Skip to main content
You can step through changed ranges when comparing spreadsheet versions. A changed range is a group of cells identified by the comparison. Use this when you want to review a workbook in order without manually finding each difference. The navigator shows your position and moves the grid to the next or previous change.

How to compare two versions of a spreadsheet and step through the changes

  1. Open Version History
  2. Turn on Compare
  3. Pick Start and End
  4. Show the changes
  5. Step to the next change
  6. Follow a change to another sheet
  7. Go back a step
  8. Exit Compare

​
Choose the versions

  1. Open the spreadsheet, select the Review tab, then Version History to open the Versions pane.
  2. Select Compare in the pane header. Each version row has Start and End buttons. Choose Start on the version you want as the starting state, then End on the state you want to compare with it. The Current Version row can be the end.
  3. Wait for both states to load. The banner reads Compare Mode and shows Scanning… while it works. A legend marks Removed, Added and Modified cells.
  4. Select Show Changes. After scanning, the button reads Show N Changes, where N counts changed cells. The view jumps to the first change on its own when loading finishes.

​
Step through changes

  1. Find the change navigator in the comparison view. Its counter shows the current stop and the total number of stops.
  2. Select the right arrow to move forward and the left arrow to move back. Their accessible names are Next change and Previous change, and the counter reads like 2 / 3.
  3. Review the highlighted range. In the spreadsheet view that shows range labels, the label identifies the sheet and cell range.
  4. Continue through the workbook. When a change is on another sheet, the navigator switches sheets before moving to the range.
  5. Select Exit Compare when you finish reviewing.

​
Good to know

Comparison is a read-only review. Moving between changes does not apply an edit or restore an earlier version. You need access to the spreadsheet and the versions being read. The range navigator visits visible sheets in tab order, then ranges from top to bottom and left to right. It excludes ranges on hidden sheets or sheets absent from the displayed version. Its count therefore describes navigable ranges rather than a guarantee that every workbook difference has a visible stop. The arrows stop at the first and last change. When there are no navigable changes, the navigator is hidden. The exact comparison presentation depends on the spreadsheet editor used by the asset.