Which version did we send?

A filename is a label someone typed on a busy afternoon. It records what the person hoped, not what happened.

• FINAL gets written before the last round of changes, and nobody renames it after.
• v2 means second version to one person and second draft of the second version to another.
• copy or (1) usually means someone downloaded or duplicated the file, not that it changed.
• The same name can sit in a shared folder, a OneDrive, a Downloads folder and an email, each holding different content.

The name tells you what the file is called. Only the sent message tells you what was sent.

1. Open the message in Sent Items and note who it went to and when.
2. Look at how the file was included. An attachment is a file inside the message. A shared link points to a file stored in OneDrive or SharePoint.
3. For an attachment, open it from that message, not from the folder. That copy is the one to compare against.
4. Check one or two details the client questioned: a price, a date, a clause.
5. Save that attachment to the shared client folder with a name that says it was sent, such as 2026-09-12_Harlow_Proposal_SENT.pdf.

If the email used a shared link instead of an attachment, be careful. A link points to one stored file that people keep working on, so it can open the file as it is today rather than as it was on the day you sent it. Use version history to see how the file looked around that date, and treat the result as a likely match, not proof.

SharePoint and OneDrive keep version history for files. It shows which versions exist, when each one was saved and who changed it. You can view an earlier version without overwriting the current one.

1. In the SharePoint library, select the three dots next to the file.
2. Select Version history. If you do not see it, select More first.
3. Hover over the date of an earlier version and use its menu to view it.

• It does not know about email. Version history cannot tell you which version was attached to a message. It only shows what the file looked like at a given time.
• It may not keep everything. Versioning is on by default, but it can be turned off, and admins can set limits that trim older versions. If the version you need is gone, the sent message is still your record.
• Viewing is enough. Restoring an earlier version copies it and makes the copy current. Do not restore just to look.

The fix is not a smarter search. It is a boring name. Use this pattern for anything that leaves the building: YYYY-MM-DD_Client_Document_STATUS.ext

• Date first, year, month, day, so files sort in order.
• Client as one short word everyone uses.
• Document as a plain noun: Proposal, Quote, COI, Contract.
• Status as one of three words: DRAFT, SENT, SIGNED.

• Never write FINAL. SENT is a fact. FINAL is a mood.
• When you send something, save that exact file with SENT in the name in the client folder, the same day.
• Keep names short and plain. SharePoint and OneDrive do not allow some characters in names, including " * : < > ? / \ |, or spaces at the start or end.