Review and undo Oda's changes

Every reply in which DataMind Oda changes the workbook ends with a Changes panel. From it you select each change, highlight the changed cells on the sheet, and put the whole turn back with Revert turn. Ctrl+Z in Excel and snapshot sheets give you two more ways back. Which changes Oda makes without asking is set by your permission mode; see Permission modes and approvals in Excel.

The Changes panel

Under Oda's reply, a panel titled with the number of changes, such as 3 changes by Oda, lists what that turn changed, also the rows Oda pulled or refreshed from your Minds. The newest panel is open; click the title of an older one to open it.

• Each line starts with the cells, such as Sales!B2:B13. Click them to select those cells in Excel (Select these cells). A change of a sheet as a whole, such as its name or its page setup, starts with the sheet, and a change of a defined name, a chart or a pivot table with its name; clicking it opens the sheet. A deleted sheet, a name of the whole workbook and Calculation settings, for a change of how Excel calculates, cannot be clicked.
• Then comes the kind of change: Values, Formatting, Notes, Comments, Merged or unmerged cells, Column widths or row heights, New sheet, Table, Rows, columns, cells or sheets, Sheet deleted, Settings, Rules added, Comment threads, Chart or pivot table, or Conditional formatting, data validation, notes or comments removed, or links added, removed or replaced, with Oda's short description, such as Add 2027 forecast column.
• For a single cell, the line shows the value before and after, such as (empty) → 1200; for more cells, how many changed.
• The panel lists up to 50 changes, then a line such as 12 more changes are not listed.
• When a snapshot sheet was made first, the panel says so, as in The sheet “Sales” was copied to “Snapshot Sales 14.05” first.
• When a turn switched Excel to a mode that calculates less, the pane switches it back when the reply ends, and the panel lists that as Calculation settings too; see How Excel calculates.
• After rows, columns or cells move on a sheet, by an insert, a delete, a sort, removed duplicate rows or a table change that moves cells, the lines of earlier turns on that sheet open the sheet instead of selecting cells, because the cells they name have moved.

The pane keeps the panels of the last 20 turns of each chat while it stays open. They are not saved with the chat: after you close and reopen the pane, earlier turns show no panel.

Show the changes on the sheet

1. On a turn's panel, click Show on sheet. The button reads Highlighting…, then the changed cells get a light yellow highlight, and the button becomes Hide on sheet.
2. The highlight clears when you click Hide on sheet, send your next message, show another turn's changes, start or open another chat, revert the turn, or close the pane.

The highlight is a temporary conditional format on top of your own formats: Oda never fills the cells themselves. Up to 200 changed areas are highlighted, and the panel says how many more are not.

Only changed cells are highlighted. Column widths and row heights, inserted, deleted or sorted rows, and changes of settings such as a sheet's name, filters or names, of charts and of how Excel calculates leave no cells to mark, so a turn with only such changes has no Show on sheet button. Neither has a turn whose cells moved since, by an insert, a delete or a sort on that sheet.

A protected sheet takes no highlight, and the panel reads Oda could not highlight these cells; the sheet may be protected. When the turn also changed other sheets, those are highlighted, and the panel says how many changed areas are not highlighted.

Revert a turn

Revert turn puts back what the cells held before the turn: values, formulas, number formats, formatting and notes, and the notes and comments the turn added or edited, for the whole turn or not at all. Column widths and row heights stay as they are.

1. On the turn's panel, click Revert turn. While Oda checks and restores the cells, the button reads Reverting…, and Send, New chat and the History rows wait.
2. In Ask before edits, a card asks first, titled Revert Oda’s changes?, with a line such as Put back what 24 cells in Sales!B2:D9 held before Oda changed them and a preview of what the cells hold Now and After. In Accept edits and Skip all permissions, the turn is reverted at once.
3. The panel then reads, for example, Reverted: 24 cells hold again what they held before this turn. With your next message, Oda learns that you reverted the turn, and does not redo it unless you ask.

Revert turn first checks that the turn can be put back, and changes nothing when:

• you or a later turn changed those cells since, or rows, columns or cells moved on the sheet since, by you or by Oda. The panel names the cells, as in These cells changed after this turn: Sales!B4.
• the turn deleted a sheet, which Excel cannot undo either. A snapshot sheet made before the delete is the way back.
• the turn added, deleted, sorted or moved sheets, rows, columns or cells, removed duplicate rows, added or changed a table, or merged or unmerged cells, as a pull into a new sheet, or into a table on an existing sheet, does;
• the turn added, changed, refreshed or deleted a chart or a pivot table;
• the turn removed conditional formatting, data validation, notes or comments, replaced conditional formatting or data validation, or added, removed or replaced links, which Revert turn cannot put back as they were;
• the turn changed settings: a sheet's name, visibility, tab colour or protection, hidden, filtered or grouped rows and columns, frozen panes, defined names, the page setup or how Excel calculates;
• the turn added conditional formatting rules or data validation, or replied to or resolved comments;
• the turn changed more than 5,000 cells, or something Revert turn cannot keep, such as a refresh of pulled data, or rows pulled without a table;
• a sheet the turn changed is no longer in the workbook, or is protected now. Unprotect it, then try again.

The panel then says what to do. Where Ctrl+Z undoes each of Oda's changes in one step, it reads Use Undo in Excel (Ctrl+Z), or ask Oda to change it back., with Cmd+Z on a Mac. Elsewhere, and for settings and comment threads, which Excel's Undo does not take back, it reads Ask Oda to change it back. Fix problems with Oda in Excel lists each message.

Undo with Ctrl+Z

In an up-to-date version of Excel in Microsoft 365, on Windows or Mac, and in Excel on the web, each change Oda makes, one step row, is one undo step: Ctrl+Z, or Cmd+Z on a Mac, takes it back as a whole. Revert turn and a snapshot copy are one undo step each too.

Excel cannot undo deleting a sheet, and its Undo does not take back some changes, such as frozen panes, the calculation mode or a reply to a comment. For those, use a snapshot sheet or ask Oda to change it back.

In other versions, such as Office 2021 and Office 2024, Excel can need several presses of Ctrl+Z for one change, or not undo Oda's changes at all. Use Revert turn or a snapshot sheet there, or ask Oda to change it back.

Keep a snapshot sheet before a large change

When an approval card asks about a large or structural change, it can offer to copy the sheet first, with a tick box that reads First copy the sheet “Sales” to a snapshot sheet.

• The card offers it for a new table, a refresh of pulled data, a merge, a sort, removing duplicate rows, inserting or deleting rows, columns or cells, deleting or moving a sheet, a table change that moves or deletes cells, deleting a chart or a pivot table, and a change to the contents of more than 10,000 cells or that removes the formatting of that many.
• The box starts ticked in Ask before edits, and for deleting a sheet in every mode, because Excel cannot undo that. Otherwise it starts unticked.
• When you answer Allow or Always allow in this chat with the box ticked, Oda copies the sheet before the change runs. The copy goes to the end of the workbook, named after the sheet and the time, such as Snapshot Sales 14.05, shortened to fit Excel's 31 characters, and numbered, such as Snapshot Sales 14.05 (2), when the name is taken. It is as visible as the sheet it copies, and the sheet you were on stays active.
• If the copy fails, the change does not run either, and the step row reads Oda could not copy the sheet first, so the change did not run.
• There is no offer for a change that writes into a sheet it adds, when the workbook's structure is protected, or for a change that runs without a card.
• You can also ask Oda for a snapshot at any time, such as Keep a snapshot of Sales first. The step row reads Working on sheets, then Copied to the snapshot sheet and the copy, and the Changes panel names the copy. Such a snapshot does not stop Revert turn.
• The snapshot stays in the workbook until you delete it. The workbook keeps the id of each snapshot sheet, so Oda knows its snapshots by that id, never by their names. It leaves them alone unless you ask, leaves them out when it lists, traces or checks the whole workbook, and when it leaves their matches out of a count from a search of every sheet, it says so.

Questions, answered

Where do I see what Oda changed?

In the Changes panel under Oda's reply. It lists each change with its cells, its kind and Oda's description. Click the cells to select them, or Show on sheet to highlight them all.

Does Show on sheet change my formatting?

No. The highlight is a temporary conditional format on top of your formats, and it clears at your next message. If you save while it shows, it is saved too, until it clears.

Why can't Revert turn undo this turn?

The turn did more than change cells: it added, deleted, sorted or moved sheets, rows, columns or cells, changed a table, a chart, a pivot table, a name, a rule or a setting, merged cells, or removed something Revert turn cannot put back. Or the cells changed or moved after the turn, the turn changed more than 5,000 cells, or a sheet it changed is protected now. The panel names the reason and what to do instead.

Can I revert an earlier turn, not only the last one?

Yes, while the pane stays open and its panel shows Revert turn, as long as its cells still hold what that turn left. If a later turn changed the same cells, revert the later turn first. After rows, columns or cells moved on that sheet, earlier turns there cannot be reverted.

Does Revert turn ask before it runs?

Only in Ask before edits, with a card titled Revert Oda’s changes?. In Accept edits and Skip all permissions, it runs at once.

Does Ctrl+Z undo Oda's changes?

Yes, in an up-to-date Excel in Microsoft 365 and in Excel on the web, one Oda change per press, with Cmd+Z on a Mac. Excel cannot undo deleting a sheet. In older versions, such as Office 2021 and Office 2024, it can take several presses or not work; use Revert turn instead.

Why is there a sheet called Snapshot in my workbook?

You allowed a large or structural change with the snapshot box ticked, or asked Oda for a snapshot, so Oda copied the sheet first. The copy is named after the sheet and the time. Delete it when you no longer need it.

Why does a change in the panel open the sheet instead of selecting cells?

The change is of the sheet as a whole, such as its name, or of a chart, a pivot table or a name on it. Or rows, columns or cells on that sheet moved after the turn, so the cells it named are no longer where they were.

Why did the Changes panels disappear when I reopened the pane?

The panels belong to the pane while it is open; they are not saved with the chat. Your changes stay in the workbook. To undo them now, use Ctrl+Z or ask Oda to change them back.

Why does the highlight still show after I closed Oda?

Closing the pane can leave it on the sheet. The next time Oda opens, it removes the highlights it left. If the workbook was saved in between, the highlight was saved with it until then.