Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: Editing a Comment Close to Its Cell.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 18, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013
Peggy has several cells in a worksheet that have comments associated with them. When she right-clicks on one of these cells, she can choose Edit Comment from the resulting Context menu in order to edit the comment. If the comment was one she created in a previous session with Excel, it is not unusual for the comment to open up elsewhere in the worksheet, sometimes several screens away. Peggy is wondering if there is a way to make the comment appear next to the cell it goes with.
This condition can be caused by several things. For instance, it is possible that while previously editing the comment, you clicked the comment box's border and dragged the comment to a different place on the worksheet. If you did this, then Excel remembers where the comment was moved to and always displays it in the remembered location.
Another common cause is that you do some filtering on your data, which results in some of the rows or columns being hidden while the filter is in place. If you then edit comments in the filtered cells, you have effectively "moved" the comment from the original location to a new location that is associated with the row or column visible on the screen. When you later remove the filter and try to edit the comment, it remembers where it was previously edited, and that is where the new editing opportunity takes place.
In both of these instances, the normal solution is to just grin and bear it—manually move the cells from where they are to where you want them. However, if you have this problem with a lot of cells, all the manual moving can be a real bother. In that case, you may want to use a macro to do the moving for you.
Sub MoveComments1() Dim cmt As Comment For Each cmt In ActiveSheet.Comments With cmt .Shape.Top = .Parent.Top .Shape.Left = .Parent.Offset(0, 1).Left End With Next cmt End Sub
This macro moves all the comments in a worksheet so that their upper-left corner is the same as the upper-right corner of the cell to which they are attached. This puts the comments right next to their cells, which is where you want them.
If you would like to adjust all comments in an entire workbook, as well as "autosize" each of the comment boxes, then you can use this variation on the macro:
Sub MoveComments2() Dim wbk As Workbook Dim wks As Worksheet Dim cmt As Comment Dim rngC As Range Dim lArea As Long Set wbk = ActiveWorkbook On Error Resume Next For Each wks In wbk.Worksheets For Each cmt In wks.Comments With cmt .Shape.TextFrame.AutoSize = True If .Shape.Width > 200 Then lArea = .Shape.Width * .Shape.Height .Shape.Width = 200 .Shape.Height = (lArea / 200) * 1.1 End If .Shape.Top = .Parent.Top .Shape.Left = .Parent.Offset(0, 1).Left End With Next cmt Next wks End Sub
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9703) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Editing a Comment Close to Its Cell.
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2022-10-24 12:08:50
Another reason why the comments move far away from their cell is because the column widths have been altered after comments were made.
2022-05-18 12:33:24
Cyndy K
Excellent solution, thank you!! I hide/unhide rows and columns all the time and the constantly moving comments were awful. FYI, to make this run much faster when you have lots of comments, turn off .Calculation, .ScreenUpdating, .DisplayStatusBar, .EnableEvents at start of macro, then turn back on at the end. (Thanks to https://www.computergaga.com/blog/6-ways-to-speed-up-your-excel-macros for the tip.)
2021-09-15 10:16:55
Rainer
Amazing !! Thanks a lot for sharing!
2020-08-28 10:31:16
J. Woolley
@glnz
These macros work for Unthreaded Comments, now called Notes. Also, see My Excel Toolbox: https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/
2020-08-27 11:20:35
glnz
Allen - in Excel in my Office 365 (now Microsoft 365), what used to be Comments are now "Notes". And they are wandering all over the place. Will your macros still work? Thanks.
2020-06-10 09:53:13
J. Woolley
My latest Comment macros are available at my new web site: https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/
2020-06-09 16:52:48
Andrei
Thank you, was very helpful.
2019-08-16 10:05:39
Amy
Excellent! Thank you
2019-08-06 09:46:14
J. Woolley
@Allan
You might be interested in these macros for managing comments; see ResizeComments:
http://www.contextures.com/excelcommentmacros.html
2019-08-05 12:58:12
Allan
My problem is that when I open a comment it is often contained in a giant box, much bigger than the one I first placed it in.
Solution anyone?
2019-08-05 03:13:19
Tony Collingwood
Great tip.
2018-11-13 18:16:28
Lyla Drayson
Excel 2016 - Works great, thanks!
2018-08-29 13:37:56
Peter T
From one who has been suffering from "Wandering Comment Syndrome" for years... thank you very much, this is excellent.
2018-08-11 11:04:08
J. Woolley
You might be interested in these macros for managing comments:
http://www.contextures.com/excelcommentmacros.html
2018-03-20 18:43:53
MalR
Great help!
2018-03-19 10:13:05
Chris Barker
Simple but brilliant solution that has 'tamed' a monster big spreadsheet for me thank you.
2015-08-18 06:15:51
Andrew
Thanks - works like a charm
2015-08-18 00:23:18
beje
verry helpfull. thanks a lot!
2015-08-17 10:52:34
Gary Lundblad
Nice! I too have had this problem.
Thank you!
Gary
2015-08-17 07:47:14
Brian Walker
Thank you! I have this problem often. It's one of my daily annoyances. Now it will be gone!
2015-08-15 07:50:02
Andrew Scott
I don't suffer this issue BUT I have a gantt chart style spreadsheet that I'd like to tag the end of the bars with a comment. The techniques here will help in this. Thanks
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