Document collaboration updates

(Originally posted December 14, 2023 By ~ Ruba Ashworth, Scott McFaddenand Manon Knorcher)

Hello, Microsoft 365 Insiders! Our names are Rubba, Scott, and Manon, and we’re product managers focused on collaborative experiences in web apps. We’re excited to share that based on your feedback, we’ve refreshed the design of the Catch Up feature in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for the web to help you better identify important updates and activities in your files.

Stay informed of other people’s changes and comments

The Catch Up feature ensures that you stay in sync with your collaborators. When you return to a collaborative file, you’ll see a summary of the latest comment activity and recent changes that have been sent to you. Clicking on an item takes you directly to that item to address feedback, answer questions, or make comments.

How it works

If there are new tasks, mentions, or comment replies that you haven’t seen yet, the Catch Up feature will automatically open when you open the file.

To access Catch Up at any time, select: Catch up The button in the upper right corner of the menu bar in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint for the web. Comments button.

What’s the difference?

Now there are two sections to help you quickly access what’s happened since you last accessed that file.

Activities for you

When you return to a collaborative file, the Catch Up feature will notify you of any new comment activity that comes your way. Activities for you Section. Clicking on an item in that list will take you directly to that comment, allowing you to quickly follow up with your collaborator. These activities include commenting, mentioning, and replying.

Notable updates:

• A blue dot next to each item indicates activity that has not yet been viewed.
• Activity lasts up to 28 days and is not removed by refreshing the file.
• You can individually uncheck items from the list that you no longer wish to see.

change

Here you can find a summary of who has edited your document, workbook, or presentation since you last viewed it. Clicking on this section will take you to the top-most edit in the file. If there are no new edits, you can also access previous edits from this section.

Catch Up shows you activity and changes in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for the web.

Scenarios to try

Use the Catch Up feature:

• Jump to the most recently mentioned comments.
• See who recently edited a file.
• A checklist of comments or actions that require follow-up action.

Requirements

To use the Catch Up feature, your file must be saved to OneDrive or SharePoint and shared with others who have edit permissions.

effectiveness

These updates are available to both Word and PowerPoint for the web users, and will be available to Excel for the web users soon.

We’re working on bringing Catch Up features to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows too!

Not yet? It’s probably us, not you.

Features are released over time to ensure everything works smoothly. We highlight features that you may not have because they are slowly being released to more users.

feedback

We want to hear from you! Please let us know by selecting: Help > Feedback And included #ketchup Please leave them in your comments so we can find them easily!

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