Workiva Support Center

Use Documents in Workiva to organize your data. Get started by importing documents or creating them with familiar editing features.

Navigating Documents

When you open your first file, you'll notice a list of sections in the left panel. This is the Document Outline. Think of it as a clickable table of contents that saves you from lots of scrolling.

Click on any section to navigate directly there, or drag and drop sections to reorder them.

You can double-click the document title to rename your document. Using the section controls, you can promote, demote, move, and add sections to your document, as well as open and close all subsections. An arrow indicates subsections beneath that main section. Click the arrow to expand and collapse the subsection list. A comment icon shows what sections include comments. To see them, click the Comments icon in the right panel. Learn more about the outline in Use the Document Outline.

The right panel contains settings and actions for working within your document. Use the icons beside the panel to switch between features, like comments, history, and blacklines. 

Collaborate with others

Workiva allows you to collaborate in real time while also helping you manage, review, and track your document's changes. 

Permissions

To view or edit your document, each user will need permission to access your new file. You can set permissions at the document or section level, and each user can have owner, editor, or viewer permissions. Learn more about Document permissions. 

Linking

One of Workiva's most powerful features is linking. By creating links between the same piece of data in multiple places, you'll see your links update across your files anytime you change the source data. In Documents, you can create both text and table links—select a link in your document to view information about the source link and any destination links. Learn more about links in Documents.

Comments and History

Use comments to ask questions and give feedback on your document. To add a comment, right-click a selection in your document and choose Add Comment from the menu. You'll see all comments listed alongside your document and in the Comments panel, where you can delete, reply to, or move comments to new selections. To immediately notify other users about your comment, you can add an @ mention. Learn more about using comments. 

All changes are automatically shared with collaborators, so no need to save any updates when you make a change. Use the History panel to keep track of what changes were made in your document and who made those changes. Use the Filter options at the top of the panel to show revisions that meet certain criteria, like by author or time period. The Create Milestone option lets you mark important revisions, like versions you sent off for review.  Learn more about using the history panel.

Share your document

While working on your document, you may need to send your file to other users for review. You can share documents to other Workiva users and to reviewers outside your workspace.

Track and review changes

Document owners can turn on the Track Changes functionality for an in-depth view of what changes have been made to a document. After turning on Track Changes, blue text shows additions, red pins and text represent removals, and purple pins show revisions. You can toggle what changes you see using the View Mode options in the toolbar. Learn more about using track changes.

Owners can also send their document for review. This option sends a read-only version of your file to other collaborators in Workiva to leave comments on—no need to update your document's permissions. Comments from reviews automatically show up on your original file, so you can work with feedback in real time. Learn more about using send for review.

Export your document

If you need to share your document with someone outside of Workiva, you can export it to another file type. In the File toolbar, use the Save As option to save your document as a PDF, EDGAR, DOCX, InDesign or XHTML file. Select exactly which sections you want to appear in your export and, depending on the file type, customize how your document will appear. 

What's next

Now that you've seen what you can do in Documents, here are a few things to help you get started:

• Create and import documents
• Side by side viewing
• Use headers and footers