How to create editable columns without affecting the document version in SharePoint?

Question

Hello,

We have a requirement in SharePoint where we need to create columns in a document library that are not related to the document version. These columns would serve to track document revision and could be modified over time without necessarily generating a version change in the document.

My questions are:

Is it possible to create columns in SharePoint that are editable without affecting the document version?

Can we move this revision tracking to a separate list if necessary?

Is there a way for administrators to restore a previous version of the document if needed?

I appreciate any guidance or best practices for this case.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi @Soporte-IT,

By default, SharePoint increments the document version when any metadata column is edited (if versioning is enabled). This includes custom columns for revision tracking.

As a workaround, yes you can use a separate list to Store revision metadata (e.g., revision number, approver, date) in the dedicated list linked to the document library via lookup columns and update this list manually or automate it with Power Automate to avoid triggering document versions.

And you can restore a previous version of the document by navigating to the document’s version history (File > Version History).

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