This article is for people with visual or cognitive impairments who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Microsoft 365 screen reader support content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Use Excel with your keyboard and a screen reader to add comments to give feedback in an Excel worksheet. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
Notes:
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Add a comment
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In your Excel worksheet, navigate to the cell where you want the comment to appear.
Tip: When you navigate to a cell that already contains a comment, Narrator and JAWS announce "Contains comment" after reading out the contents of the cell. With NVDA, there's no audio cue.
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Press Alt+R, C to add a comment to the selected cell.
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Type your comment. You can press Enter to start a new line.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Post comment," and then press Enter to save your comment.
Add a note
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In your Excel worksheet, navigate to the cell where you want the note to appear.
Tip: When you navigate to a cell that already contains a note, Narrator and JAWS announce "Contains note" after reading out the contents of the cell. With NVDA, there's no audio cue.
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Press Alt+R, T, and then N to add a note to the selected cell.
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Type your note. You can press Enter to start a new line.
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Press Esc twice to save your note and return the focus to the cell.
See also
Use a screen reader to find and replace data in Excel
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Excel for Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in MacOS screen reader, to add comments to give feedback in an Excel worksheet.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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This topic assumes that you are using the built-in macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.
In this topic
Add a comment
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In your Excel worksheet, navigate to the cell where you want the comment to appear.
Tip: When you navigate to a cell that already contains a comment, VoiceOver announces "Contains comment" after reading out the contents and location of the cell.
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Press F6 until you hear the currently selected tab, for example, "Home, selected, tab," and then press Control+Option+Left or Right arrow key until you hear: "Review, tab." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to select the Review tab.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "New Comment, button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Type in your comment, and then press Command+Return to post the comment. The focus is on the comment on the cell. Press Esc to move away from the comment and back to the New Comment button.
Add a note
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In In your Excel worksheet, navigate to the cell where you want the note to appear.
Tip: When you navigate to a cell that already contains a note, the screen reader announces "Contains note" after reading out the contents of the cell.
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Press F6 until you hear the currently selected tab, for example, "Home, selected, tab," and then press Control+Option+Left or Right arrow key until you hear: "Review, tab." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to select the Review tab.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Notes, menu button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. You hear: “Notes window, New Note.” Press Control+Option+Spacebar to add the note.
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Type in your note, and then press Esc twice to return the focus to the cell.
See also
Use a screen reader to find and replace data in Excel
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Excel for iOS with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to add comments to give feedback in an Excel worksheet.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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This topic assumes that you are using the built-in iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.
Add a comment
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In your Excel for iOS worksheet, navigate to the cell where you want the comment to appear, and then double-tap the screen.
Tip: When you navigate to a cell that already contains a comment, VoiceOver announces: "Contains comment."
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Tap near the top of the screen with four fingers, swipe right until you hear "Show ribbon, button," and double-tap the screen. You hear the currently selected tab, for example, "Home, tab."
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Double-tap the screen to open the tab selection menu, swipe right until you hear "Review, tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Comment, button," and double-tap the screen.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type your comment. When you're done, swipe right until you hear "Post comment, button," and then double-tap the screen.
The comment is added to the cell and the comment pane opens. You hear: "Close the comment pane."
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Double-tap the screen to close the comment pane and return to the worksheet.
See also
Use a screen reader to find and replace data in Excel
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Excel for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to add comments to give feedback in an Excel worksheet.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.
Add a comment
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In your Excel for Android worksheet, navigate to the cell where you want the comment to appear, and then double-tap the screen.
Tip: When you navigate to a cell that already contains a comment, TalkBack announces: "Contains comment."
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Slide one finger near the top of the screen until you hear "More options, button," and then double-tap the screen. You hear "Tab menu," followed by the currently selected tab, for example, "Home, selected."
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Double-tap the screen. The tab menu opens. Swipe right or left until you hear "Review, tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Comment, button," and double-tap the screen.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type your comment. When you're done, swipe down-then-left to close the keyboard.
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Swipe right until you hear "Post comment, button," and then double-tap the screen.
The comment is added to the cell and the focus is on the close button for the comment pane.
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Double-tap the screen to close the comment pane and return to the worksheet.
See also
Use a screen reader to find and replace data in Excel
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Excel for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to add comments or notes to give feedback in an Excel for the web worksheet. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
Notes:
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If you use Narrator with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have to turn off scan mode in order to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Microsoft 365 for the web. For more information, refer to Turn off virtual or browse mode in screen readers in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
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When you use Excel for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Excel for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not Excel for the web.
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When you use Excel for the web with a screen reader, switch to the full screen mode. Press F11 to toggle the full screen mode on and off.
In this topic
Add a comment
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In your Excel for the web worksheet, navigate to the cell where you want the comment to appear.
Tip: When you navigate to a cell that already contains a comment, the screen reader announces "Contains comment," followed by the commenter's name.
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Press Alt+Windows logo key, R, C. The Comments dialog box opens. You hear: "At mention or comment."
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Type your comment. You can press Enter to start a new line.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Post new comment, button," and then press Enter to post your comment.
Add a note
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In your Excel for the web worksheet, navigate to the cell where you want the note to appear.
Tip: When you navigate to a cell that already contains a note, the screen reader announces "Contains note," followed by the note creator's name.
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Press Alt+Windows logo key, R, T, N to add a note to the selected cell.
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Type your note. You can press Enter to start a new line.
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Press Esc to post your note and return the focus to the cell.
See also
Use a screen reader to find and replace data in Excel
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.
