A comment is a note or annotation that an author or reviewer can add to a document. Microsoft Word displays the comment in the Reviewing pane or in a balloon in the margin of the document.
This article answers some frequently asked questions about the Comment feature in Word.
A balloon shows markup elements (for example, comments) in the margins of your document so that it doesn't cover text or affect the layout of the document. You can use balloons in Print Layout view or in Web Layout view to easily see and respond to reviewers' changes and comments.
To view the comments in a document, follow these steps:
Word 2010 and Word 2007
On the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then select the Comments check box. If you do not see the comment balloon, click Print Layout or Web Layout on the View tab.
Word 2003 and Word 2002
On the View menu, click Markup. Word displays balloons in your document for each comment. If you do not see the comment balloon, click Print Layout or Web Layout on the View menu.
On 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 view or Web Layout view, or in the Reviewing pane when you are in Normal view or Outline view.
Word 2003 and Word 2002
Select the text or item that you want to comment about, 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 view or Web layout view, or in the Reviewing pane when you are in Normal view or Outline view.
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Note You cannot insert a comment in the header or footer area of a document.
Word doesn't always display the complete text of a comment in a balloon. This can happen when the page contains many comments or very long comments. To see the complete text for all comments in a document, view the comments in the Reviewing pane.
Word 2010 and Word 2007
On the Review tab, click Reviewing Pane in the Tracking group, and then click Reviewing Pane Vertical or Reviewing Pane Horizontal.
Word 2003 and Word 2002
On the Reviewing toolbar, click Reviewing Pane. If the Reviewing toolbar is not displayed, point to Toolbars on the View menu, and then click Reviewing.
To print a document with comments showing, follow these steps:
Word 2010
On the View tab, click Print Layout in the Document Views group.
On the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then select the Comments check box.
To display the comments the way that you want them to appear in the printed document, do one of the following:
View all comments: To view all comments in your document, on 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, on the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, point to Reviewers, and then click to select the reviewer whose comments that you want to display.
On the File menu, click Print.
Under Settings, click the arrow next to Print All Pages.
Click Print Markup.
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Word 2007
On the View tab, click Print Layout in the Document Views group.
On the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then select the Comments check box.
To display the comments the way that you want them to appear in the printed document, do one of the following:
View all comments: To view all comments in your document, on 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, on the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, point to Reviewers, and then click to select the reviewer whose comments that 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.
Word 2003 and Word 2002
Click Print Layout on
the View menu.
On the View menu, click Markup to display the comments in your 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 comments in your 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 that 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.
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