How to limit the Confluence Change History macro to the last N versions
On a page with hundreds of versions, the Change History macro prints every one of them. Here is what Atlassian documents for the macro, what the open suggestion asks for, and one way to show only the latest few.
Hullspark ยท updated 2026-10-30
Short answer
- Try the built-in setting first. Atlassian documents a
limitparameter, "Number of versions to display", blank for all versions. The example is{change-history:limit=2}[1]. - The documentation says Cloud and Data Center. The same page says the macro is available in both [1]. I could not confirm from the documentation which Cloud editors show the field, so open Insert, Change History in your own editor and look.
- The suggestion is still open. CONFCLOUD-32315 asks to limit the number of items the macro returns. It has 392 votes and the status Gathering Interest [2].
- The built-in macro stops at a count. The parameter table lists only
limit. It has no minor-edit filter, no time window and no author filter [1].
What the built-in macro does
The Change History macro shows a table of recent updates to the page: version number, author, date and the version comment. Atlassian lists a single parameter, limit, which caps how many versions appear and shows the whole history when blank [1]. In the editor you insert it from the macro browser and fill in the number of versions; in wiki markup it is {change-history:limit=2}.
If your macro dialog has that field, you can stop here for a plain "last N". What it does not give you, according to the same page, is anything beyond the count: you cannot leave out minor edits, look only at the last 30 days, or list only some people's changes [1]. That is where people tend to go looking for something else.
The open suggestion
CONFCLOUD-32315, "Allow users to limit the number of items the change-history macro returns", was opened in January 2014 for pages with hundreds of versions. It is a suggestion for Confluence Cloud, with 392 votes and 154 watchers at the time of writing, and Atlassian's status is Gathering Interest [2]. The reporter proposed a limit parameter and mentioned an older third-party macro that had one. If the suggestion matters to you, vote on it and describe your use case in a comment; that is what moves it.
One option: our own app
I make a Confluence Cloud app for this, Change History Limit by Hullspark [3]. It is a macro that lists the latest versions of the page or blog post it sits on. As the current code describes it:
- A count you choose: 3, 5, 10, 20 or 50 versions, 5 by default, newest first.
- Minor edits: show them with a "Minor edit" label, or hide them. When hidden, it reads on through older versions (up to 300) until it has your number.
- A time window: all versions, or the last 7, 30 or 90 days.
- Authors: list only the versions by up to 20 people you pick.
- Version links and comments: every version number opens that version; the comment column can be hidden.
It only reads. It stores nothing, writes nothing to Confluence and sends nothing outside Atlassian's cloud. Without a license it shows the latest 3 versions. It shows the history of its own page only, so it cannot list another page's history.
Questions
Does the Confluence Change History macro have a limit setting?
Atlassian's documentation lists a limit parameter and says the macro is available in Confluence Cloud and Data Center. Check whether your macro dialog shows the field.
Can the built-in macro hide minor edits or filter by author?
Atlassian's parameter table lists only limit, so no.
Does the macro change the page history?
No. Both the built-in macro and this app only read the list of versions.
Sources
Claims about Confluence come from Atlassian's documentation and the Jira suggestion, checked 2026-10-30. Atlassian changes screens.
- [1] Atlassian: Change History Macro: https://confluence.atlassian.com/spaces/CONF92/pages/1477576145/Change+History+Macro
- [2] Atlassian Jira: CONFCLOUD-32315: https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CONFCLOUD-32315
- [3] Hullspark: Change History Limit for Confluence: change-history-limit.html
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