Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. 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: Pasting a Comment into Your Worksheet.

Pasting a Comment into Your Worksheet

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 16, 2026)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365


5

Excel allows you to add comments to individual cells in a worksheet. I often use comments to included explanatory concepts, or to store alternative information to what is in the worksheet. There have often been times when I've wanted to copy something from a comment and place it into a cell on the worksheet. These steps are helpful in this regard (Excel 2007, Excel 2010, and Excel 2013):

  1. Right-click the cell whose comment you want to copy and paste into a cell. You'll see a Context menu for the cell.
  2. Choose Edit Comment from the Context menu. Excel displays the comment, with the insertion point in the comment balloon.
  3. Select the text in the comment that you want to paste into a cell. Make sure you do not select the author text at the beginning of the comment or the paragraph mark at the end.
  4. Use Ctrl+X to cut the text or Ctrl+C to copy the text to the Clipboard.
  5. Select the cell into which you want to paste the comment.
  6. If you want to paste the comment text as a formula, press the equal sign.
  7. Press Ctrl+V to paste the information to the cell.

If you are using Excel 2016 or a later version, you will notice the Context menu displayed in steps 1 and 2, above, don't have the Edit Comment option listed. Follow these steps to copy and paste a comment from one cell to another:

  1. Hover the mouse pointer over the cell whose comment you want to copy and paste into a cell. The comment will be displayed.
  2. Move the mouse pointer into the comment box and click on the Edit button. It looks like a pencil near the upper-right corner of the box.
  3. Select the text in the comment that you want to paste into a cell.
  4. Use Ctrl+X to cut the text or Ctrl+C to copy the text to the Clipboard.
  5. Select the cell into which you want to paste the comment.
  6. If you want to paste the comment text as a formula, press the equal sign.
  7. Press Ctrl+V to paste the information to the cell.

If you performed step 6 (all versions of Excel) to indicate you were creating a formula, press Enter to finish the paste. Excel pastes your comment text into the cell. You can now delete the comment from the source cell (if desired) by right-clicking the cell and choosing Delete Comment.

Excel also provides a different way to "open" a comment so it can be edited—by pressing Shift+F2. This could be used to replace steps 1 and 2, above, by simply selecting the cell whose comment you want to copy and then pressing Shift+F2. The rest of the steps (3 through 7) could then be followed as noted. If you are using Excel 2016 or a later version, pressing Shift+F2 will only "open" notes; the keypress won't open a comment.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10943) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Pasting a Comment into Your Worksheet.

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

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What is three more than 0?

2026-05-18 10:39:20

J. Woolley

@RICK
Some notes re. your macro Comments2Cellloop:
1. You might want to add this statement: Dim cell As Range
2. Both of these statements can be removed: On Error GoTo 0
or they could be replaced with this statement: On Error GoTo Proceed
3. Both of these remarks can be removed: 'Set cmt = ActiveCell.Comment
4. Consider replacing this statement: .Text Text:=cell.Formula
with this statement: .Text Text:=cell.Value
If the cell has a formula, cell.Formula returns the formula instead of its result.


2026-05-18 09:56:59

J. Woolley

@beepee
I'm using Excel 365. The Tip's 1st solution works for me, not the 2nd. Perhaps the Tip has their explanation reversed.
To determine your version of Excel, click File > Account and review Product Information at the top-right; mine says Microsoft 365. Also review text associated with About Excel near the bottom-right; mine says Version 2604, which refers to the April 2026 update.


2026-05-18 08:55:30

RICK

I USE THIS MACRO
Sub Comments2Cellloop()
Dim cmt As comment
Dim which As String

which = InputBox("2Cell = Y ")
If UCase(which) = "Y" Then
On Error GoTo 0
For Each cell In Selection
cell.Value = cell.comment.Text
Next
Else
On Error GoTo 0
'Set cmt = ActiveCell.Comment
For Each cell In Selection
'Set cmt = ActiveCell.Comment
If cell.comment Is Nothing Then
cell.AddComment
With cell.comment
.Text Text:=cell.Formula
.Visible = False
End With
End If
Next cell
End If
Procend:
End Sub


2026-05-18 06:11:27

beepee

I am curious about Excel versions!
This tip offers two variations. One for Excel 2007-2013. The other for 2016-2024, etc.
I am using 'Microsoft Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021'. The Excel incuded in this, needs the first of the two solutions!!
When I purchased '...2021' I had the expectation that I would be getting a more up to date version of each product: Word, Excel, Access, etc. than what I had in Office 2016.
Is Microsoft being a bit unfair?


2026-05-17 11:55:09

J. Woolley

My Excel Toolbox includes the following function to return the text of a comment associated with a Target cell:
    =CommentText(Target, [SkipAuthor])
This works with either a legacy unthreaded comment (Note) or a threaded Comment. If SkipAuthor is FALSE (default), the comment's author will be included in the returned text (if available); otherwise, the comment's author will not be included (if possible). If Target is a multi-cell range, its top-left cell applies. If Target's cell does not have a comment, #VALUE! (Error 2015) will be returned.
My Excel Toolbox also includes the following dynamic array function:
    =ListComments([AllSheets], [Threaded], [SkipHeader])
This function returns one row for each comment in either the current sheet or all sheets in the workbook with the following columns: Worksheet (if AllSheets is TRUE), Cell, Author, Comment (text). It works with threaded or unthreaded comments.
My Excel Toolbox also includes the following macros for legacy unthreaded comments (Notes):
CommentAuthors -- Remove author's name
FormatComments -- Format text, shape, color, and shadow
MoveComments -- Reposition near host cell
ResizeComments -- Resize to fit text
UpdateComments -- Run each of the macros above
CopyToComments -- Copy source cell values to target cell comments
CommentDisplayMode -- Cycle display mode (none, indicator, comment)
CommentHyperlink -- Attach a hyperlink to the active cell's comment
PasteImageInComment -- Paste background image from clipboard or file
See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/


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