Hello, my name is Erin.
This tutorial shows how to use comments in Microsoft Word.
Specially, we will be using the new comment system currently called “modern” comments in Word for Microsoft 365.
If you are using an older version of Word, please see my earlier tutorial titled “How to Use Track Changes in Microsoft Word,”
which includes a section about the previous comment system.
Today we will be covering five tasks:
How to insert
view
reply to
resolve
and delete comments.
Plus, the bonus section at the end shows how to temporarily turn off modern comments.
To insert a comment, begin by placing your cursor near the text you want to comment on or select the text.
Next, select the Review tab in the ribbon.
And from there, select the New Comment button in the Comments group.
And then type your comment into the Start a conversation text box on the right side of the screen.
If you are part of an organization that has an enterprise license,
you will be able to @ mention other users in your comments.
Many of us won’t have that option, so I will link to a Microsoft Support article
in the description box below for those who would like to learn more.
After typing your comment, select the Post button
or type the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Enter to post the comment.
If you need to edit your comment later, select the pencil icon.
Note that you can also insert a comment by typing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + M.
Or, right-click the text and then select New Comment from the shortcut menu.
You can also insert a comment by selecting the Comment button above the ribbon
and then selecting New in the Comments pane.
Finally, you can select the Insert tab in the ribbon
and then select the Comments button.
Now we are going to look at three ways to view comments.
The first way is to select the Comments button above the ribbon.
The second way is to select the comment icon on the page.
The third way is to select the Review tab
followed by the Show Comments menu arrow.
Then, select Contextual or List from the drop-down menu.
The Contextual view doesn’t show resolved comments,
while the List view shows all comments.
If the Show Comments button is grayed out or the comment icons are not visible on the page,
ensure that Simple Markup or All Markup is selected in the Display for Review menu.
You can also navigate through the comments by using the Previous and Next buttons.
To reply to someone else’s comment, type your reply into the Reply text box.
And once again select the Post button or type the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Enter.
Each reply will continue to nest into what Word calls a thread.
You can mark a comment as “Resolved” to show that an issue has been taken care of.
To begin, select the three-dot menu in the comment.
And then select Resolve thread from the drop-down menu.
Resolved comments will no longer appear in the Contextual view.
You can also reopen a resolved comment, thereby turning it back to a regular comment.
To do so, select the Review tab.
Followed by the Show Comments menu arrow.
Then, select List from the drop-down menu.
And then select the Reopen button in the comment.
To delete a comment, select the three-dot menu
and then select Delete thread.
You can also right-click the text connected to the comment and then select Delete Comment from the shortcut menu.
For more options, place your cursor in the comment or the text connected to the comment
and then select the Revie tab
followed by the Delete menu arrow.
From there, choose Delete to delete the current comment,
or all comments shown, all comments in the document, or all resolved comments.
It’s important to note that the Delete All Comments Shown option is grayed out when viewing all comments.
However, it will become available when viewing comments from a specific person,
which you can do by selecting the Show Markup menu
And then selecting Specific People from the drop-down menu, where you can choose an individual.
Word currently offers an option to turn off modern comments.
However, Microsoft said that it will remove this option in the future,
so I apologize in advance if this feature is no longer available when you view this tutorial.
To begin, select the File tab.
And then select Options in the Backstage view.
When the Word Options dialog box appears, ensure that you are on the General tab.
And then deselect Enable modern comments.
Finally, select the OK button.
And then save and reopen your file to activate the change.
For more Microsoft Word tutorials, please see my playlist “How to Use Microsoft Word”
where you will find many related videos such as “How to Adjust Paragraph Spacing in Microsoft Word”
And, “How to Insert Files into Existing Files in Microsoft Word.”
All the resources mentioned today are linked in the description box below
along with my website erinwrightwriting.com, which shows all the steps we just preformed with images.
Feel free to leave me a comment if there is a specific topic that you would like me to talk about in the future.
And please subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss upcoming tutorials.
And give this video a thumbs-up if you found it helpful.
Thank you so much for watching!
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