Excel 2010 Reviewing and Sharing Workbooks

Excel 2010

Reviewing and Sharing Workbooks

Introduction

 

Tracking Changes

Watch the video (5:11). Need help?

About Track Changes

Worksheet with tracked changes

To Turn on Track Changes:

1. Go to the Review tab.
2. Click Track Changes, then select Highlight Changes from the drop-down menu.
   Highlight tracked changes
3. The Highlight Changes dialog box will appear.
4. Check the box next to Track changes while editing.
5. Verify the box is checked for Highlight changes on screen. This will highlight your changes while you work.
6. Click OK.
   Turning Track Changes on
7. If prompted, click OK to allow Excel to save your workbook
   
8. Change tracking is now active. Any changes you make to the worksheet will be highlighted with a unique border and indicator.
   Worksheet with tracked changes

To Turn off Track Changes:

1. From the Review tab, click Track Changes. Then select Highlight Changes from the drop-down menu.
2. Uncheck the box next to Track changes while editing.
   Turning Track Changes off
3. Click Yes to confirm that you want to turn off Track Changes and stop sharing your workbook.
   Removing the workbook from shared mode

Adding and Deleting Comments

To Add a Comment:

1. Select the cell where you want the comment to appear.
   Selecting a cell
2. From the Review tab, click the New Comment command.
   New Comment command
3. Type your comment.
   Typing a comment
4. The red indicator in the upper right corner shows that there is a comment in that cell.
   Comment indicator
5. Hover your mouse over the cell to view the comment.
   Viewing a comment

To Edit a Comment:

1. Select the cell containing the comment you wish to edit.
2. From the Review tab, click the Edit Comment command (where the New Comment command used to be).
   Edit Comment command
3. Edit your comment.
   Editing a comment

To Delete a Comment:

1. Select the cell containing the comment you wish to delete.
2. From the Review tab, click the Delete command.
   Delete command
3. The comment will be deleted.

   Accepting or Rejecting Changes

   Tracked changes are really just "suggested" changes. To become permanent, they have to be Accepted. On the other hand, the original author may disagree with some of the tracked changes and choose to Reject them.

   To Accept or Reject Changes:

   1. From the Review tab, click Track Changes. Then select Accept/Reject Changes from the drop-down menu.
      Accept/Reject Changes command
   2. If prompted, allow Excel to save your workbook.
   3. Identify which changes you want to accept or reject. In this example, we will address all the changes that we have not yet reviewed.
      Identifying which changes to accept or reject
   4. Click OK.
      
   5. The Accept or Reject Changes dialog box will appear.
   6. Click Accept or Reject for each change in the document. Excel will cycle through each change automatically until you have addressed them all.
      Accepting or rejecting each change
   7. When you're done, the cell highlights will disappear, and the worksheet will appear "normal."
      
      
   To accept or reject all the changes at once, click Accept All or Reject All in the Accept or Reject Changes dialog box.

   Adjusting How Changes are Viewed

   Sometimes it's hard to see exactly what has been changed in a shared workbook. Taking in the meaning of a large amount of feedback can also be problematic if your worksheet contains many comments. There are a couple of settings you can use to adjust the way changes and comments are viewed.

   To List Changes on a Separate Worksheet:

   An alternative to viewing them as highlights on your worksheet, you can view changes on a new worksheet of their own, sometimes called the change history. The change history lists everything in your worksheet that has been changed, including the "old value" (what the cell used to contain) and the "new value" (what the cell contains now).
   1. Save your workbook.
   2. From the Review tab, click Track Changes. Then select Highlight Changes from the drop-down menu.
   3. Check the box next to List changes on a new sheet.
      Listing changes on a separate worksheet
   4. Click OK.
   5. The changes will be listed in a new sheet of their own, titled History.
      The change history worksheet
   To remove the History worksheet from your workbook, you can either save your workbook again, or uncheck the box next to List changes on a new sheet.

   To Show or Hide Comments:

   1. Select a cell that contains a comment.
   2. From the Review tab, click the Show/Hide Comment command to show the comment.
      Show/Hide Comment command
   3. The comment will remain on display without you having to mouse over the cell.
      Comment on display
   4. Click the Show/Hide Comment command again to hide the comment.
      
   Click the    command to view every comment in your worksheet at once.

   Finalizing and Protecting Your Workbook

   Watch the video (3:51). Need help?
   Before you send your workbook out, take a minute to prepare a final copy. Excel has tools that might save you from sharing a workbook that contains spelling errors, or information about the workbook itself that you do not want the recipient to see. Use the Spelling command to find and edit any misspelled words; use the Document Inspector to find and delete any hidden data or personal information that is stored in the workbook, such as hidden comments, invisible objects, and file paths; and consider your Protect Workbook options, designed to keep other users from making unwanted changes to your workbook.
   Watch the video to learn how to finalize and protect your workbook.

   To Check Spelling:

   1. Select the cells you want to spell check.
   2. Click on the Spelling command from the Review tab.
      Selecting the Spelling command
   3. The Spelling dialog box will open. From the Spelling dialog box, you can review and edit any misspelled words.
      
   You can also check the spelling of every cell in an active worksheet by selecting any empty cell in the worksheet and then clicking on the Spelling command.

   Ignoring Spelling "Errors"

   There are times when Excel will say something is an error when it is not. This often happens with people's names, which may not be in the dictionary. Even if Excel says that something is an error, you can choose not to change it. There are three options you can choose from:
   • Ignore Once: This will skip the word without changing it.
   • Ignore All: This will skip the word without changing it, and it will also skip all other instances of this word in the worksheet.
   • Add to Dictionary: This adds the word to the dictionary so that it will never come up as an error again. Make sure that the word is spelled correctly before choosing this option.

   To Use the Document Inspector:

   1. In Backstage view, click Info.
   2. Click on the Check for Issues button. A drop-down menu will appear.
   3. Select Inspect Document. A dialog box will appear.
      Selecting the Inspect Document command
   4. Check the boxes beside the content you want to inspect. To unselect a box, simply click it again and the check mark will disappear.
   5. Click Inspect.
      Document Inspector dialog box
   6. After the Document Inspector finishes, a new dialog box will appear where you can review the inspection results. Click the Remove All command beside any information you want to remove.
      
   It is a good idea to save an additional copy of your workbook before you use the Document Inspector to remove information, because some changes cannot be undone.

   Protecting Your Workbook

   By default, anyone with access to your workbook will be able to open, copy, and change any part of it unless you protect it. There are many ways you can protect your workbook depending on your needs. For example, you can mark your workbook as final, set it up with a password, put restrictions on who can make changes, or make it so that only certain cells or features of the workbook are changeable.

   To Protect Your Workbook:

   1. Click the File tab to access the Backstage view .
   2. From the Info pane, click the Protect Workbook command.
   3. Choose the option that best suits your needs. In this example, we will select Mark as Final. Marking your workbook as final is a way to discourage others from making any changes to the workbook. It will alert whoever opens it that typing, editing, and proofreading commands are unavailable.
      Selecting a Protect Workbook option
   4. Click OK.
      Marking the workbook as final
   5. Another dialog box will appear. Click OK to confirm.
      Selecting the Inspect Document command