Suggest changes

A suggestion proposes new words for part of a document without changing it. Everyone can see what’s proposed, right in the text, and someone who can edit the document decides whether it goes in. It’s how a Viewer can help fix a document, and how a Member can ask for a second opinion before changing something.

Suggestions are kept beside the text, like comments. The document’s markdown never contains them, so files stay plain markdown.

Who can suggest

Everyone who can comment can suggest, Viewers included. People with Full access to a document can limit this: in the More menu, under Who may suggest changes, choose Editors only, or Everyone who can comment to open it again. Changing this needs a two-factor sign-in, like other actions that change who can do what.

Suggesting needs commenting, so if they limit who may comment, only people who can still comment can suggest.

Only people who can edit the document can accept or reject a suggestion.

Suggest a change

1. Select the words you want to change.
2. Choose Suggest, beside Comment above the selection, or Suggest a change in the toolbar, or press Ctrl+Alt+S (Cmd+Option+S on a Mac).
3. The original words show above a copy of them. Change the copy to what you’d write instead. Leave it empty to suggest deleting the words.
4. Add a Note if you want to say why, then choose Suggest.

With nothing selected, the same button or keys suggest inserting words at the cursor.

You can change your mind later. While your suggestion is still open, choose Edit on it in the Comments panel to change the words, or Withdraw to take it back.

See suggestions in the text

In Live and Source views, each open suggestion shows the original words struck through, followed by the proposed words in the suggester’s color. In Live view, suggestions inside code blocks are listed in the Comments panel but not drawn in the code.

A switch at the top of the Comments panel changes how they’re drawn:

• Show: struck words and proposed words, as above.
• Hide: the text as it is now. The suggestions stay in the panel.
• Preview: the text as it would read with every current suggestion accepted.

This only changes your screen.

Invisible characters and characters that change the direction of text can’t be seen, so in suggested words they show as small labeled markers instead, such as ZWSP for a zero-width space. That way nobody accepts a hidden character by accident.

Accept or reject

People who can edit review suggestions in the Comments panel. Each one says what it does, such as replacing, inserting or deleting words.

• Accept puts the proposed words into the text as one edit made by you. You can undo it like any other edit.
• Reject leaves the text as it is.

Either way, the suggestion moves to the resolved threads and the suggester is told.

Accept all and Reject all, at the top of the panel, handle every open suggestion at once. Both ask first, and say how many suggestions they’ll change.

Outdated suggestions

If the words a suggestion was about have changed since it was made, it’s marked Outdated and can’t be accepted, because it would no longer fit. Copy words copies the proposed words, so you can paste them in by hand. Accept all leaves outdated suggestions as they are.

Remove someone else’s suggestion

Owners and Admins can remove a suggestion that shouldn’t stay. Workspace Owners can remove any suggestion outside other people’s drafts, workspace Admins any suggestion in a document that everyone in the workspace can edit, and people with Full access any suggestion in that document. In a draft, that’s its author.

1. Open the suggestion’s menu (the three dots on its card) and choose Remove suggestion.
2. Confirm.

The suggested words and the suggester’s note are deleted for everyone, and “Removed by a moderator” stays on the card. The suggestion is closed, so you’ll find it under Show resolved. Replies from other people stay. The suggester isn’t notified, and the workspace records who removed it and when. Removed words can’t be brought back.

You can’t remove a suggestion while someone is accepting it. Wait until they finish or give up. An accepted suggestion is already part of the text, so edit the text instead.

Notifications and history

• A new suggestion appears in the bell of the people who can edit the document and who’ve been active in the last 30 days.
• The suggester hears when their suggestion is accepted or rejected.
• In History, a version that contains an accepted suggestion says so, for example “Includes a suggestion by Dana”.

Downloads exclude open suggestions

Downloads and exports contain only the text itself. Open suggestions are never included, so a download is the same plain markdown whether or not anyone has suggested something.