If you can’t be in the same room as someone while reviewing the document, the next best option is to leave a comment. Microsoft Word makes it easy to leave feedback in a section by highlighting text and inserting comments, and responding to that feedback by replying to comments.
Whether you’re working on a group project, critiquing a friend’s sketch for the next Great American Novel, or even editing your own, the comment function is a powerful tool. strong. Here’s how to add or remove comments in Word.
Note: The screenshot mentions Microsoft Word in macOS. The process is the same as for Word in Windows.
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How to add comments in Word
Adding comments in Microsoft Word is a simple process. At the top of the screen, click Review navigation.
Highlight a word in the document or place the cursor on the screen and click New comment. This will open a comment box on the right side of the document with a line leading to the specific comment. The comment text will also be highlighted.
Lines make it significantly easier to follow when there are multiple comments in a document, especially if there are multiple comments in a paragraph. Rinse and repeat this step as many times as needed.
You can also add comments by highlighting the text or right-clicking on the text and selecting New comment from the context menu that appears.
There is one last way to add a comment. You can select a word or place the cursor, navigate to Insert at the top of the screen and select Comment. However, this method takes longer than either of the other two options and is not worth your time. We include it here just for the sake of knowledge, as this same method can be used to reply to an existing comment.
How to reply to comments in Word
When multiple people are working on a document and sending it back and forth for editing and review, it can be difficult to keep track of this collaboration. You can reply to an existing comment to create an easy-to-read hierarchy.
On an existing comment, click the speech bubble in the top right corner.
This will open a text field where you can enter your answer. Multiple people can reply to the same comment. If you are not sure which answer came first, the time since the answer is displayed on the right side of the screen.
You can also reply to a comment by right clicking on it and selecting Reply to comment from the menu. This has the same function as selecting the message bubble.
How to solve and delete comments in Word
Most comments are to point out an issue that needs to be fixed or to suggest improvements to the text. Once those changes have been made, you may no longer need to comment. Resolving or deleting comments can help you keep track of what you’ve done in the document.
There are a few ways to approach this. The first and simplest is to click on the comment and select Delete from the tab at the top of the screen. If you click the down arrow next to Deleteyou can choose to delete all comments in the document at once.
You can also address a comment by clicking Handle instead of Delete. The difference is Delete delete all comments, while Handle gray it out but stay in place. If a comment is resolved in error or you decide to comment further, you can right-click and select Resolve comments again to solve it.
You can also right-click the comment and choose to delete or resolve it from the menu. These options are found directly below Reply to comments.
The Review tab also has some other options to note. Before and Next provides an easy way to go through all the comments in the document, while Show comments show any comments in the post if they are not currently displayed.
Note: Most document editors like Word and Google Docs also have a similar method for reviewing and resolving comments.
Use comments for seamless collaboration
The Comments feature is an extremely powerful tool for anyone working on a collaborative project with Word, and using it wisely can improve communication and the final document or team project.
