Hello and welcome back to a new Google Docs tutorial in our series. We’ll cover another use case today where having a work or school account will be necessary. This is the aspect of the activity dashboard that, unfortunately, is not accessible on personal domains. A popular online word-processing program that enables real-time collaboration is called Google Docs. Despite how convenient this collaboration is, it can occasionally take work to keep track of who has viewed your paper and when. It is crucial to know who has access to your document and when they last read it if you’re working on a sensitive or confidential project.
I’ll attempt to show you in this article how to see who viewed your Google Doc, providing you more privacy and security control over your work. You can track document views no matter if you’re a business owner, a teacher, or just someone who needs to keep track of document access.
Why is it important to See Who Viewed Your Google Doc
It’s important to know who has viewed your Google Doc for a number of reasons. First of all, especially if you are working on a sensitive file, it can assist you in keeping track of who has access to your document and when they have viewed it. In commercial environments where several stakeholders must look over and authorize documents, this information can also assist you in making sure that the proper people have seen and reviewed the document.
You can monitor user interaction with your Google Doc by seeing who has viewed it. You can observe which students accessed the document when you use Google Docs for educational purposes, for example. enabling you to determine the extent of their involvement with the information. Businesses that want to track employee use of company documents may find this information beneficial.
In general, being able to trace document access and maintain the security of their online documents, the ability to see who views your Google Doc is an essential feature. You can find out who has seen your document and when they viewed it by using the techniques described in this article. You have more control over the security of your document thanks to this feature, and you can always adjust the settings. These are some valid justifications for why it is important to learn how to see who viewed your Google Doc.
You may also like >>> How to Group Images in Google Docs [Best Guide]
How to See Who Viewed Your Google Doc
It is quite simple to view other team members in Google Docs. With just a few clicks, you can quickly check the view history. However, there is one requirement—your Google Docs must have an activity dashboard option. You can get access to this Google Docs feature if you have a commercial account that is owned by a company. However, this option will not be available to you if you have a privation ordinary Google account, and you will not be able to browse members without the activity dashboard option. Let’s look at how to see the activity dashboard and find out who saw our Google Docs file in the stages that follow.
Step 1>
Assume that this is the document whose file you want to keep track of who is looking at it.
Step 2>
to keep tabs on other users As we mentioned earlier, Google Docs has a tool called Activity Dashboard.
Go to the “Tool” tab of the Google Docs menu bar to access this feature.
Step 3>
As you can see in the following image, when you click on the tool tab, a drop-down menu will appear where you will finally locate this tool, called “Activity Dashboard“. To open it, click on it.
Step 4>
Additionally, there is a shortcut to the “Activity Dashboard” that you can see in the image below. It is located at the right top of the Google Docs window, just before the blue share button. Just one click will bring up the activity dashboard.
Step 5>
You will see all of your sharing users’ activities in a new window that opens when you access the activity dashboard. You will be able to view all of the user’s document viewing activity when they visit your screens as shown below.
Step 6>
As I previously mentioned, only people with Google accounts from their places of employment or any educational institution are eligible to use the activity dashboard function.
Therefore, there is a choice that says “Shared with” or “All users (company name)“, where you will only see those who are part of your organization’s circle.
Step 7>
There are other elements on the activity dashboard that you can access by using the options on the right side, which are highlighted in the image below.
Step 8>
You can view a graph image of visitor numbers by date and month in this area.
You can determine which month you receive the most scouts with this tool.
Step 9>
Additionally, if a new unidentified visitor has recently accessed your document, an alert will appear here.
Step 10>
These team members’ shared comments can be found in this section.
Additional Section:
How to share Google Docs files with others?
We will discuss who is seeing your document in Google Docs in this tutorial. Therefore, it can only happen if you share your document with other users. Then you need to be familiar with how to distribute Google Docs files to other users. To share a Google Docs file with others, follow these steps.
Step 1>
Open the Google Docs document that you wish to share with others.
When you select “File” from the menu bar’s first tab, a drop-down menu with the “Share” option will appear. Click on it to make it expand.
Step 2>
Click “Share with others” from the menu that appears when you click the share button.
Step 3>
A tiny pop-up window will appear in front of you. Change the file’s restrictions first. The following image shows that access to your file is limited. To modify its privacy, click on it.
Step 4>
You now have the choice of “Anyone with the link” here. To share your document privately with others, select this option to reveal it.
Step 5>
Initially, focus on the window because there is a dialogue box there with a message asking you to add individuals to it.
Step 6>
To whom you want to share the file, enter their email addresses in the text box.
Step 7>
There is a privacy option along this dialogue window. Choose the level of privacy you want for the viewers, commenters, and editors.
Viewer: The viewer can only see your content in this private setting.
Commenter: The user can only view and comment on your document in this privacy.
Editor: Users can see, comment on, and modify your document in these privacy settings.
Step 8>
Simply press the “Send” button to complete the procedure.
Your shared user will receive an email as soon as you press the send button. It will be shared with others.
Often Asked Question:
How to turn off view history in Google Docs from others?
Some of your privacy is also shared with others when you share Google Docs documents with them. For example, they have access to your past as well. So, if you want to disable the view history of a Google Docs page and make it invisible to others, follow these instructions.
Step 1>
In Google Docs, open the activity dashboard for your document. When a window appears, look to the right side of the window until you see a settings icon. To access the activity dashboard’s privacy settings, click on it.
Step 2>
There are two criteria in this place.
Account Settings: These are the options for all Google workspace files, including Docs, Sheets, Slides, and other Google applications.
Setting up the document: Only the portion of the document you are currently working on is affected by this privacy setting.
Step 3>
You can disable the following option if you don’t want to see the history of only the most recent documents.
Step 4>
Simply click “Save” once this button has been closed.
Your document is now protected, and no one can see its history.
Frequently Asked Questions
When someone views my document, does Google Docs let me know?
While you may check your view history, Google Docs does not immediately notify you when someone views your document.
When someone viewed my document, can I see the time and date?
You can track when each individual accessed your document by viewing the timestamps for document views, which is possible.
How would I go about restricting who can read my Google Doc?
To guarantee that only people with the proper permissions can view your page, we’ll discuss how to control access and permissions.
What if I wish to withdraw access to a document that I unintentionally shared?
You can update the link’s permissions or delete specific users from the sharing list if you unintentionally share a document or wish to cancel access. In this essay, we’ll demonstrate how. You can update the link’s permissions or delete specific users from the sharing list if you unintentionally share a document or wish to cancel access.
Do any tools from a third party that offer more sophisticated tracking features?
Yes, there are third-party tools and add-ons that provide Google Docs with more sophisticated tracking options. We’ll briefly touch on a few possibilities for readers looking for extra functionality.
Conclusion
A useful feature for tracking who viewed your Google Doc. It guarantees that your content is seen by the appropriate audience, fostering accountability and teamwork. Please leave a comment if you have any additional queries or require assistance. Thanks for reading!
