How to Add Comments to a Word Document

Adding comments to a Word document is one of the most useful collaboration features Microsoft Office offers — whether you're reviewing a colleague's report, editing a draft, or leaving notes for yourself. But the process looks slightly different depending on your version of Word, your device, and how you're sharing the document. Here's what you need to know.

What Are Comments in Word, and Why Use Them?

Comments in Microsoft Word are annotation bubbles attached to specific text or locations in a document. They appear in the margin (or in a reviewing pane) and don't alter the actual document content. This makes them ideal for:

• Giving feedback without changing the original text
• Asking questions about specific passages
• Flagging sections for revision
• Leaving context notes for collaborators

Since Word 2016, comments also support threaded replies, so multiple reviewers can respond to a single comment — making them function more like a conversation thread than a sticky note.

How to Add a Comment in Word (Desktop — Windows and Mac)

The core process is consistent across modern versions of Word for Windows and Mac:

1. Select the text you want to comment on — highlight a word, sentence, or paragraph.
2. Go to the Review tab in the ribbon.
3. Click New Comment.
4. Type your comment in the bubble that appears in the margin.

You can also right-click highlighted text and choose New Comment from the context menu, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+M (Windows) or Cmd+Option+A (Mac).

💬 Once a comment is added, a colored bracket appears around the referenced text, and a bubble appears in the right margin. Each reviewer's comments appear in a different color when multiple people are editing.

Replying to an Existing Comment

In Word 2016 and later, you can reply directly inside a comment thread:

1. Click on the existing comment.
2. Click the Reply button (speech bubble icon) inside the comment box.
3. Type your response.

This keeps feedback organized without creating a separate, floating comment that's hard to trace back to the original note.

Resolving and Deleting Comments

• Resolve: Right-click a comment and select Resolve Comment. The comment fades but stays visible in the document — useful when you want a record that feedback was addressed.
• Delete: Right-click and select Delete Comment, or use the Delete button in the Review tab. Deleting removes it permanently.

Adding Comments in Word on the Web (Microsoft 365 Online)

Word for the web (accessed through a browser via Microsoft 365) supports comments but with a slightly simplified interface:

1. Select your text.
2. Click Insert in the top menu, then choose Comment — or look for the comment icon in the toolbar.
3. Type your note and press Ctrl+Enter (or the post button) to submit.

One important distinction: comments in Word Online are "modern comments" — they require you to explicitly post them. If you close the document before posting, the comment won't save. This differs from the desktop app, where comments save automatically as you type.

Adding Comments on Mobile (Word for iOS and Android)

The Word mobile app supports comments, though the workflow is touch-based:

1. Tap and hold to select text.
2. Tap the three-dot menu or look for the comment icon in the formatting bar that appears.
3. Select New Comment, type your note, and tap the send/post icon.

📱 Mobile commenting works well for quick notes, but managing a heavily commented document — especially with long threads — is significantly easier on desktop. The margin layout doesn't translate as cleanly to smaller screens.

Factors That Affect How Comments Work for You

The basic steps above apply broadly, but your specific experience depends on several variables:

Viewing, Navigating, and Printing Comments

If a document has many comments, the Review tab includes navigation arrows (Previous and Next) to move between them. You can also open the Reviewing Pane (vertical or horizontal) to see all comments in a scrollable list — useful in long documents.

By default, comments print alongside the document. To suppress this, go to File → Print, click the Print All Pages dropdown, and uncheck Print Markup.

🖨️ If you're preparing a final, clean version to share, it's worth checking whether any comments remain before exporting to PDF — they can appear in the exported file if markup is still showing.

The Variable That Changes Everything

Most people can add a comment in under ten seconds once they know where to look. Where it gets more nuanced is when you factor in how the document is being shared, whether collaborators are on the same version of Word, and whether you're working in real time or asynchronously. A comment left in a locally saved .docx emailed as an attachment behaves very differently from a comment made in a live SharePoint document — and those workflows suit different teams, document types, and review processes differently.

Which approach fits your situation depends on how your documents move through your workflow and what your collaborators are working with on their end.