Let users see file activity (Activity dashboard) (2024)

FAQs

Let users see file activity (Activity dashboard)? ›

Click Activity dashboard settings. Next to Users' view history, select an option that determines who can see a user's file views. On (recommended): File-viewing information will appear in the Activity dashboard unless users choose to hide their views.

Viewing who has seen your Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides and when they have viewed them is easy with the Activity Dashboard feature. This feature also shows the trend of views and comments, as well as a sharing history.

If you don't see Activity dashboard or the privacy settings: If the file isn't owned by a Google Account through work or school, no one can see the view history.

Viewing Activity

If someone has been invited to view or edit the document, the Viewers tab will tell you the last time they opened it. You can also click All Viewers to see everyone from your organization who has viewed the document, whether they were invited or clicked a shareable link.

Technically speaking, you should be able to see who viewed your document under "View history." If you aren't seeing that, it might have something to do with the admin settings for your organization, which may be set so that only the activity of the people in your domain are shown there.

Visibility is based on the permissions set for the object. There's several scenarios when files and folders are shared in Drive: If an author shares a document, the activity history for the document is visible to not only the creator, but also to the authenticated users with whom it was shared.

To see who has viewed a document, visit Google Docs and sign in with your Google account. Then, open the document. Select the Activity Dashboard icon (jagged arrow) on the top right or Tools > Activity Dashboard from the menu. Confirm that Viewers is selected on the left side.

You can only see who viewed your Google Drive files if you shared them with specific individuals or groups. If you shared the file with “anyone with the link” or set it to the public, you wouldn't be able to track who accessed it. Lastly, you must have edit access to the file in question.

Google Drive does not provide a notification or an activity log to the owner of the file when someone downloads or copies their file.

How do I view a Google doc anonymously? ›

Change the 'Share' settings of Google Docs to 'Anyone with the link'. Now the document have access to any one as anonymous users.

On your computer, go to myactivity.google.com. Above your activity, click Delete . Click All time. Delete.

If you want to create and track PDF views, all can be done easily through FlipHTML5.

My Activity is a central place to view and manage activity such as searches you've done, websites you've visited, and videos you've watched.

Activity from websites & apps that use Google services

Some websites and apps use Google services, like Search, Maps, or Ads. If you visit these websites and apps while signed in to your Google Account, your activity might show up in My Activity.

Access changes made to your files in Drive and keep track of who made those changes. You might notice changes when someone: Edits or comments in a file. Renames a file or folder.

Google has introduced a new "Activity" feed for its Drive cloud storage service. This feature, available on the web version of Google Drive, allows users to view pending access requests, recent comments, and approvals all in one place.