Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Adding Comments to Your Document.

Adding Comments to Your Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 28, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Word allows you to add comments to your document, as a separate element of the document. Comments do not interfere with the main text and appear in their own area of the document. Comments are normally not printed when you print a document.

Here's how to add your own comments:

Place the insertion point where you want the comment anchored. You can, if you desire, choose a passage of text about which you wish to comment—just select the text as you would normally select it.
Display the Review tab of the ribbon.
Click on the New Comment tool in the Comments group. Word places a comment in the margin.
Type in your comment text.
When done with the comment, click somewhere in the document outside of the comment.

If you later want to view the comments, display the Review tab of the ribbon and use the Next and Previous tools, in the Comments group, to move from comment to comment.

To add a comment to your document without taking your hands off the keyboard, you can use the Ctrl+Alt+M key combination

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8761) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Adding Comments to Your Document.

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. Learn more about Allen...

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