M365 Excel - Insert Comments and Notes

Comments


Comments have a Reply box. When people reply, you can see several comments connected together, showing a virtual conversation in the workbook. If you need to discuss data with other people, then use a comment.

Add a comment

1. Right-click a cell and click New Comment.
2. In the comment box, type your comment. You can also @mention someone to include them in the comment thread.

3. Move your cursor off of the cell.

   The comment disappears, but a purple comment indicator remains. To see the comment again, hover over the cell.

Review comments

• Select the Review tab, and click Previous Comment or Next Comment to see each comment in sequence.

Show/Hide all comments at once

• Select the Review tab, and click Show Comments. A new Comments task pane will load on the right displaying all your comments in order.

Delete a comment

• Click the More thread actions button (...) in the comment's upper right-hand corner, and select Delete thread.

Resolve a thread

• Click the More thread actions button (...) in the comment's upper right-hand corner, and select Resolve thread.

Notes


Notes (formerly called "comments" in earlier versions of Excel) don't have a Reply box. Notes are just for adding annotations or reminders in cells. If you don't need to have a discussion about the data, then use a note.

Add a note

1. Right-click a cell and click New Note.
2. In the note box, type your note.

3. Click outside the note.

   The note box disappears, but a red note indicator remains. To see the note again, hover over the cell.

   Note: To format your comment, highlight the text you want to change, right-click on the note and choose Format Comment.

Review notes

• Select the Review tab > Notes, and click Previous Note or Next Note to see each note in sequence.

Show/Hide all notes at once

• Select the Review tab > Notes >Show All Notes. This will toggle your notes on and off.

Move a note

• Click on a note's border, then drag it.

Resize a note

• Click on a note's border, then drag one of the sizing handles on its side or corner.

Delete a note

• Click on the note's border, and press Delete.

Convert to Comments

• If you want to take advantage of threaded comments in an existing note, select the Review tab > Notes > Convert to Comments.