diff --git a/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/API.ts b/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/API.ts
index f93ef2c2d0e8..8dc88f8dc16c 100644
--- a/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/API.ts
+++ b/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/API.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import { dirname } from 'path';
 const NO_CACHE = 'no-cache';
 import * as queries from './queries';
 
+import type { ApolloQueryResult } from 'apollo-client';
 import type { NormalizedCacheObject } from 'apollo-cache-inmemory';
 import type {
   ApiRequest,
@@ -196,6 +197,13 @@ export function getMaxAccess(groups: { group_access_level: number }[]) {
   }, groups[0]);
 }
 
+function batch<T>(items: T[], maxPerBatch: number, action: (items: T[]) => void) {
+  for (let index = 0; index < items.length; index = index + maxPerBatch) {
+    const itemsSlice = items.slice(index, index + maxPerBatch);
+    action(itemsSlice);
+  }
+}
+
 export default class API {
   apiRoot: string;
   graphQLAPIRoot: string;
@@ -460,30 +468,79 @@ export default class API {
   };
 
   readFilesGraphQL = async (files: ImplementationFile[]) => {
-    const blobPromises = [];
-
-    const BLOBS_TO_FETCH = 50;
     const paths = files.map(({ path }) => path);
-    for (let index = 0; index < files.length; index = index + BLOBS_TO_FETCH) {
+
+    type BlobResult = {
+      project: { repository: { blobs: { nodes: { id: string; data: string }[] } } };
+    };
+
+    const blobPromises: Promise<ApolloQueryResult<BlobResult>>[] = [];
+    batch(paths, 90, slice => {
       blobPromises.push(
         this.graphQLClient!.query({
           query: queries.blobs,
           variables: {
             repo: this.repo,
             branch: this.branch,
-            paths: paths.slice(index, index + BLOBS_TO_FETCH),
+            paths: slice,
           },
           fetchPolicy: 'cache-first',
         }),
       );
-    }
+    });
 
-    const results = (await Promise.all(blobPromises)).map(
-      result => result.data.project.repository.blobs.nodes,
-    );
+    type LastCommit = {
+      id: string;
+      authoredDate: string;
+      authorName: string;
+      author?: {
+        name: string;
+        username: string;
+        publicEmail: string;
+      };
+    };
+
+    type CommitResult = {
+      project: { repository: { [tree: string]: { lastCommit: LastCommit } } };
+    };
 
-    const blobs = results.flat().map(result => result.data) as string[];
-    return files.map((file, index) => ({ file, data: blobs[index] }));
+    const commitPromises: Promise<ApolloQueryResult<CommitResult>>[] = [];
+    batch(paths, 8, slice => {
+      commitPromises.push(
+        this.graphQLClient!.query({
+          query: queries.lastCommits(slice),
+          variables: {
+            repo: this.repo,
+            branch: this.branch,
+          },
+          fetchPolicy: 'cache-first',
+        }),
+      );
+    });
+
+    const [blobsResults, commitsResults] = await Promise.all([
+      (await Promise.all(blobPromises)).map(result => result.data.project.repository.blobs.nodes),
+      (
+        await Promise.all(commitPromises)
+      ).map(
+        result =>
+          Object.values(result.data.project.repository)
+            .map(({ lastCommit }) => lastCommit)
+            .filter(Boolean) as LastCommit[],
+      ),
+    ]);
+
+    const blobs = blobsResults.flat().map(result => result.data) as string[];
+    const metadata = commitsResults.flat().map(({ author, authoredDate, authorName }) => ({
+      author: author ? author.name || author.username || author.publicEmail : authorName,
+      updatedOn: authoredDate,
+    }));
+
+    const filesWithData = files.map((file, index) => ({
+      file: { ...file, ...metadata[index] },
+      data: blobs[index],
+    }));
+    return filesWithData;
   };
 
   listAllFiles = async (path: string, recursive = false, branch = this.branch) => {
diff --git a/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/implementation.ts b/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/implementation.ts
index 7e5f1a5b611b..bf9df133c885 100644
--- a/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/implementation.ts
+++ b/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/implementation.ts
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ export default class GitLab implements Implementation {
       filterFile: file => this.filterFile(folder, file, extension, depth),
       customFetch: this.useGraphQL ? files => this.api!.readFilesGraphQL(files) : undefined,
     });
+
     return files;
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/queries.ts b/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/queries.ts
index d37e5383f5fe..fb6e020185e3 100644
--- a/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/queries.ts
+++ b/packages/netlify-cms-backend-gitlab/src/queries.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { gql } from 'graphql-tag';
+import { oneLine } from 'common-tags';
 
 export const files = gql`
   query files($repo: ID!, $branch: String!, $path: String!, $recursive: Boolean!, $cursor: String) {
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ export const blobs = gql`
       repository {
         blobs(ref: $branch, paths: $paths) {
           nodes {
+            id
             data: rawBlob
           }
         }
@@ -36,3 +38,36 @@ export const blobs = gql`
     }
   }
 `;
+
+export function lastCommits(paths: string[]) {
+  const tree = paths
+    .map(
+      (path, index) => oneLine`
+    tree${index}: tree(ref: $branch, path: "${path}") {
+      lastCommit {
+        authorName
+        authoredDate
+        author {
+          id
+          username
+          name
+          publicEmail
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  `,
+    )
+    .join('\n');
+
+  const query = gql`
+  query lastCommits($repo: ID!, $branch: String!) {
+    project(fullPath: $repo) {
+      repository {
+        ${tree}
+      }
+    }
+  }
+`;
+
+  return query;
+}