Printing Formatted Comments

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 11, 2026)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365

Hannah already knows how to print comments in Excel but she can't find any information about printing formatted comments. She has formatted the comments to be bold, to have colors, etc., but those formats don't show when printing.

Note that Microsoft changed the way comments work in Excel in Office 365. Comments are now threaded allowing users to have discussions with each other regarding the data. Notes work like comments in earlier versions of Excel.

Excel provides a way to make sure that the notes print out in a formatted manner, but that way isn't immediately obvious. Follow these steps:

  1. Display the Page Layout tab of the ribbon.
  2. Click the small icon at the lower-right corner of the Page Setup group. Excel displays the Page Setup dialog box.
  3. Make sure the Sheet tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Sheet tab of the Page Setup dialog box.

  4. Using the Comments and Notes drop-down list, choose As Displayed On Sheet (notes only).
  5. Click OK.
  6. Print as you normally would.

It should be noted that Excel only prints those notes that are visible on the sheet when the printing occurs. The best thing to do is to make sure that you make your notes visible before actually printing.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (1029) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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