Mar 27, 2019

How can I save a Google Doc with track changes as a PDF and still see the edits?

I've tried saving my Google Doc as a PDF, but the edits don't show in the PDF version. This for a class assignment, where I have to make edits, and then turn the document in as a PDF.

Details

Docs,Chrome OS,Education

Locked

Informational notification.

This question is locked and replying has been disabled.

Community content may not be verified or up-to-date. Learn more.

All Replies (18)

Jo S.

Diamond Product Expert

I've been volunteering in the help forums since 2013. I do NOT work for Google.

Mar 27, 2019

Hi, Jessica,

Unfortunately, that's not possible in Docs at this time. That's because all tracking is stored outside of the document (in the canvas behind it), not in the document itself. The only thing I can suggest is taking a screen shot of each page and then turning each page into a PDF. When you're all done, you can "glue" the pages together as a single PDF. Everything but the screen shots can be done using the free online app I Love PDF.

Would that workaround work for you?

~Jo

Jo S.

Diamond Product Expert

I've been volunteering in the help forums since 2013. I do NOT work for Google.

Jun 8, 2019

Larry, the help communities are managed by volunteer product users (this is a peer-to-peer message board), not Google employees. We can offer assistance with troubleshooting and how-to questions, but we have no control over product improvements or general issues/complaints. You can submit your concerns via Help > Report a problem.

~Jo

Larry Edwards 244

Jun 8, 2019

Good to know -- thanks!

User 5979844548492499914

Jun 20, 2019

I thought that I had the same issue, but I remembered that I had done it before (and the Google Chrome Book is the only laptop that I've used). The issue is that we are searching for "PDF." to be under "Save As" BUT IT's NOT. Here's What You Do:

Open Google Docs> click on doc to convert> make sure MODE (right corner near top) is switched to "Editing" ( not viewing,etc)>click FILE> find "Download As"> click it and choose ".PDF" option.

So there you go!!! I hope it works for you!

Doctor Rosalind

Jun 22, 2019

User 5979844548492499914 thank you so much!

Jo S.

Diamond Product Expert

I've been volunteering in the help forums since 2013. I do NOT work for Google.

Jun 22, 2019

Downloading as a PDF doesn't show suggested edits. If you're using Chrome, you can click on the 3 vertical dots at the top right of the open document's web page and select "Print." This will print the tracked changes in the document (but it won't show comments or other notations that are in the canvas outside the document).

~Jo

Gill S

Platinum Product Expert

Jun 23, 2019

If the changes you want show up in Print Preview, what happens if you print to a PDF file rather than a printer? That just might work.

Bjørn Kisbye Engsig

Aug 18, 2019

Yes, saving as a pdf via the print dialoge from chrome does work - the tracked changes are shown with whatever color has been used.

However, I still think it is a gross oversight that docs itself doesn't allow downloading a pdf with the tracked changes. The "explanation" about this not really being stored in the doc isn't relevant for the users - we don't care how it's done!

Last edited Aug 18, 2019

Admin Office

Sep 19, 2019

If you have Microsoft Word, you can also click on "File" in the menu and download the Google doc as a Word file. The edits and comments will download as well.

Zed K

Oct 4, 2019

Alright guys, after going through all of these comments, i found a way to legitimately save "a google docs file with all the markups".
Its a little bit of a process but i will get right to it. here goes.

1)Hit control + P (or command + P if on mac)
this will bring up a pop up for printing the page, I use google chrome.
2)Find and click on "more settings"
3)Find and click on "Open PDF in preview"

This pdf will have your work as well as your mark ups.

Alright, so I have a mac book, and like I stated before I use google chrome.
I tried to repeat this exact same steps on my friends laptop, which is a windows 10, but I could not get to find the "open PDF in preview"

I will try to find the reason why and update this.

Edit: alright after trying it myself on my own desktop pc, which runs windows 10 I can say that this feature is only available on mac book. (although I would need to find on other mac book to try it out to be extra sure)

Last edited Oct 4, 2019

Matthew Simon Ryan Cavalletto

Oct 18, 2019

Thank you to Zed K for the writeup above.

I can confirm that in Mac Safari, using the File > Print command and then choosing PDF > Save as PDF yields a PDF file with the suggested insert/delete "redline" markup visible.

Michael Schneider 8744

Oct 25, 2019

Yeah, exactly my problem. Though I would try redlining in Google docs. But, I think it doesn't really work. You really can't swap a redlined agreement. No one is going to tolerate the limitations when Word works much better for this task. Too bad.

Tara Flavin

Dec 10, 2019

Having the same issue. Was able to edit a file my teacher uploaded on Classroom, with markup and stuff, so I was writing my answers on there. Saved it, hoping to come back to it later. Just spent half an hour trying to find the button in Drive - it doesn’t exist. Only in Classroom. Tried opening it on a computer, nope. Tried using Adobe’s PDF reader and there’s no markup feature on there. Why would you let me edit it but not be able to save and continue later??? Just going to print it and start again.