Anchoring Comment Boxes in Desired Locations

@Sean, you might consider the MoveComments macro described here: http://www.contextures.com/excelcommentmacros.html

Great site, will help me very much, thank you. I have a question however i.e. I have a spreadsheet of a few hundred rows and some 18 columns. In each row there ire comments added to typically 4 cells in each row. Some time back evertything went haywite and all that shows now are lines from cell leading to no comments but they go all over the place. Is there a way to get this back under control or have I just put too much data in for the program to manage showing comment upon hovering over those particular cells? Any help very much appreciated. I also tried to sign up for the email tips but wouldn't allow me to. If this is an option still my email is sean@tradeark.com.au if you could include it in that mailing list?
Hopoe you are all well, wherever you are :)

@Teal
That has to do with hidden columns. Excel remembers the position relative to the window at the moment of creation/editing. If you afterwards hide columns and try to edit the comment, Excel displays it at the position of the screen as where those columns still unhidden but the column is elsewhere now, hence... I consider this as a bug and it is very annoying indeed.

To avoid this you have to unhide the columns first before editing a comment: also annoying. Or you can use this little macro which fixes what Microsoft didn't up to now:

Sub MoveComment()
On Error GoTo NewComment 'In case there is no comment in the active cell yet
With ActiveCell.Comment
.Shape.Left = .Parent.Offset(0, 1).Left + 10
.Shape.Top = .Parent.Top + 5
End With
NewComment:
Application.SendKeys "+{F2}", True
End Sub

Whether or not you have hiden columns/rows, the macro positions the comment near the cell it belongs to and then opens it for editing. If you put this macro in your Personal Workbook, you can assign it a shortcut key or/and create a button in the QAT so you can use it instead of pressing Shift+F2 or choose Edit Comment from the (context) menu.

I have assigned it Ctrl+Shift+F2 which you can do by inserting the following in the ThisWorkbook Code Sheet:

Private Sub Workbook_Open()
Application.OnKey "^+{F2}", "MoveComment"
End Sub

You can "play" with the + 5 / +10 to suit your needs. Let me know if you like it.

@Teal, you might consider the MoveComments macro described here: http://www.contextures.com/excelcommentmacros.html

Is there a way to keep the comment box next to the actual cell it was created for? I will crest a comment for that cell on my budget and when I go to “edit comment” that box is now at least 15 or more columns over and I continually have to drag it back over to be next to the cell I’m working on.

A tip from Contextures that allows user to place comments on the screen in a place designated by the user. I have used it and it works.

Public Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
'www.contextures.com/xlcomments03.html
'This code places comments in a central location in window when cell is selected. _
Some adjustments can be made in the cTop, cWidth code below.

'NOTE: The commented cell must have protection unlocked in the cell's properties.

Dim rng As Range
Dim cTop As Long
Dim cWidth As Long
Dim cmt As Comment
Dim Sh As Shape

Application.DisplayCommentIndicator = xlCommentIndicatorOnly
Set rng = ActiveWindow.VisibleRange
cTop = rng.Top + rng.Height / 15 'Default is 2 which places comment near middle of window
cWidth = rng.Left + rng.Width / 1.5 'Default is 2 which places comment near middle of window

If ActiveCell.Comment Is Nothing Then
'do nothing
Else
Set cmt = ActiveCell.Comment
Set Sh = cmt.Shape
Sh.Top = cTop - Sh.Height / 15 'Default is 2 which places comment near middle of window
Sh.Left = cWidth - Sh.Width / 1.5 'Default is 2 which places comment near middle of window
cmt.Visible = True
End If
End Sub

Hello Allen,

I've used the comments as a reminder to myself as to where I was at in developing a spreadsheet, and for turning over a spreadsheet for others to use. Often it provides that sort of "tool tip" feature to save repeating instructions, etc. What I have found is that by adding many of the comment related buttons to a customized ribbon section I can access and essentially scroll through all the comments quickly, show or hide all, etc., so that they serve their purpose but then remain out of the way. I have six buttons - New comment, Previous comment, Next comment, Delete, Show/Hide, Show All. Maybe this method will be helpful for others.