Access changes made to your files in Drive and keep track of who made those changes. You might notice changes when someone:
- Edits or comments in a file
- Renames a file or folder
- Moves or removes a file or folder
- Uploads a new file to a folder
- Shares or unshares an item
Important: Version history for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides is different than history for .pdf files, images, and other files stored in Drive. Learn how to access the history of changes for Google files.
Access past activity
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- On the left click My Drive.
- In the upper right, click Info .
- Select an option. To access:
- Recent changes, select an option:
- Click Activity.
- Scroll down the right side.
- The activity of a specific file or folder, click the file or folder.
- Recent changes, select an option:
Save and restore recent versions
Only the most recent versions of past documents will be saved, unless you click Keep forever.
Find out when a file was added to Drive
To check when a specific file was added to Drive, you can:
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- Right-click your selected file.
- Click File information Click Details.
- To locate the Created date, scroll through the side panel.
You can download and keep previous copies of PDF files, images, and other files stored in Google Drive.
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- Click the file you want to download.
- At the top right, click More Manage versions.
- Next to the version you want to download, click More .
- To save a copy to your computer, click Download.
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- Click the file you want to replace.
- At the top right, click More Manage versions Upload new version.
Tip: If you upload a new version of a file owned by someone else, the original owner remains the same.
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- Click on the file you want to replace.
- At the top right, click More Manage versions.
- Next to the version you want to delete, click More Delete.
Version history
Version history for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides is different than file versions in Google Drive. Learn how to access the history of changes for Google files.