# Editing a document

How to change a draft policy or procedure in edit mode, from rewording a line to adding your own sections, and what saves when.

Source: https://sted.digital/docs/product/editing-documents · Last reviewed 17 October 2026 · Strand Product

You edit a Draft in edit mode. Open the document, then choose **Edit this draft** from Steward's menu. In edit mode you can reword lines, tick or untick recommended requirements, add your own requirements and sections, and drop recommended sections. Structure changes save at once; **Done** saves the words you typed.

## What this is

Edit mode is the one place a document's content changes before approval. It shows your draft as a redline: what you added, removed or reworded, compared with a baseline you choose. View mode, by contrast, shows the clean document as adopted, the way the PDF prints it.

Only a draft can be edited. An Approved version stays as it was approved, and changing it starts with [a new version](/docs/product/approval-and-versions). Only an administrator or the document's owner can edit a draft.

## Where to find it

1. Open **Framework**, then **Documents**, and select the document.
2. Select **Steward** at the bottom right of the screen.
3. Select **Edit this draft**.

On a phone, select **Menu** at the top of the screen and choose **Edit this draft** in its **Steward** section. When Sted has updated its recommendations, view mode also shows "Updated recommendations available" with an **Edit to review** link.

## How it works

### Choose what to compare with

Use **Compare with** at the top of edit mode to set the baseline: **Recommendations** (Sted's current wording), your Approved version, or **Nothing** for the plain draft. **Show** narrows the page to updates, all changes or the whole document, and the arrows step from one change to the next.

### Change the wording

1. Select the line you want to change.
2. Type the new wording.
3. Select **Done** to save.

**Done** saves every line, heading and introduction you typed. If you try to leave with typed text unsaved, Sted asks whether to discard it. The overview at the top of the document is edited here too, up to 600 characters.

### Change the structure

These controls save the moment you use them, with no need for **Done**:

- Tick a recommended requirement to adopt it, or untick it to leave it out.
- Select **Add requirement** under a section to write a requirement of your own.
- Select **Add section** under any section to add a section of your own after it.
- Select **Drop section** on a recommended section to leave it out, and **Restore section** to bring it back.
- Select **Delete section** on a section you added, or the cross beside a requirement you added, to remove it.

Standard sections, such as Scope and Enforcement, cannot be dropped, and they take no requirements of your own.

### Say why

The **Change notes** panel at the foot of the draft holds **Why this revision**, a short explanation of the change as a whole. **Add a reason** beside a changed line records why that line changed. Both save with **Done**, and the approver sees them.

### Updated recommendations

If Sted has updated its recommendations since your Approved version, edit mode shows each change as a card for you to decide. The draft cannot be approved until every one is decided, for administrators too. [When Sted updates its recommendations](/docs/product/recommendation-updates) covers the cards.

## Permissions

The level rule allows every level to edit, but ownership narrows it: editing needs an administrator or the document's owner, and only administrators and Policy and Process Owners can own a document.

| Action | Administrator | Policy and Process Owner | Reviewer | Personnel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open a draft in edit mode | All documents | Documents they own | No | No |
| Reword lines and the overview | All documents | Documents they own | No | No |
| Add, drop, restore or delete sections and requirements | All documents | Documents they own | No | No |
| Write change notes | All documents | Documents they own | No | No |

Reviewers and Personnel see only Approved documents, so they never meet a draft. Anyone who may not edit a document does not see **Edit this draft** in Steward's menu.

## Limits and plan features

Editing works on every plan. On Preview it applies to the one generated document you can open in full. Standard sections stay in every policy and procedure; you can reword them but not drop them.

## Related guides

- [Reviewing a new draft](/docs/product/reviewing-a-draft): the step before editing, for a document Sted has just drafted.
- [When Sted updates its recommendations](/docs/product/recommendation-updates): deciding the cards edit mode shows after a change to Sted's knowledge base.
- [Approving documents and versions](/docs/product/approval-and-versions): the step after editing.
- [Document control](/docs/guides/document-control): how to keep revisions, reasons and approvals in order.
- [Standard section](/docs/glossary/standard-section): which sections every policy keeps, and why.

## Frequently asked questions

Q: Why can't I drop the Scope section from a policy?
A: Because Scope is one of the eight standard sections, and standard sections cannot be dropped. You can still change the wording of its lines. Recommended sections, by contrast, can be dropped and restored as often as you like.

Q: Do I need to press Done after ticking a requirement?
A: No. Ticks, new requirements, new sections and dropped sections save the moment you make them. Done saves only the words you've typed, and Sted asks before you leave with typed changes unsaved.

Q: Can I edit an Approved policy directly?
A: No. An Approved version stays as it was approved. To change it, create a new version, which gives you a Draft to edit while the Approved version stays in use.

Q: Can I record why I removed a requirement?
A: Yes. Select Add a reason beside the changed line, or explain the whole revision in Why this revision at the foot of the draft. Both feed the change notes the approver sees.