users edit a single workbook. In contrast, logs all edits for real-time collaboration.
With ’s Activity View, you can:
🔹 See who changed what and when—down to individual table rows
🔹 Track formula updates, data inputs, and status changes
🔹 Restore an older version if the need arises with a single click
🍄 Example: If a sales team is tracking quarterly revenue in a Table, and someone updates the Q2 revenue figure, the team can instantly trace the edit back to its source—eliminating confusion and data errors.
Role-based access for secure collaboration
Excel’s file-based permissions restrict access at the document level, making it hard to manage who can edit what. ’s User Roles and Permissions offer granular control by allowing teams to set permissions at the row, column, or table level.
You can:
🔒 Assign view-only, comment, or edit rights to specific users
🔒 Lock critical data fields to prevent accidental changes
🔒 Control user access at multiple levels for added security
🍄 Example: If a finance team wants executives to view financial reports but accountants to edit budget data, they can set custom permissions, ensuring that only authorized users make changes.
Master Version Control and Collaboration With
An Excel spreadsheet is great for number crunching, but when it comes to version control, real-time collaboration, and data security, it falls short. Juggling multiple versions of files, tracking changes, and managing access can quickly turn into a nightmare.
eliminates these roadblocks with built-in version history, real-time tracking, and advanced access controls, ensuring your team always works on the right data without chaos.
Why settle for spreadsheets and siloed data spread across a few tools when you can have seamless collaboration and true version control in one place?
👉 Sign up for free on and take control of your data today!
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
