# Check a file's activity

Open a file's history from Recent Files: who uploaded it, renamed it, moved it, labelled it and shared it, and when.

Every file keeps a record of what has been done to it and by whom. Reading it before you change a file is the quickest way to learn that a colleague renamed it an hour ago, or has already shared it with the person you were about to send it to.

- Point at the file's row, select the three dots at its right-hand end, and select **Activity**.
- Read the panel that opens on the right. The newest entry is at the top, with the person, what they did, and how long ago.

  ![Recent Files with the Activity panel open on the right, headed Activity with a count of 5. Newest first: Eleanor Whitfield updated labels on Workshop Capacity Plan - Q4 2026.xlsx, Graham Whitfield shared it with dermot.lynch@ironvale.co.uk, with sian.pritchard@ironvale.co.uk and with admin@ironvale.com, and Graham Whitfield uploaded it. Each entry reads 6 days ago. The list's date and size columns stay visible to the left of the panel.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/nest/recent-files/activity-panel.png)
- Select **Activity** on the same file's menu again to close the panel.

## What the history records

- **Uploaded**: Who added the file to Nest.
- **Renamed and moved**: Each new name and each new folder, in order.
- **Shared**: Each colleague the file was shared with, by email address.
- **Labels updated**: That somebody changed the labels on the file. Labels are personal, so the entry does not say which.
- **Trashed and restored**: Each time the file went to Trash and came back.

> **Note:**
>
> Opening and downloading are not in the history. Those only move the file up your own Recent Files, so the panel tells you what happened to a file, not who has read it.