Insert or delete a comment

You can insert a comment inside balloons that appear in the document margins. You can also hide comments from view.

If you don't want comments to appear in your document during a review, you must clear your document of comments by deleting them. To find out whether comments remain in your document, click Show Markup on the Review tab in the Tracking group.What do you want to do?

Insert a comment

Delete a comment

Change a comment

Add or change the name used in comments

Insert a comment

You can type a comment. On a Tablet PC, you can insert a voice comment or a handwritten comment.

Type a comment

1. Select the text or item that you want to comment on, or click at the end of the text.
2. On the Review tab, in the Comments group, click New Comment.

   

3. Type the comment text in the comment balloon or in the Reviewing Pane.

Note To respond to a comment, click its balloon, and then click New Comment in the Comments group. Type your response in the new comment balloon.

Insert a voice comment

If your computer is a Tablet PC, you can record voice comments. Voice comments are added as sound objects inside comment balloons.

Before you can add a voice comment for the first time, you need to add the Insert Voice command to the Quick Access Toolbar.

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Word Options.
2. Click Customize.
3. In the list under Choose commands from, select All Commands.
4. In the list of commands, click Insert Voice, and then click Add.

To add a voice comment to your document, do the following:

1. On the Quick Access Toolbar, click Insert Voice .
2. In the dialog box that opens, click the start button and record the voice comment.
3. When you finish recording the comment, press the stop button and close the dialog box.
4. If Microsoft Office Word displays a message asking whether you want to update the sound object, click Yes.

To hear the recorded comment, right-click the comment balloon, point to Sound Recorder Document Object, and then click Play.

Note For additional information about recording and editing a sound object, see the documentation for your sound card and microphone.

Insert a handwritten comment

If your computer is a Tablet PC, you can make handwritten comments in your document. The ink is added and displayed inside comment balloons.

1. On the Review tab, in the Comments group, click New Comment.

   

2. Write the comment in the comment bubble.

Delete a comment

• To quickly delete a single comment, right-click the comment, and then click Delete Comment.
• To quickly delete all comments in a document, click a comment in the document. On the Review tab, in the Comments group, click the arrow below Delete, and then click Delete All Comments in Document.

Delete comments from a specific reviewer

1. On the Review tab, in the Tracking group, click the arrow next to Show Markup.

   

2. To clear the check boxes for all reviewers, point to Reviewers, and then click All Reviewers.
3. Click the arrow next to Show Markup again, point to Reviewers, and then click the name of the reviewer whose comments you want to delete.
4. In the Comments group, click the arrow below Delete , and then click Delete All Comments Shown.

   Note This procedure deletes all comments from the reviewer that you selected, including comments throughout the document.

Tip You can also review and delete comments by using the Reviewing Pane. To show or hide the Reviewing Pane, click Reviewing Pane in the Tracking group. To move the Reviewing Pane to the bottom of your screen, click the arrow next to Reviewing Pane, and then click Reviewing Pane Horizontal.

Change a comment

If comments aren't visible on the screen, click Show Markup in the Tracking group on the Review tab.

1. Click inside the balloon for the comment that you want to edit.
2. Make the changes that you want.

Notes:

• If the balloons are hidden or if only part of the comment is displayed, you can change the comment in the Reviewing Pane. To show the Reviewing Pane, in the Tracking group, click Reviewing Pane. To make the reviewing pane run across the bottom of your screen rather than down the side of your screen, click the arrow next to Reviewing Pane, and then click Reviewing Pane Horizontal.
• To respond to a comment, click its balloon, and then click New Comment in the Comments group. Type your response in the new comment balloon.

Add or change the name used in comments

1. On the Review tab, in the Tracking group, click the arrow next to Track Changes, and then click Change User Name.

   

2. Click Personalize.
3. Under Personalize your copy of Office, change the name or initials that you want to use in your own comments.

Notes:

• The name and initials that you type are used by all Microsoft Office programs. Any changes that you make to these settings affect other Office programs.
• When you make a change to the name or initials that you want to use for your own comments, only comments that you make after the change are affected. Comments that are already in the document before you change the name or initials are not updated.