Annotating a worksheet with comments is the most rudimentary form of collaboration. A more truly collaborative approach is when you ask other people not just to comment on your work, but to make changes to the actual worksheet model.

This could be as simple as entering data or as complex as fixing errors, moving ranges, and even building new formulas and models. Whatever changes you need, chances are you don’t want the other users to run roughshod over your work. That is, you probably want the ability to reject unnecessary or improper changes, while also accepting those changes that you agree to make.

You can reject and accept other users’ changes by activating Excel’s Track Changes feature. Each user then becomes a reviewer of the workbook, and Excel keeps track of most changes made by each reviewer, including the following: cell edits, row and column additions and deletions, range moves, worksheet insertions, and worksheet renames. (Note, however, that Excel does not track formatting changes.) You then have the option to reject any changes a reviewer makes and to accept those changes you want to keep.

Follow these steps to set up Track Changes:

1. Choose Review, Track Changes, Highlight Changes. Excel displays the Highlight Changes dialog box.
2. Click to activate the Track Changes While Editing check box. Excel enables the rest of the controls in the dialog box, as shown in Figure 6.2.
   
3. Use the following controls to specify the changes that Excel highlights:
   • When—Filters the highlighted changes by time. You can choose Since I Last Saved or Not Yet Reviewed. To specify a date, click Since Date and then edit the date that displays.
   • Who—Filters the highlighted changes by reviewer. At first, you can choose Everyone or Everyone but Me. When other users have made changes later on, the list includes the name of each reviewer.
   • Where—Selects the range in which you want changes highlighted.
4. Click OK. Excel displays a dialog box letting you know that it will save your workbook.
5. Click OK. Excel activates Track Changes and displays [Shared] in the title bar. (See “Sharing a Workbook with Other Users,” next, to learn more about workbook sharing.)

When a reviewer makes changes to a workbook cell, Excel displays a triangle in the upperleft corner of the cell and a border around the cell, both of which display in the reviewer’s designated color. (If the reviewer deletes a row or column, Excel displays a line in the reviewer’s color between the cells where the row or column used to be.) Hover the mouse pointer over the cell to see the change, who made it, and when it was made, as shown in Figure 6.3.

Follow these steps to accept or reject the workbook changes made by the reviewers:

1. Choose Review, Track Changes, Accept or Reject Changes.
2. If Excel tells you it will save the workbook, click OK.
3. In the Select Changes to Accept or Reject dialog box, use the When, Who, and Where controls to filter the changes, as needed.
4. Click OK. Excel displays the Accept or Reject Changes dialog box and displays a change.
5. Perform one of the following actions:
   • If there is no conflict, click Accept to approve the change or Reject to revert the cell to its original value.
   • If the reviewers make two or more changes to a cell, the Accept or Reject Changes dialog box displays the Select a Value for Cell Cell list (where Cell is the address of the cell). This list shows the original value and the changes. Click the value you want to keep and then click Accept.
   • If you want to approve every change in the workbook, click Accept All.
   • If you want to discard every change in the workbook, click Reject All.
6. Repeat step 5 to review all the changes.

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