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Please refer to this. I made 3 little edits in a three-minute period (timestamps 19:29:41Z, 19:30:48Z, 19:32:08Z). In the olden days, this would be aggregated into one edit for the record. Now it shows as 3 edits.

The only difference this makes is I will now try to be more careful before hitting the "Save edits" button. But before I enjoyed the freedom to hit it and, if I discover a quick little typo or something I missed, to edit again, without this appearing as a separate edit.

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    $\begingroup$ I've been trying to see where that used to happen, and can't find it. Recently, when I edit and add a comment about the edit and then I edit soon again, the comment is put back in. I'm wondering if that's the trigger: that there's a comment? It certainly seems the 5 minute timeout used to be there. But it doesn't mention merging edits. $\endgroup$
    – Peter K. Mod
    Commented Mar 4, 2023 at 16:55
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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for looking @PeterK. $\endgroup$
    – robert bristow-johnson
    Commented Mar 4, 2023 at 17:08

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OK, I found the documentation in the FAQ.

Multiple edits made by the same person may be combined into a single revision, if they occur within a short period of time (currently 5 minutes), unless the post is later edited by someone else or one of the events listed at the bottom occurs. Edits made by the original author are considered part of the base revision if submitted within 5 minutes of posting (again, unless someone else edits the post or one of those events occurs) or migrating. This does not apply if the user doesn't have the remove new user restrictions privilege (awarded at 10 reputation on all sites) - edits from these users will always create a new revision.

And then:

Grace period

In order to prevent a series of tiny edits from showing up in the revision history, a single user who makes a binding (not suggested) edit to a post is given a 5-minute grace period, except if one of the following conditions is true:

  • The previous revision was a rollback.
  • The new revision is a rollback (includes cases where one selects to edit a prior revision and doesn't make any changes).
  • The user does not have the remove new user restrictions privilege.

During this period, any additional edits they make are collapsed into the same edit in the revision history, displaying only the final outcome of all their edits within that 5-minute period. The grace period ends after exactly 5 minutes, or if:

  • Another user edits the post, at which time their grace period begins.
  • A comment has been added to the post since the previous revision by anyone other than the editor (ignores deleted comments).
  • If the post being edited is a question and an answer has been added since the previous revision (ignores deleted answers but does include answers by the editor).
  • The post is a question, and it has been closed since the previous revision.
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  • $\begingroup$ Can you explain this, Peter? I have three tiny edits made within 2 minutes and 38 seconds. No one edited in the meantime. Why aren't they merged into a single edit? $\endgroup$
    – robert bristow-johnson
    Commented Mar 4, 2023 at 18:09
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    $\begingroup$ @robertbristow-johnson No idea. Your edits run counter to this FAQ. $\endgroup$
    – Peter K. Mod
    Commented Mar 4, 2023 at 20:00
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    $\begingroup$ @robertbristow-johnson: I'm not sure if there's a bug report on MSE about it, but I believe something did recently break with grace-period edits, causing them to no longer be listed as/combined into a single edit... I recall another CM mentioning it internally, at least. $\endgroup$
    – V2Blast Staff
    Commented Mar 13, 2023 at 14:47
  • $\begingroup$ Thank you @V2Blast . $\endgroup$
    – robert bristow-johnson
    Commented Mar 13, 2023 at 20:36

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