How to Use Google Docs Compare Documents to Find Changes

The Version Control Nightmare

You are a freelance writer or a lawyer. You draft a ten-page contract in Google Docs and email it to a client as a Microsoft Word attachment. A week later, the client emails the document back. They say, “I just made a few minor tweaks.”

If you trust them and sign the document, you are making a massive mistake. The client could have subtly changed the payment terms on page four or deleted a critical liability clause on page seven. Because they edited the file offline and emailed it back to you, Google Docs’ built-in “Version History” cannot track their changes. To find the edits, you would have to print out both the original contract and the new contract, lay them side-by-side on your desk, and manually read all ten pages word-by-word.

Google built a dedicated tool to solve this exact problem called Compare Documents. It takes two completely separate, independent files, mathematically merges them together, and instantly highlights every single word that was changed, added, or deleted between the two versions.

Preparing the Files

To use the Compare Documents tool, both versions of the file must be uploaded to your Google Drive.

1. You already have your original draft saved in Google Drive.
2. Download the new, edited version the client emailed you.
3. Upload that new version into your Google Drive account. (If it is a Microsoft Word file, Google Docs will automatically convert it during the comparison process).

Running the Comparison

You must run the tool from inside the original document to establish a “baseline” for the comparison.

1. Open your original document in Google Docs.
2. Click on Tools in the top menu bar.
3. Select Compare documents from the drop-down menu.

A dialogue box will appear on the screen.

4. Click My Drive and select the new, edited version the client sent you.
5. In the “Attribute differences to” box, type the client’s name (e.g., “John Smith”). This simply labels the edits so you know who made them.
6. Click the blue Compare button.

Analyzing the Results

Google Docs will take a few seconds to process the text. It will then display a pop-up saying, “Comparison is ready.” Click Open.

Google Docs does not overwrite your original file. Instead, it generates a brand new, third document titled “Comparison of [Original] and [New].”

When you open this third document, the differences are immediately obvious. Any text the client added will be highlighted in magenta font. Any text the client deleted will be struck through with a magenta line. On the right-hand side of the screen, you will see a detailed list of comments explicitly detailing every change (e.g., “John Smith replaced ‘Net 30’ with ‘Net 60′”).

You can now scroll through the document and accept or reject the changes one by one.

Never manually read two documents side-by-side to look for changes. By utilizing the Google Docs Compare Documents tool, you can instantly and automatically identify every single edit made to an offline file, ensuring you never sign a contract with hidden alterations.