App Specific

Docs

Over the years, many people have asked whether you can "Track Changes" in a Google Doc in the same way that you can in a Microsoft Word document. Up until a couple of years ago, it wasn't possible to "Track Changes" in a Google Doc and you were only able to look at the version history and restore back to a given point.

Now, you can do something similar to "Track Changes" using what Google calls "Suggesting Mode". By default, all Docs are opened in "Edit Mode" where everybody edits simultaneously and all edits are saved to the version history. In "Suggesting mode" every change you make to the document shows up on the right in a comment box with descriptors like add, replace and delete telling you what the requested change is. Additionally, if you delete something the text shows with the strike through font; if you add something new the text shows up as green text and if you replace something it has the combination of strike through for the text you replace and the green text for the new text. This is all very similar to "Track Changes".

Enable "Suggesting Mode"

  1. Open a Google Doc.

  2. Find the pencil icon with "Editing" next to it in the top right corner and click the small drop down arrow.

  3. Select Suggesting from the list.

  4. You are now in "Suggesting mode"

Now all you need to do is go to work editing your document and all of the edits look like "Track Changes". Note, that each change also becomes a comment thread and a discussion can be had about each change if so desired. If you think a change should be accepted, you can except them individually by clicking the green check mark in the top right corner of the change. If you don't want to accept the change, click the "X" in the top right corner of the change and it will be removed.

Accept or deny all changes at the same time

  1. Make all of the changes required in the document.

  2. Click on Tools in the menu bar.

  3. Click Review suggested edits in the list of options.

  4. To accept all just click the Accept All button. To reject all, click the Reject All button. From here you can also get a preview of the document if you accept all or reject all before clicking the buttons. To see previews;

    1. Click the down arrow next to the text that says "Show suggested edits".

    2. Click the option that you would like to see, either Preview "Accept all" or Preview "reject all". Once you click the option the version you selected will show up in the center of the screen. Review the document with all the changes and then accept or reject all of the changes or go back to the edits using the same link that got you to the previews and select the Show suggested edits option.

Get out of "Review suggested edits" Mode

  • Click the X in the top right corner of the dialog box.

Sheets

Notes

Earlier you learned about adding comments to individual cells in a Google Sheet. Comments are great for having a discussion around content in a cell but doesn't work well if you just want to alert people to something special about an individual cell. For this kind of application, a "Note" is just the thing to use. Adding notes to a cell is identical to adding comments to a cell. All you do is select the "Note" option rather than the "Comment" option.

To add a "Note" in a cell:

  1. Select the cell where you want to leave a note.

  2. Click on the Insert menu and then click on Note, or right click in the cell and select Note in the popup menu.

  3. Type in the text for your note and click anywhere outside of the cell. A small black triangle in the top right corner of the cell indicates that there is a note in that cell.

  4. Notes will become visible when you mouse over a cell

To remove a note:

  1. Mouse over a cell with a note.

  2. When the note appears delete the text.

  3. Click anywhere outside of the cell to finish deleting the note

Freezing Rows and Columns

When using spreadsheets, especially those with lots of rows and columns, it is often good practice to freeze one or two rows at the top and one or two columns on the left. This makes it so you can see the headers at all times and in the case of a sheet with names, allows you to see the names when you slide the sheet to the left.

Freezing rows and columns is really easy to do:

  1. Open a Google Sheet.

  2. Click in the cell where you want your rows and columns frozen. As an example you may want only the top row frozen because it holds all of the header information and you may want the first 3 columns frozen as they contain first name, last name and email address.

  3. Click on View in the menu bar.

  4. Move your mouse over the "Freeze" option and you will see a pop out menu listing the default options available to you. No rows, 1 row and 2 rows and no columns, 1 column and 2 columns. Below these options you will see another option that says "Up to current row(1)" and "Up to current column(C).

  5. Click the last option in the rows section and the top row will freeze and will appear immediately with a thick grey line at the bottom where it is Frozen.

  6. Repeat the same task but this time click the last option in the columns section and the first 3 columns will freeze. This time you will see a vertical, thick, grey line to the right of the column you want to freeze.

If you don't need any more than 2 rows or 2 columns, where you place your cursor won't matter because you can just use the default options.

Slides

Up to 10 people can edit a Google Slides presentation simultaneously.