A comment is a note or annotation that an author or
reviewer adds to a document. Microsoft Word displays the comment in a balloon
in the margin of the document or in the Reviewing pane.
This article
answers some of the more frequently asked questions about the Comment feature
in Word.
A balloon shows markup elements (for example,
comments) in print layout view or web layout view. The balloon appears in the
margins of your Word document to avoid hiding text or affecting the layout of
the document.
How do I view the comments in a Word document?
To view the comments in a Word document, turn on the
Markup feature.
To do this in
Microsoft Office Word 2003 and in Microsoft Word 2002, click Markup on the View menu. Word displays balloons in your Word document for each
comment.
To do this in
Microsoft Office Word 2007, click the Review tab, click
Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then
click to select the Comments check box.
If you do not see the comment balloon, change the view of your
document to either print layout or Web layout view. To do this, click Print Layout or Web Layout on the View menu.
How do I hide the comments in my Word document?
To hide the comments, turn off the Markup feature.
To do this in
Word 2003 or in Word 2002, click Markup on the View menu.
To do this in
Word 2007, click the Review tab, click
Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then
click to clear the Comments check box.
How do I insert a comment?
To insert a comment in a Word 2003 or Word 2002 document, follow these steps:
Click
to select the text or item on which you want to comment, or click the place where you want to
insert your comment.
On the Insert menu, click Comment.
Type your comment in the comment balloon that appears
when you are in print layout or Web layout view, or in the Reviewing pane when you are in normal or
outline view.
To insert a comment in a Word 2007 document, follow these steps:
Click the Review tab.
In the Comments group, click
New Comment.
Type your comment in the comment balloon that appears
when you are in print layout or Web layout view, or in the Reviewing pane when you are in normal or
outline view.
Note You cannot insert a comment in the header or footer area of a
document.
How do I modify a comment?
To make changes to an existing comment, do one of the
following:
Click the comment balloon, and then type the text that
you want.
In the Reviewing pane, find the comment that you want
to change, and then type the text that you want.
How do I delete a comment?
To delete a comment, do one of the following:
Right-click the comment balloon, and then click Delete Comment on the shortcut menu that appears.
In the Reviewing pane, right-click the comment, and
then click Delete Comment on the shortcut menu that appears.
What is the Reviewing pane?
Word cannot always display the complete
text of a comment in a balloon. Alternatively, there may be too many comments to easily
read the comments in balloons. To see the complete set of comments in a Word
document, use the Reviewing pane. The Reviewing pane displays all
unaccepted and unrejected changes and comments in a document.
To
open the Reviewing pane in Word
2003 or in Word 2002, click Reviewing Pane on the Reviewing toolbar. If the Reviewing toolbar is not displayed, point to Toolbars on the View menu, and then click Reviewing.
To open the Reviewing pane in
Word 2007, click the Review tab,
click Reviewing Pane in the Tracking group,
and then click Reviewing Pane Vertical or Reviewing
Pane Horizontal.
How do I print the comments in my Word document?
To print a document together with the comments in
Word 2003 or in Word 2002, follow these
steps:
Click Print Layout on
the View menu.
On the View menu, click Markup to display the comments in your Word document.
Display the comments the way that you want them to appear in
the printed document. To do this, do one of the following:
View all comments: To view all of the comments in your Word document, click Show on the Reviewing toolbar, point to Reviewers, and then click to select All Reviewers.
View comments that were made by a reviewer: To view the comments that were made by a specific reviewer, click Show on the Reviewing toolbar, point to Reviewers, and then click to select the reviewer whose comments you want to
display.
On the File menu, click Print.
In the Print dialog box, change the Print what box to
Document showing markup, and then click OK.
To print a document together with the comments in Word 2007, follow these steps:
Click the View tab, and
then click Print Layout in the Document Views
group.
Click the Review tab, click
Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then
click the Comments check box.
Display the comments the way that you want them to appear in
the printed document. To do this, do one of the following:
View all comments: To view all of the comments in your Word document, click the
Review tab, click Show Markup in the
Tracking group, point to Reviewers, and then
click to select All Reviewers.
View comments that were made by a reviewer: To view the comments that were made by a specific reviewer, click the
Review tab, click Show Markup in the
Tracking group, point to Reviewers, and then
click to select the reviewer whose comments you want to display.
Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click
Print.
In the Print dialog box, change the
Print what box to Document showing markup,
and then click OK.
How can I print my document without printing the comments?
To print a Word document without printing the comments in
Word 2003 or in Word 2002, do one of
the following:
Click Markup on
the View menu to hide the balloons in your Word document, and then print your
document.
In Word 2003 or in Word 2002, click Print on the File menu. In the Print dialog box, change the Print what box to Document, and then click OK.
To print a Word document without printing the comments in Word 2007, do one of the following:
Click the Review tab,
click Show Markup in the Tracking group, and
then click to clear the Comments check box
Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click
Print. In the Print dialog box, change the
Print what box to Document, and then click
OK.
I can see the comments, but how can I determine the author of a comment and when it was made?
To determine the name of the commenter, along with the date and
time that the comment was made, do one of the following:
Rest the mouse pointer on the comment balloon. A
ToolTip that contains this information will appear.
Open the Reviewing pane and locate the
comment.
How can I respond to a comment?
In Word
2003 or in Word 2002, click the comment to which you want to respond. On the Insert menu, click Comment. Type your comment in the new comment balloon that appears.
In
Word 2007, click the comment to which you want to respond. Click the
Review tab, and then click
New Comment in the Comments group. Type your comment in the new comment balloon that
appears.
Is there a way to use the comment feature as in the earlier versions of Word?
No. You can turn off the balloons and use the ToolTip
or the Reviewing pane to view the comments, but there is no way to revert to
the Comment feature in earlier versions of Word. The new Comment feature
replaces author initials and comment numbers (as in earlier versions of Word)
with author name, date, and a timestamp. This functionality is a more accurate
record of the comments inserted in your Word document.
In earlier versions of Word, when I insert a comment, Word selects the nearest word and highlights it to indicate where the comment is. Why has this functionality changed?
The new comment feature does not force you to
associate a word with the comment. Instead of highlighting the area of the
comment, Word now inserts a set of large colored braces around the location of
the comment. If you select text when you insert a comment, Word places the
braces around the text. Otherwise, the braces are inserted at the insertion
point and may resemble a vertical line.
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