How to accept or reject suggestions in Google Docs on Mac: one edit or all

Accept or reject one suggestion at a time

A suggestion is an edit that a commenter proposes instead of making directly. Anyone with edit access can accept it or reject it. Accepting keeps the proposed text. Rejecting keeps the original text.

Handling one suggestion takes two clicks. First click the suggestion or its comment. Then click the check mark to accept or the X to reject. Google's help page names the two buttons Accept and Reject.

Google does not list a keyboard shortcut for accepting or rejecting a single suggestion. Plan on the mouse or trackpad for that step. The keyboard helps with the review box and with moving between suggestions.

Accept all suggestions in Google Docs at once

Clicking through a long draft one suggestion at a time takes a while. The batch option covers the whole document in one place. Go to Tools > Review suggested edits and decide on everything from that box.

Third-party guides call this box a sidebar. Spell's guide says the sidebar lists every suggestion, with Accept all at the top. Google's own help describes a box at the top right. If your screen looks different from a guide, trust Google's description and look for that box.

Say a long draft came back from several reviewers, and one of them suggested a change to a quote you care about. Most edits look fine, but that quote needs a closer look. Start with Next suggestion to reach the quote. Click Accept or Reject on that one. Then open Review suggested edits, preview the rest, and click Accept all only if the preview looks right.

Move between suggestions with the keyboard

The next and previous chords matter most in a long file, where clicking each highlight takes a while. Use them to read each suggestion before you decide. Press N to move forward and P to move back. The rest of the chord stays the same.

Suggesting, Editing and Viewing modes on Mac

Google Docs has three modes that matter here. Suggesting mode turns your typing into proposed edits. Editing mode lets you change the text directly. Viewing mode is read-only, which is useful when you only want to read the result.

On a Mac, the chords are ⌘+Option+Shift+X for Suggesting, ⌘+Option+Shift+Z for Editing, and ⌘+Option+Shift+C for Viewing. Check the mode before you start. Typing in Suggesting mode creates suggestions, not plain text.

Mistakes people make with suggestions on Mac

Most suggestion mistakes come from one of four habits. Each one is easy to avoid once you know it.

• Clicking Accept all before scrolling. Accept all includes suggestions you have not scrolled to, so preview with the Down arrow first.
• Typing in Suggesting mode. Your edits become suggestions instead of plain text. Switch to Editing mode first.
• Expecting Accept all with comment-only access. Accepting needs edit access, so the button can be missing or greyed out.
• Assuming the phone app matches the Mac. MergeDocs Pro says the Android and iPhone apps have no Accept all.

Fix most of these by checking your access and mode first. Then preview, and then decide. That order prevents most of the errors above.

Accept or reject suggestions in offline Google Docs

You can work offline in Google Docs on a Mac, with limits. Google's offline help says you need Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Private browsing does not work. You also need the Google Docs Offline Chrome extension.

Only one account per browser profile can have offline turned on. Turning offline on for one of Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Drive turns it on for the others. An administrator can also turn off offline sync, so ask your Workspace admin if the option is missing.

Large files can fail to sync. Google suggests reloading and retrying, clearing docs.google.com site data, and toggling Make available offline from the File menu. If the file is too large to sync, split it into smaller documents.

Mac and Windows: what changes and what stays the same

Google's help page for suggestions does not mention Mac at all, and its steps cover both systems. The main difference is the modifier. On a Mac, the review chords use Ctrl+⌘. On Windows, the same chords use Ctrl+Alt. Keep the clicks from any guide and swap the keys.

Where suggested edits came from

Google introduced suggested edits in June 2014, according to Wikipedia's Google Docs entry. That early version let commenters propose edits that the author could accept or reject. Wikipedia does not mention a later rename, so older guides may use different labels for the same controls.

Comments that stay open after you finish

Some comments may still be open after the suggestions are settled. Open a discussion thread with ⌘+Option+Shift+A, and jump between comments with Hold Ctrl+⌘, press N, then C. Insert a new comment with ⌘+Option+M when you need to ask a question instead of editing the text.