Spreadsheet version history

What it is

The Version history panel to the right of the sheet: saved states of the spreadsheet by day, what changed in each one, and who edited it and when. You can go back to any version, open it for viewing, or make a copy from it. The history is available to those who can edit the spreadsheet.

How to use it

Open the history with the Changed … ago button in the bottom bar, next to the zoom, or through the Spreadsheet menu (⋮ in the bottom bar) → Version history. The button shows when the spreadsheet was last edited: Changed just now, Changed 5 min ago, Changed 3 h ago, and, if more than a day has passed, the date, for example Changed 4 Sep. (with the year if it is a different year). After your edit it shows just now at once. A repeated click closes the history. On a phone, it is the item Version history in the More tools menu, and the time of the last edit is a line below it.
The versions are arranged by day, newest first. Each has Autosave HH:MM or its own name. A named version shows the time, then the author (your versions are marked (you)), and the number of edits since the previous version, for example 12 changes. The version that matches the current look of the spreadsheet is marked Current.
Click a version: underneath it, the list expands to show what changed compared with the previous version (for the oldest one, compared with an empty spreadsheet). The spreadsheet itself does not change. The changes are arranged by sheet. Next to a sheet is the number of changed cells, for example 2400 cells. In each row there is the cell address; the old value is struck out, and the new one is next to it. A long value is cut with an ellipsis, and it is visible in full in the tooltip. Formatting means the value is the same, but the look, the note or the photo has changed. Sizes and layout means the sheet size, merges, freezing or rules were changed. A new sheet and a deleted sheet are marked New sheet and Sheet deleted. For a renamed sheet, the old name is struck out; for a renamed spreadsheet, there is the row Spreadsheet name. If nothing changed, it says No changes. A repeated click collapses the list.
Each sheet shows up to 50 cells at once; the rest are opened by the Show more … button. A click on a cell in the list takes you to it on the sheet.
Go to version is a button under an expanded version. The question Go to version “…”? appears, with the time, the author and the number of changes. Go returns the spreadsheet to the look of this version; Cancel changes nothing. Co-authors see the switch as an ordinary edit. Before the switch, the current look of the spreadsheet is saved as an autoversion if it is not yet in the history. If you change your mind, go to that autoversion.
The menu of a version opens with the ⋮ button to the right of the version, or with a right-click on it: Go to version, Open in spreadsheet, Name (for a named version, Rename), Make a copy and Delete version.
Open in spreadsheet shows the version in place of the sheet, read-only. Its edits are highlighted. At the bottom, instead of the sheet size, you see Version … with the name or the date and time. In the panel there are Viewing a version and the button Return to current. Both closing the history and opening another panel on the right return you to the current look.
Name and Rename open the field New name, with Save (or Enter) and Cancel. A named version is not deleted when the retention period ends.
Name current version at the top of the panel saves a restore point with your name. The field Version name has the sample For example: before agreement. If the current look is already in the history as an autoversion, the name is given to that autoversion: it stays in its place in the list, with its own time and author. Saving again with the same name adds nothing.
Make a copy creates a new spreadsheet from the version, named “ (copy)”, in the same chat (a copy of a separate spreadsheet is also separate), and opens it at once.
Delete version asks Delete version “…”?. The version disappears after you click Delete. Only the owner of the spreadsheet sees this item.
Before the first edit of the workbook in each of its answers, the agent saves a version named Before agent edits. To undo the agent’s edit, go to that version.

Limits

The history is available to those who can edit the spreadsheet. In a spreadsheet opened for viewing only, and through a guest link, it is absent.
An autoversion is saved no more often than once an hour: 10 seconds after the first edit made an hour after the previous version. Autoversions are kept for as long as the plan allows: from 7 days to unlimited (see Plans and limits). Named versions are not deleted when the retention period ends.
The list holds up to 2 000 latest versions. A version name can be up to 100 characters.
In the changes of a version there are up to 1 000 cells for the whole spreadsheet. A long value is cut to 80 characters, and the number of changed cells per sheet is counted in full. Open in spreadsheet highlights the same up to 1 000 cells.
A cell from the list opens on the sheet that is currently on the screen: in the current look of the spreadsheet, or in the open version. If the sheet has been deleted or hidden, nothing happens. For a deleted sheet, the cells in the list cannot be clicked.
You can go to versions of one spreadsheet no more often than once every 30 seconds, for everyone who works with it. The Current version has no Go to version button.
For each person: opening versions and their changes, up to 60 times per minute; going to a version, up to 10 times per 10 minutes; naming, renaming, deleting or making a copy, up to 30 times per 10 minutes.
Only the owner of the spreadsheet (the person who created it, or, if that person has left the organization, the owners of the organization) can delete versions. Deletion cannot be undone.
A copy of a version is a new spreadsheet, and it counts toward the spreadsheet limit of the plan.

If something goes wrong

What you see on the screen	Why	What to do
Failed to load version history	No connection, or no access to the spreadsheet	Close the history and open it again
Could not load changes	The changes of the version did not come from the server	Click Retry
The server is busy. Retry in N s	The server is already preparing other versions	Wait that many seconds, and retry
Too often. Retry in N s	Too many actions with versions in a short time	Wait that many seconds
The spreadsheet was just returned to a version. Retry in N s, in the go-to window	Someone went to a version of this spreadsheet less than 30 seconds ago. The Go button is disabled, and it stays disabled in a newly opened window	Wait: the button turns on by itself, and the message goes away
Could not go to the version	No connection, no right to edit, or the server could not apply the version	Retry. If it does not work, refresh the page
Failed to open version, Failed to save title, Could not delete the version	No connection, or no rights	Retry later
Could not make a copy	No connection, or no rights	Retry later
Spreadsheet limit on your plan: N. Delete unneeded spreadsheets or change your plan.	The organization already has as many spreadsheets as its plan allows	Delete unneeded spreadsheets, or change the plan
Only the spreadsheet owner can delete versions	You edit the spreadsheet, but it is not yours	Ask the owner