Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Viewing Comments.

Viewing Comments

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 1, 2017)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016


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Excel allows you to add comments to the cells in your workbook. At some point you may want to view your comments. Simply follow these steps:

  1. Display the Excel Options dialog box. (In Excel 2007 click the Office button and then click Excel Options. In Excel 2010 and later versions display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
  2. Click Advanced at the left of the dialog box.
  3. Scroll down until you see the Display section. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The advanced options of the Excel Options dialog box.

  5. Select from the three radio buttons in the For Cells with Comments portion of the dialog box. (The meanings of these settings are described shortly.)
  6. Click OK to close the dialog box.

There are three possible settings for comments (see step 4). The three radio buttons are as follows:

  • No Comments or Indicators. This option is selected by default. You can't see any indication of comments in a workbook if this option is selected.
  • Indicators Only, and Comments on Hover. This option results in a small red triangle displayed in the upper-right corner of cells that have comments.
  • Comments and Indicators. With this option selected, the comment indicators (red triangles) still appear, but all the comments in your workbook are visible. If you have a lot of comments, then your screen can appear very cluttered very quickly.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6251) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Viewing Comments.

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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Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 2?

2020-02-12 13:15:53

Pat Hughes

I am frustrated that even though when I add a comment and adjust the size of the comment box so I can see all the comment when I hover. But the next time I hover over the comment I can't see all of the comment. I have to go to edit comment and then resize it again. This is every time. Why doesn't the size of the comment box stay the size I make it? I have read how you can make the comment box to automatically size the box to fit the whole comment in the box when you hover, but that makes the box to be sized horizontally making the comment to be only on one line. I think most people make the size of the comment box to fit the comments in numerous lines so we can see the comment without having to scroll and/or taking up too much screen space. I can't believe in the year 2020 there isn't a way to just have the size the user makes the box fit the way the user wants to see the comment on hover. But I'm hoping that I just haven't learned it yet. But I've been searching several times with no luck in finding a solution.


2017-04-03 05:11:53

DPG

Surely the middle option is the default one?


2017-04-01 12:31:08

Marty Plante

I use comments often when sending a workbook for someone else to use, and usually they, like me, have learned excel features on an as needed basis. In customizing the ribbon in excel 2010 I have found many features, buttons, that have made the use of comments, conditional formation, and others so much easier to access. I have the comment buttons in a custom section of my home ribbon and it allows me to essentially go through all comments on a sheet. Extremely effective and I have walked people through the process of adding these to their home ribbon so that they can get a quick instruction on the workbook they are using.

This one is well worth trying if you use comments for other users or for yourself.

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