--- title: Using the Document History and Audit Log description: Every change made to a document's metadata in Essal Office is recorded. The history log shows you exactly what changed, when, and which user made the ... --- [Skip to content](https://help.essal.cloud/en/article/1402-#main-content) English Show submenu for translations [More support](https://help.essal.cloud/en/kb-tickets/new?hsLang=en) [Customer portal](https://clients.essal.cloud/tickets?hsLang=en) [![logo](https://help.essal.cloud/hubfs/logo.svg)](https://help.essal.cloud/?hsLang=en) - [Home](https://essal.cloud/) - [Products](https://essal.cloud/products) - [Industries](https://essal.cloud/industries) - [About](https://essal.cloud/about) - [Contact](https://essal.cloud/contact) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Home](https://essal.cloud/) - [Products](https://essal.cloud/products) - [Industries](https://essal.cloud/industries) - [About](https://essal.cloud/about) - [Contact](https://essal.cloud/contact) - English Show submenu for translations - [More support](https://help.essal.cloud/en/kb-tickets/new) - [Customer portal](https://clients.essal.cloud/tickets) - [Home](https://essal.cloud/) [Home](https://essal.cloud/) Essal Help Center - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Help Center](https://help.essal.cloud/en?hsLang=en) 2. [Essal Office](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en) 3. [Working with documents](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#working-with-documents) # Using the Document History and Audit Log Every change made to a document's metadata in Essal Office is recorded. The history log shows you exactly what changed, when, and which user made the change. This is useful for tracking edits, understanding how a document's metadata evolved, and identifying mistakes. --- ## Opening the Document History 1. Open the document by clicking its card in the document list 2. Click the **History** tab in the document detail view The history tab shows a chronological list of all recorded events for this document. --- ## What the History Shows Each entry in the history log includes: - **Column**: \*\*Date and time\*\* - **Description**: When the change was made - **Column**: \*\*User\*\* - **Description**: Which Essal Office user made the change - **Column**: \*\*Field\*\* - **Description**: Which metadata field was changed - **Column**: \*\*Previous value\*\* - **Description**: The value before the change - **Column**: \*\*New value\*\* - **Description**: The value after the change --- ## Types of Recorded Events The audit log records a range of events: - Document created (uploaded) - Title changed - Date changed - Correspondent added or removed - Document type changed - Tags added or removed - Custom field values changed - Owner changed - Document moved to trash or restored --- ## Recovering from Mistakes If a field was accidentally changed — for example the wrong correspondent was set — the history log shows the previous value. You can then manually restore it by editing the field back to the value shown in the history. --- ## History Is Not Editable The history log is append-only. Entries cannot be modified or deleted. This ensures a reliable, tamper-evident record of all changes to your documents. --- ## Exporting History Data Currently, history data can be viewed in the UI but is not directly exportable as a standalone report. For audit or compliance purposes, note that the data is preserved indefinitely and accessible to admin users at any time. - [Essal Office](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Getting started](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#getting-started) - [Searching and saved views](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#searching-and-saved-views) - [Correspondents and document types](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#correspondents-and-document-types) - [Email import](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#email-import) - [Users groups and permissions](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#users-groups-and-permissions) - [Sharing documents](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#sharing-documents) - [Working with documents](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#working-with-documents) - [Pdf tools](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#pdf-tools) - [Uploading documents](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#uploading-documents) - [Archive serial numbers](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#archive-serial-numbers) - [Workflows and automation](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#workflows-and-automation) - [Organizing with tags](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#organizing-with-tags) - [Troubleshooting and faq](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#troubleshooting-and-faq) - [Account and security](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#account-and-security) - [Custom fields](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#custom-fields) - [Portal](https://admin.essal.cloud/) - [Newsroom](https://newsroom.essal.cloud/) - [Careers](https://careers.essal.cloud/) - [Help](https://support.essal.cloud/) - [Status](https://status.essal.cloud/) - [Contact](https://essal.cloud/contact) - [Terms](https://legal.essal.cloud/terms) [![logo](https://help.essal.cloud/hubfs/logo.svg "logo")](https://essal.cloud/) Essal LLC Copyright © 2026, Essal