If you’re a NetDocuments user looking to get the most out of your system, understanding your activity logs is a key step. These logs provide a wealth of information, enabling you to track actions, gain insights into user behavior, and ensure compliance across your documents. But deciphering raw data isn’t always straightforward.
What if we told you there’s a simple, structured way to open and analyze these logs in Excel? By leveraging the power of Excel’s tools, you can transform complex data into clear, actionable insights. Whether you’re monitoring access, ensuring security, or optimizing document workflows, this guide will walk you through the process step-by-step.
NOTE: NetDocuments only stores logs from the last 90 days. Some firms download these logs once a quarter for archival purposes. Using Microsoft’s Power Automate, we have developed a way to back this up automatically.
Step 1: In NetDocuments Admin Console, go to Activity Logs.
Step 2: Choose a Date Range and change it to Download and Click Request
Step 3: Right Click on the XML File and choose open with Excel
Step 4: Choose As an XML table and then click OK.
Lagniappe: Optiable’s ND Activity Analyzer
At Optiable, we created a tool that creates a report for the activity log:
Note: You cannot have the activity log opened in excel to do this.
Step 1: Choose the Activity Log
Step 2: Choose a place to save the Activity Log
A report will get generated like this:
The report I created tells you who is using NetDocuments and what they are using it for:
Create – A new document was created, or a document was copied or moved.
Delete – A document was deleted.
Purge – A document was permanently deleted.
Email Copy – A document was emailed as a copy.
Email Link – A document was emailed as a link.
View – View a Document without checking in or out.
Document Checked Out – When you click on a document in NetDocuments, it gets checked out to your computer.
Check-in – When a document is saved and closed, it should get checked back into NetDocuments.