Google Docs is a powerful tool your team can use for collaboration on various documents. One of its features is the ability to track all the edits made to a document in its version history. This is an incredibly useful tool when it comes to tracking changes and possible goof-ups, but there may be times when you want to hide this edit history. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to do just that.
Understanding the Edit History feature in Google Docs
Before we delve into how to hide edit history, it’s important to understand what exactly it is. Google Docs’ edit history, also known as version history, is a feature that allows you to view all changes made to a document over time. Each version is marked by a timestamp and the person who made the changes, allowing for easy tracking and accountability.
Can You Completely Remove The Version History?
In short, no. Google Docs does not allow you to completely remove or hide the version history of a document. This is a safety measure to prevent data loss and ensure accountability. However, there is a workaround to create a clean slate for your document, without any versions or edit history attached to it. Let’s look at how you can do this.
Creating a New Document to Hide Edit History
To effectively “hide” the edit history, you will need to create a new document. Here are the steps to do this:
- First, open the document whose edit history you want to hide.
- Next, click on the File option in the top menu.
- In the dropdown menu, select Make a copy.
This will create a new document that looks exactly like your original document, but without any attached version history. You can then share this new document with your team and continue working on it, effectively starting with a clean slate.
Conclusion
While Google Docs does not offer a direct way to hide edit history, you can use the method described above to create a new document without any previous version history. This handy workaround can help you maintain the desired level of privacy and neatness in your documents.
Remember, though, that the version history is a powerful tool for document control and management. Use this workaround wisely.
