Checking version history before choosing a document platform

Before choosing, run the same recovery test on a Google Docs file and a Word file saved in the OneDrive or SharePoint location the team intends to use. Make a realistic change, inspect an earlier version, then test copying or restoring content.

Judge whether each file shows useful earlier wording and lets the recovery owner retrieve what the team needs. OneDrive file version history is retained for 30 days; an administrator may have turned off document versioning for a work or school account.

Define what must be recovered

Choose a realistic mistake, such as a section being replaced during review. Decide whether the recovery owner must inspect earlier wording, copy part of it or restore the whole document, and how far back the team may need to look.

Use the document types, accounts and locations the team intends to adopt. Test a Google Docs file and a Word file in the intended OneDrive or SharePoint location.

Ask the administrator or site owner which version-history limit governs each file. Limits can be set at organisation, site, library or OneDrive user-account level; site owners can configure site limits, and owners can configure limits for libraries and lists.

Organisation defaults apply to new libraries and default libraries on new OneDrive sites. Site settings can override organisation settings, and library or list settings can override organisation or site settings.

Version History Limits and Settings Overview

Compare the documented behaviour

In Google Docs, open File > Version history > See version history. Select an earlier state and inspect the wording; revisions may occasionally be merged to save storage space.

To recover part of a Google Doc, copy the needed wording from the earlier state into the current document. To restore the whole document, select the earlier version and choose Restore this version; the other versions remain available.

Google Docs history is automatically enabled by default. Earlier versions are visible and retrievable only with editing permission; read-only access does not show the history.

For a Word file in OneDrive, select the file and open Version history. Open the menu beside the earlier version and choose Restore; that version becomes current, and the previous current version becomes the previous version in the list.

OneDrive version history is retained for 30 days. For a work or school account, an administrator may have turned off document versioning.

In SharePoint, the list or library must track versions for an earlier version to be restored. Version history is on by default, but it can be turned off for a list or library.

To test a Word file in SharePoint, open the item's or file's menu and choose Version history; if that command is not visible, choose More first. Open the menu for an earlier version, select Restore, then confirm with OK.

SharePoint creates a copy of the restored version as the latest version and retains the earlier version. Version-history limits can differ by organisation, site, library or OneDrive user account.

Try one safe recovery case

Create a sample in the proposed working location, add a paragraph, then have another intended user replace it. As the recovery owner, try to inspect the earlier wording and copy it or restore the whole document.

Repeat the test with each intended user's account. Record who can inspect or restore earlier states and the oldest useful state visible; a result from one account does not establish what another account can do.

For Word, repeat the test in each intended OneDrive or SharePoint location. Record the result for that file rather than relying on a test in a different location.

Compare the OneDrive result with its 30-day file version-history period. For SharePoint, check the configured limit for the organisation, site or library that governs the file.

Inspect newer work before restoring an older whole-document version.

Decide what history can establish

Compare the oldest useful state visible in each test with the team's required look-back. Decide whether copying earlier wording or restoring the whole document gives the recovery owner enough control.

If no useful earlier state appears, a restore option is unavailable, or history stops before the required look-back, ask the administrator or site owner to confirm the applicable limit. Ask them to demonstrate recovery in the intended account and location before choosing.