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You can add comments to cells. When a cell has a comment, an indicator appears in the corner of the cell. When you hover your cursor over the cell, the comment appears.

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  1. Right-click the cell and then click New Comment.

  2. Type your comment. You can @mention someone to address the comment to them - this sends them email notification of the comment.

  3. Click the Post button (or press Ctrl+Enter).

  4. If other people have something to add, they can right-click the cell and choose Reply to Comment.

  • If you need to edit a threaded comment, rest your cursor over the cell. Then rest your cursor over the comment text itself, and click Edit

  • If you need to delete a threaded comment, right-click the cell and then click Delete Comment.

  • If you need to delete a reply, rest your cursor over the cell. Then rest your cursor over the reply text itself, and click Delete.

  • If a comment thread is complete, then you can mark it as Resolved: rest your cursor over the cell, then click ... > Resolve thread. The comment will still be viewable, but no further additions can be made to it unless it's reopened. Anyone who has write access to a workbook can resolve or reopen comments.

Note: Keep in mind that it's possible for others to edit your comments. Comments in Office documents are stored in the file, so anyone with edit access to your file can edit your comment.

  1. Right-click the cell and then click Insert Comment (or press Shift+F2). If you're using Excel for Office 365, right-click the cell and choose New Note.

  2. Type your annotation text.

  3. Click outside the cell.

If you need to edit the note, right-click the cell, and then click Edit Comment. If you're using Excel for Office 365, right-click the cell and choose Edit Note

If you need to delete the note, right-click the cell and choose Delete Comment. If you're using Excel for Office 365, right-click the cell and choose Delete Note.

The Comments Task Pane shows you all the comments on the current worksheet, and lets you navigate to other worksheets to review those comments as well.

  1. Select the first worksheet containing comments, and then on the ribbon, next to the Editing menu, select Comments.

  2. Review the listed comments. Select a comment to see the cell containing it, and to make changes to the comment.

  3. After you've reviewed all the comments on the sheet, at the bottom of the list select See more comments to see the next comment on another worksheet.

  4. When you've reviewed the last set of comments you can go back to where you started: at the bottom of the list, select Return to first comment.

In Excel for Office 365, there are two kinds of comments to choose from: comments and notes. For more information, see the article, Threaded comments and notes.

  1. Select the cell or cells that contain the comments that you want to copy.

  2. Press Ctrl+C.

  3. On the Home tab, click the arrow below Paste, and then click Paste Special.

  4. In the Paste Special dialog box, under Paste, click Comments, and then click OK.

  5. To cancel the moving border, click another cell or press Esc.

Notes: 

  • Do not press Enter after you click OK. If you do, cell contents are copied to the paste area in addition to the comment.

  • Copied comments replace any existing comments in the destination area.

By default, Excel displays an indicator when a cell contains a comment or a note. You can control how Excel displays comments and indicators in cells by changing the default settings to always show or hide the comments.

  1. Click the File tab, then click Options.

  2. In the Advanced category, under Display, do one of the following:

    • To hide both comments and indicators throughout the workbook, under For cells with comments, show, click No comments or indicators.

    • To show indicators but display comments only when you rest the pointer over their cells, under For cells with comments, show, click Indicators only, and comments on hover.

    • To always display both comments and indicators, under For cells with comments, show, click Comments and indicators. Note that in Excel for Office 365, this setting only applies to notes, not threaded comments.

Excel labels each threaded comment with the name of the person who is currently logged in with their account. This cannot be changed by typing over it. However, notes are different. Excel labels notes by using a name that you specify in the Options dialog box. The following procedure explains how to change the name that appears on notes, not threaded comments.

  1. Click the File tab and then click Options.

  2. In the General category, under Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office, type a name in the User name box.

    Notes: 

    • If the User name box is empty, Excel automatically sets the value of the User name box to your user name, and uses that name for the label.

    • Although you can’t suppress note labels, you can remove labels from notes by deleting them.

See Also

Print comments and notes in Excel

What to do if you're missing New Comment and New Note from Excel's context menu

  1. Right-click the cell and then click New Comment.

  2. Type your comment.

  3. Click the Post button (or press ⌘+Enter).

  4. If other people have something to add, they can right-click the cell and choose Reply to Comment.

  • If you need to edit a threaded comment or reply, rest your cursor over the cell. Then rest your cursor over the comment text itself and click Edit. You can only edit comments you've created.

  • If you need to delete a threaded comment, right-click the cell and then click Delete Comment.

  • If you need to delete a reply, rest your cursor over the cell. Then rest your cursor over the reply text itself and click Delete.

  • If a comment thread is complete, then you can mark it as Resolved: rest your cursor over the cell, then click ... > Resolve thread. The comment will still be viewable, but no further additions can be made to it unless it's reopened. Anyone who has write access to a workbook can resolve or reopen comments.

  1. Select the cell or cells that contain the comments that you want to copy.

  2. Press ⌘+C.

  3. On the Home tab, click the arrow below Paste, and then click Paste Special.

  4. In the Paste Special dialog box, under Paste, click Comments, and then click OK.

  5. To cancel the moving border, click another cell or press Esc.

  6. Select a destination cell, and then press ⌘+V.

Note: Copied comments replace any existing comments in the destination area.

By default, Excel for Mac displays an indicator when a cell contains a comment or a note. You can control how Excel displays comments and indicators in cells by changing the default settings to always show or hide the comments.

  1. Click Excel > Preferences > View (under Authoring).

  2. In the View dialog box, under For Cells with Comments, Show, do one of the following:

    • To hide both comments and indicators throughout the workbook, click No comments or indicators.

    • To show indicators but display comments only when you rest the pointer over their cells, click Indicators only, and comments on rollover.

    • To always display both comments and indicators, click Comments and indicators.

Excel labels each threaded comment with the name of the person who is currently logged in with their account. This cannot be changed by typing over it. However, notes are different. Excel labels notes by using a name that you specify in the Options dialog box. The following procedure explains how to change the name that appears on notes, not threaded comments.

  1. Click Excel > Preferences > General.

  2. In the General dialog box, under Personalize , type a name in the User name box.

    Notes: 

    • If the User name box is empty, Excel automatically sets the value of the User name box to your user name, and uses that name for the label.

    • Although you can’t suppress note labels, you can remove labels from notes by deleting them.

The Comments Task Pane shows you all the comments on the current worksheet, and lets you navigate to other worksheets to review those comments as well.

  1. Select the first worksheet containing comments, and then on the ribbon, next to the Editing menu, select Comments.

  2. Review the listed comments. Select a comment to see the cell containing it, and to make changes to the comment.

  3. After you've reviewed all the comments on the sheet, at the bottom of the list select See more comments to see the next comment on another worksheet.

  4. When you've reviewed the last set of comments you can go back to where you started: at the bottom of the list, select Return to first comment.

See Also

Print comments and notes in Excel

What to do if you're missing New Comment and New Note from Excel's context menu

  1. Right-click the cell and then select New Comment.

  2. Type your comment. You can @mention someone to address the comment to them - this sends them email notification of the comment.

  3. Select the Post Comment button (or press Ctrl+Enter).

  4. If other people have something to add, they can right-click the cell and choose New Reply.

  • If you need to edit a threaded comment, rest your cursor over the cell. Then select the comment, select the More thread actions menu, and select Edit comment

  • If you need to delete a threaded comment, right-click the cell and then click Delete Comment.

  • If you need to delete a reply, rest your cursor over the cell. Then rest your cursor over the reply text itself, and click Delete.

  • If a comment thread is complete, then you can mark it as Resolved: rest your cursor over the cell, then click More thread actions > Resolve thread. The comment will still be viewable, but no further additions can be made to it unless it's reopened. Anyone who has write access to a workbook can resolve or reopen comments.

Note: Keep in mind that it's possible for others to edit your comments. Comments in Office documents are stored in the file, so anyone with edit access to your file can edit your comment.

  1. Right-click the cell and then click Insert Comment (or press Shift+F2). If you're using Excel for Office 365, right-click the cell and choose New Note.

  2. Type your annotation text.

  3. Click outside the cell.

If you need to edit the note, right-click the cell, and then click Edit Comment. If you're using Excel for Office 365, right-click the cell and choose Edit Note

If you need to delete the note, right-click the cell and choose Delete Comment. If you're using Excel for Office 365, right-click the cell and choose Delete Note.

In Excel for Office 365, there are two kinds of comments to choose from: comments and notes. For more information, see the article, Threaded comments and notes.

Note: When you copy and paste threaded comments to other cells, Excel for the web will also paste the cell values.

  1. Select the cell or cells that contain the comments that you want to copy.

  2. Press Ctrl+C.

  3. Select the empty cells and press Ctrl + V.

Note: Copied comments replace any existing comments in the destination area.

The Comments Task Pane shows you all the comments on the current worksheet, and lets you navigate to other worksheets to review those comments as well.

  1. Select the first worksheet containing comments, and then on the ribbon, next to the Editing menu, select Comments.

  2. Review the listed comments. Select a comment to see the cell containing it, and to make changes to the comment.

  3. After you've reviewed all the comments on the sheet, at the bottom of the list select See more comments to see the next comment on another worksheet.

  4. When you've reviewed the last set of comments you can go back to where you started: at the bottom of the list, select Return to first comment.

  1. In an Excel workbook, tap in the worksheet.

  2. Tap Review.

  3. Tap Comment.

  4. Type your comment and tap the Post button.

  5. To reply to a comment, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, and in the Reply text box, enter a reply and tap the Post button.

Here are other things you can do with threaded comments on your Android tablet:

  • To view a particular thread, tap the cell, and then tap the purple comment icon.

  • To view all threads in the worksheet, tap Review and then tap Show Comments.

  • To edit a particular comment in a thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap the particular comment you want to edit, and then tap Edit. Modify the comment as necessary and then click Save.

  • To delete a particular comment in a thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap the comment you want to delete, and then tap Delete.

  • To delete an entire thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap ... (the ellipsis icon) next to the first comment in the thread, and tap Delete thread.

  • To resolve a thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap ... (the ellipsis icon) next to the first comment in the thread, and tap Resolve thread.

  1. Tap the Edit icon Tap to see the ribbon on your Android phone.

  2. Tap Home, and then tap Review.

    Tap Review

  3. Tap Comment, type your comment, and then tap the Post button.

  4. To reply to a comment, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, and in the Reply text box, enter a reply and tap the Post button.

Here are other things you can do with threaded comments on your Android phone:

  • To view a particular thread, tap the cell, and then tap the purple comment icon.

  • To view all threads in the worksheet, tap Review and then tap Show Comments.

  • To edit a particular comment in a thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap the particular comment you want to edit, and then tap Edit. Modify the comment as necessary and then click Save.

  • To delete a particular comment in a thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap the comment you want to delete, and then tap Delete.

  • To delete an entire thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap ... (the ellipsis icon) next to the first comment in the thread, and tap Delete thread.

  • To resolve a thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap ... (the ellipsis icon) next to the first comment in the thread, and tap Resolve thread.

  1. In an Excel workbook, tap in the worksheet.

  2. Tap Insert.

  3. Tap Comment.

  4. Type your comment and tap the Post button.

  5. To reply to a comment, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, and in the Reply text box, enter a reply and tap the Post button.

Here are other things you can do with threaded comments on your iPad:

  • To view a particular thread, tap the cell, and then tap the purple comment icon.

  • To view all threads in the worksheet, tap Review and then tap Show Comments.

  • To edit a particular comment in a thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap the particular comment you want to edit, and then tap Edit. Modify the comment as necessary and then click Save.

  • To delete a particular comment in a thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap the comment you want to delete, and then tap Delete.

  • To delete an entire thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap ... (the ellipsis icon) next to the first comment in the thread, and tap Delete thread.

  1. Tap the Edit icon Tap to see the ribbon on your iPhone.

  2. Tap Home, and then tap Review.

    Tap Review

  3. Tap Comment, type your comment, and then tap the Post button.

    Enter a comment and then tap the Post icon
  4. To reply to a comment, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, and in the Reply text box, enter a reply and tap the Post button.

  5. Click the green down arrow once you are done.

Here are other things you can do with threaded comments on your iPhone:

  • To view a particular thread, tap the cell, and then tap the purple comment icon.

  • To view all threads in the worksheet, tap Review and then tap Show Comments.

    Comments submenu in iPhone

  • To edit a particular comment in a thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap the particular comment you want to edit, and then tap Edit. Modify the comment as necessary and then click Save.

  • To delete a particular comment in a thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap the comment you want to delete, and then tap Delete.

  • To delete an entire thread, tap the cell (that has the comment), tap the purple comment icon that appears above it, tap ... (the ellipsis icon) next to the first comment in the thread, and tap Delete thread.

  1. In an Excel workbook, tap in the worksheet.

  2. Tap Insert.

  3. Tap Comment.

    Add a comment in Excel Mobile for Windows 10

  4. Type your comment.

  5. Tap outside the comment box to stop commenting.

  6. To view the comment, tap the comment in the workbook.

    To delete a comment, tap the comment icon and then tap X.

  1. Tap More Tap to see the ribbon on your Windows phone.

  2. Tap Home, and then tap Review.

    Tap Review

  3. To add a comment, tap Comment on your Windows phone, type your comment, and then tap Done.

  4. To view or edit existing comments, tap the comment.

    To edit a comment, tap the Edit comment icon.

    Add a comment

    To delete a comment, tap the Delete comment icon.

    Delete comment

    When you are done with your changes, close the comment box by tapping the X on your Windows phone.

Important: Keep in mind that it's possible for others to edit your comments. Comments in an Office document are stored in the file, so anyone with edit access to your file can edit your comment.

Need more help?

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