How to Audit Your Documentation: Find Gaps, Fix Issues, Stay Current

I'll never forget the day I discovered that 60% of our documentation at Simpo was completely useless.

We'd built this beautiful library of SOPs and process guides. Hundreds of pages. Screenshots. Step-by-step instructions. I was proud of what we'd created.

Then a new hire came to me frustrated because nothing matched what he was seeing in the actual systems. Buttons didn't exist where the docs said they would. Entire workflows had changed. Some processes we'd documented weren't even part of our operations anymore.

I did a quick spot-check and realized the problem was everywhere. Out of 50 documented processes, only about 20 were still accurate. The rest ranged from "slightly outdated" to "completely wrong."

I'm Yuval, founder and CEO of Glitter AI. That moment taught me something crucial: creating documentation is only half the job. The other half is making sure it stays accurate.

Today I'm going to show you exactly how to audit your documentation to find what's broken, identify what's missing, and set up a system so you never end up in this situation again.

Why Documentation Audits Matter (More Than You Think)

Before I walk you through the process, let me be honest about why this matters.

Outdated Documentation Is Worse Than No Documentation

This surprised me at first, but it's true.

When you have no documentation, people know they need to ask for help. They're cautious. They verify things.

When you have documentation that looks official but is actually wrong? People follow it confidently—and end up making mistakes, wasting time, or breaking things.

I've seen new hires spend hours troubleshooting problems that only existed because they were following outdated instructions. That's not their fault. That's on us for not keeping things current.

Documentation Drift Happens Faster Than You Think

Here's what I learned: you don't need a major system overhaul for documentation to become outdated.

Small changes accumulate. A button moves slightly. A field gets renamed. A approval step gets added to a workflow. Each change seems too minor to justify updating the docs.

But after three months of small changes? Your documentation describes a process that barely exists anymore.

Your Team Stops Trusting the Documentation System

This is the real killer.

Once people find a few docs that are wrong, they stop trusting all your documentation. Even the stuff that's still accurate.

At Simpo, after we let things slide for a few months, I watched people completely bypass our documentation system. They'd just ask their coworkers instead, which meant we lost all the benefits of having documented processes in the first place.

Trust is hard to build and easy to destroy. A documentation audit helps you maintain that trust.

The Documentation Audit Framework

After learning this lesson the hard way, I built a systematic approach to auditing documentation. Here's exactly how I do it.

Step 1: Define Your Audit Scope

Don't try to audit everything at once. You'll get overwhelmed and quit.

Start with your critical documentation:

• High-use processes that your team references daily
• Processes where mistakes are expensive or dangerous
• Onboarding materials for new hires
• Any documentation required for compliance

For your first audit, I'd suggest picking 10-15 of your most important documents. Get good at the process, then expand.

What I did at Simpo: I started with just the processes our customer service team used every day. Eight documents total. Once I'd audited those and fixed the issues, I moved on to the next department.

Step 2: Gather Your Audit Team

You can't audit documentation in a vacuum. You need input from the people who actually use it.

Who should be involved:

• The person who owns the documentation (if you have ownership assigned)
• Someone who performs the process regularly
• Someone new to the process (they spot things veterans miss)
• A manager who understands the strategic context

For each document, I try to get at least two perspectives: an expert and a relative newcomer.

Step 3: Create Your Audit Checklist

Here's the checklist I use for every document. It covers the most common issues I've found.

Accuracy Checklist:

• Are all steps still part of the current process?
• Do screenshots match the current interface?
• Are all field names, button labels, and menu items correct?
• Do any steps reference deprecated tools or systems?
• Have any new steps been added that aren't documented?
• Are approval workflows still accurate?
• Do links work and point to the right places?

Completeness Checklist:

• Does the doc explain the why, not just the how?
• Are prerequisites clearly stated?
• Are permissions and access requirements documented?
• Are edge cases and exceptions covered?
• Is there troubleshooting guidance for common issues?
• Are there examples where helpful?

Usability Checklist:

• Can someone new to the process follow this without help?
• Is the language clear and jargon-free?
• Are steps in a logical order?
• Is the formatting consistent and scannable?
• Are visual aids (screenshots, diagrams) used effectively?
• Is the document findable (clear title, good metadata)?

Maintenance Checklist:

• Is there a clear owner listed?
• Is there a last reviewed date?
• Is there a next review date scheduled?
• Is version history tracked?
• Is there a way for users to provide feedback?

I print this checklist (or use a digital copy) and work through it systematically for each document.

Step 4: Walk Through the Process

This is the most important part. Don't just read the documentation. Actually do the process while following along.

Here's my method:

1. Open the documentation on one screen
2. Open the actual system/tool on another screen
3. Go through each step exactly as written
4. Note any discrepancies, confusion, or issues

Things I'm looking for:

• Steps that don't work as described
• Screenshots that don't match what I see
• Missing steps that I have to figure out on my own
• Steps that are unclear or ambiguous
• Workarounds that everyone knows but aren't documented

If I can't complete the process successfully using only the documentation (without prior knowledge), it fails the audit.

Common Issues to Flag During Your Audit

After auditing hundreds of documents, I've found these issues pop up repeatedly. Look for them specifically.

Issue 1: Screenshots of Old Interfaces

This is the most common problem I find. Software updates, interfaces change, and suddenly all your screenshots are wrong.

What to flag:

• Screenshots showing old layouts or designs
• Buttons or menus that have moved
• Features that no longer exist
• New features that aren't shown

The fix: Modern documentation tools like Glitter AI make this less painful. When you re-record a section, it automatically captures fresh screenshots. No manual cropping or annotation needed.

Issue 2: Zombie Steps

These are steps that describe processes or systems you no longer use.

I found these everywhere when I audited Simpo's docs. Instructions for tools we'd switched away from. Approval steps we'd eliminated. Workarounds for bugs that had been fixed.

What to flag:

• References to deprecated tools or systems
• Workarounds that are no longer needed
• Steps for features you've sunsetted
• Processes you've automated away

The fix: Delete these steps entirely. Don't just mark them as "deprecated"—that clutters the doc. If you need historical context, archive the old version.

Issue 3: The Missing Steps Everyone Knows

This one's sneaky. Over time, people develop shared knowledge about a process—little things they all do that aren't written down.

Examples I've found:

• "Always check with Sarah before approving requests over $10k" (not documented anywhere)
• "The system times out after 15 minutes, so save frequently" (everyone knows it, nobody wrote it down)
• "Use Firefox for this process, Chrome has a bug" (word-of-mouth knowledge)

What to flag:

• Steps that people do but aren't documented
• Informal workarounds
• Tribal knowledge that only experienced people know

The fix: Add these steps explicitly to the documentation. What seems obvious to a veteran is invisible to a new hire.

Issue 4: Process Changes That Weren't Documented

This happens all the time. A process evolves organically, but nobody updates the docs.

What to flag:

• Steps that happen in a different order now
• New approval requirements
• Changed workflows
• Additional validation steps

The fix: Update the documentation immediately. Then figure out why the change wasn't documented in the first place. Usually it means you need a better process for keeping documentation current.

Issue 5: Documentation That's Too Vague

I see this a lot in documentation written by subject matter experts who forget what it's like to be new.

Examples:

• "Configure the settings appropriately" (which settings? what values?)
• "Complete the standard checks" (what are the standard checks?)
• "Follow the usual process" (what's the usual process?)

What to flag:

• Vague instructions that require prior knowledge
• Terms that aren't defined
• Steps that assume context

The fix: Add specifics. List the exact settings, spell out the checks, define the terms. If it's not explicit, it's not documented.

Issue 6: Broken or Missing Links

Links rot. Systems change. Documents get moved.

What to flag:

• Links to pages that don't exist anymore
• Links to old versions of documents
• References to "see the X document" when X doesn't exist
• External links that are broken

The fix: Test every single link. Update or remove broken ones. If you're referencing another document, make sure it's still accurate too.

The Gap Analysis: Finding What's Missing

Auditing existing documentation is only half the job. You also need to identify what should be documented but isn't.

How to Find Documentation Gaps

Here's my process for identifying undocumented processes:

1. Talk to Your Team

Ask people what they wish was documented. I guarantee they have a list.

Questions I ask:

• What processes do you struggle to explain to new hires?
• What do people ask you about repeatedly?
• What processes vary person to person because there's no standard?
• What critical knowledge lives only in your head?

2. Review Support Tickets and Questions

If people keep asking the same questions, that's a documentation gap.

At Simpo, I reviewed our internal Slack channels and helpdesk tickets. Patterns emerged quickly. The same five processes accounted for 70% of questions—and only two of them were documented.

3. Watch Onboarding

New hire onboarding exposes documentation gaps like nothing else.

I started sitting in on onboarding sessions and noting every time someone said "oh, that's not written down anywhere, I'll just show you."

Every one of those moments? That's a process that needs documentation.

4. Audit Your Critical Business Processes

Make a list of every critical process in your business. Then check if each one is documented.

Categories to consider:

• Customer-facing processes (sales, support, onboarding)
• Financial processes (invoicing, payroll, reporting)
• Operational processes (fulfillment, quality control, inventory)
• HR processes (hiring, performance reviews, benefits)
• Technical processes (deployments, backups, security)

For each category, ask: if our most experienced person quit tomorrow, could someone else pick this up using only our documentation?

If the answer is no, you have a gap.

Prioritizing What to Fix

Unless you have unlimited time (you don't), you need to prioritize which issues to fix first.

Here's the framework I use:

The Impact/Effort Matrix

I evaluate each issue on two dimensions:

Impact: How much does this problem hurt?

• High: Affects many people, causes errors, blocks critical processes
• Medium: Affects some people, causes confusion or delays
• Low: Minor inconvenience or rarely encountered

Effort: How hard is it to fix?

• Low: Quick update, minor changes
• Medium: Significant rewrite or new screenshots needed
• High: Requires research, SME time, or major restructuring

Priority order:

1. High impact, low effort - Fix these immediately
2. High impact, high effort - Schedule these soon
3. Low impact, low effort - Batch these together
4. Low impact, high effort - Defer or reconsider if worth doing

The 80/20 Rule

Focus on the 20% of documentation that gets 80% of the use.

At Simpo, we had 50 documented processes, but 10 of them accounted for most of our team's documentation usage. I made sure those 10 were absolutely perfect before worrying about the long-tail stuff.

Track which docs get accessed most. Your documentation system might have analytics. If not, just ask your team what they reference regularly.

Creating Your Action Plan

Once you've audited your docs and identified issues, you need a plan to fix them.

Document Your Findings

I create a simple spreadsheet with these columns:

• Document name
• Issue type (accuracy, completeness, usability, etc.)
• Specific problem
• Impact (high/medium/low)
• Effort (high/medium/low)
• Owner
• Target fix date
• Status

This gives you a clear picture of the work ahead.

Assign Owners

Every issue needs an owner. Not "the team." A specific person.

Who should own what:

• Process owners fix accuracy issues in their processes
• Documentation specialist (if you have one) fixes formatting and structure
• Subject matter experts fill in gaps
• Technical writers (if you have them) improve clarity

At Simpo, I was often the owner for high-priority issues. For everything else, I assigned it to whoever knew the process best.

Set Realistic Deadlines

Don't try to fix everything at once. Spread the work over weeks or months.

My approach:

• Fix critical issues (high impact) within one week
• Fix important issues within one month
• Schedule medium-priority fixes over the next quarter
• Batch low-priority fixes for a "documentation cleanup day"

I block time on my calendar specifically for documentation work. If it's not scheduled, it doesn't happen.

Communicate the Plan

Let your team know what you're doing and why.

What I share:

• What we found in the audit
• Why it matters
• What we're fixing and when
• How they can help

This builds buy-in and often surfaces additional issues you missed.

Setting Up Continuous Monitoring

Here's the thing: documentation audits shouldn't be a once-a-year crisis. You need ongoing monitoring.

Build Review Cycles Into Your Calendar

Every document should have a scheduled review date. I use quarterly reviews for high-use docs and annual reviews for everything else.

What a review involves:

• Walk through the process using the documentation
• Verify screenshots match current interfaces
• Check for accuracy and completeness
• Update immediately if anything has changed

I put these reviews on the owner's calendar as recurring events. If it's not on the calendar, it won't happen.

Trigger Updates on Process Changes

This is the rule that changed everything for me: when you change a process, you update the documentation immediately. Not later. Now.

Make it part of your definition of done:

• Process changed? ✓
• Documentation updated? ✓
• Team notified? ✓

At Glitter, we can't close a project without checking that docs are updated. It's literally a required field in our project management system.

Create a Feedback Loop

Your team needs an easy way to report documentation issues.

What works:

• A "report issue" button right in the documentation
• A dedicated Slack channel for doc feedback
• Monthly check-ins where people can flag problems
• Making it psychologically safe to say "this doc is wrong"

When someone reports an issue, act on it quickly. If people see their feedback ignored, they'll stop reporting issues.

Use Analytics to Spot Problems

If your documentation system has analytics, use them.

Metrics I watch:

• Which docs get accessed most (prioritize these)
• Which docs have high bounce rates (might be useless)
• Which docs people search for but don't find (gaps)
• How old each document is since last update

You don't need fancy analytics. Even basic stats help you spot patterns.

Tools That Make Audits Easier

Let me save you some time by sharing what actually works.

For the Audit Process

Spreadsheets work great for tracking audit findings. You don't need anything fancy.

Screen recording while you walk through processes captures issues you might forget. I record myself following the docs and note timestamps where things go wrong.

Collaboration tools like Google Docs or Notion for the actual audit work. Multiple people can review the same doc and leave comments.

For Fixing Issues

Modern documentation platforms make updates way less painful.

I built Glitter AI specifically because I got tired of the traditional documentation update process. Re-recording a section takes 2 minutes. The old way—new screenshots, cropping, annotating, reformatting—took 30 minutes.

If updating is painful, it won't happen. Pick tools that make it easy.

For Ongoing Maintenance

Version control is essential. You need to see what changed and when.

Calendar integration for review reminders. I use Google Calendar with recurring events.

Feedback systems built into your documentation. We use a simple "was this helpful?" widget with a text box for comments.

Real-World Example: Our Documentation Audit at Simpo

Let me show you what this looks like in practice.

The Situation:

• 50 documented processes
• No systematic reviews in place
• Multiple people complaining about outdated docs
• New hires struggling with documentation accuracy

The Audit Process:

Week 1: I identified the 15 most critical processes and assembled audit teams for each (1-2 people per doc).

Week 2: Teams walked through their assigned processes and filled out audit checklists. We found:

• 9 docs with outdated screenshots
• 6 docs with incorrect steps
• 4 docs with missing steps everyone just "knew"
• 3 docs that referenced deprecated tools
• 2 docs that were completely obsolete

Week 3: I prioritized issues and assigned owners. High-impact fixes got one-week deadlines. Everything else got scheduled over the next month.

Week 4: We started fixing issues, starting with the most critical. I blocked out 2 hours every day for documentation work.

The Results:

Within one month:

• All 15 critical docs updated and accurate
• New ownership system in place
• Quarterly review schedule created
• Feedback system implemented
• Team confidence in documentation restored

The most important result? We caught the issues before they caused serious problems. And we built a system to prevent it from happening again.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

I've made every mistake possible with documentation audits. Learn from my failures.

Mistake 1: Waiting Too Long

I used to think "we'll do a big documentation audit next quarter when things slow down."

Things never slow down. By the time you get around to it, the problems are massive.

The fix: Schedule audits proactively. Don't wait for a crisis.

Mistake 2: Auditing Without Resources to Fix

Don't audit if you're not prepared to fix what you find.

I made this mistake once. We identified 100+ issues in a massive audit. Then we had no time or people to fix them. The list sat there for months, demoralizing everyone.

The fix: Start small. Audit only what you can realistically fix in the next 30 days.

Mistake 3: Auditing in Isolation

I used to review documentation by myself, at my desk, just reading through it.

I missed so many issues because I already knew how things worked.

The fix: Always involve people who actually use the documentation. Especially newer team members.

Mistake 4: Perfectionism

Trying to make every doc perfect before publishing updates.

Result: Updates took forever. Some docs never got fixed.

The fix: 80% accurate now is better than 100% accurate someday. Ship the update, then iterate.

Mistake 5: No Follow-Through

Finding issues, creating an action plan, then... letting it die.

The fix: Schedule the work. Assign owners. Check in weekly on progress. Make it part of performance expectations.

Your Next Steps

Don't let this be another article you read and forget about.

Here's what to do this week:

Monday: Pick your 5 most critical documents to audit first.

Tuesday: Recruit 1-2 people to help with each audit (mix of experts and newcomers).

Wednesday: Walk through the first document using the audit checklist. Note every issue.

Thursday: Prioritize the issues you found using the impact/effort matrix.

Friday: Fix the highest-priority issues or schedule time to fix them next week.

That's it. Don't try to audit everything at once. Start small, build momentum, expand gradually.

The documentation you audit this week could prevent a major screw-up next month. That's worth a few hours of your time.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How often should I audit my documentation?

Audit critical documentation quarterly and standard documentation annually at minimum. High-use processes should be reviewed more frequently. However, spot-check important docs monthly and encourage continuous feedback from your team rather than relying solely on scheduled audits.

What should I look for in a documentation audit?

Check for accuracy (outdated steps, wrong screenshots), completeness (missing steps, no troubleshooting), usability (vague instructions, poor formatting), and maintenance (no owner, no review dates). Walk through the actual process while following the documentation to catch discrepancies you'd miss just reading.

Who should be involved in a documentation audit?

Include the document owner, someone who performs the process regularly, someone new to the process (they spot things veterans miss), and a manager for strategic context. You need at least two perspectives: an expert and a newcomer. Don't audit documentation alone.

How do I prioritize which documentation issues to fix first?

Use an impact/effort matrix. Fix high-impact, low-effort issues immediately. Schedule high-impact, high-effort issues soon. Batch low-impact, low-effort fixes together. Defer or reconsider low-impact, high-effort items. Focus on the 20% of documentation that gets 80% of usage first.

What are common documentation issues found during audits?

Most common issues: outdated screenshots from interface changes, zombie steps for deprecated systems, missing steps that everyone just knows, process changes that weren't documented, vague instructions requiring prior knowledge, and broken links. These account for about 80% of issues in most audits.

How can I prevent documentation from becoming outdated?

Build quarterly review cycles into calendars, update documentation immediately when processes change (make it part of definition of done), create easy feedback mechanisms for your team to report issues, assign clear ownership to every document, and use tools that make updates quick and painless.

What's the best way to identify documentation gaps?

Talk to your team about what they wish was documented, review support tickets and repeated questions, watch onboarding to see what's not written down, and audit all critical business processes to verify each has documentation. New hires are especially good at spotting documentation gaps that veterans don't notice.

Should I try to audit all documentation at once?

No. Start with 5-15 of your most critical documents. Get good at the audit process, fix what you find, then expand to the next batch. Auditing everything at once overwhelms you and often results in identified issues that never get fixed. Small batches with follow-through beat massive audits that stall.