Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. 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: Searching for Comment Marks.

Searching for Comment Marks

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated December 19, 2016)

If you don't know where a comment mark is located in your document, you can use Word's powerful searching capabilities to find them. The easiest way is by using the Object Browser. Follow these general steps:

Click the Object Browser icon. It is the small round ball just below the vertical scroll bar, in the bottom-right corner of the program window. Word displays a palette of objects by which you can browse.
Click on the Comment object. It looks like a yellow sticky note. When you click on it, the palette disappears.
Use the Previous and Next controls, above and below the Object Browser icon, to jump to the previous or next comment.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11279) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Searching for Comment Marks.

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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Comments

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What is 7 + 7?

2016-12-21 13:46:35

Bob Uzenoff

This doesn't apply to Word 2013. Are their WordTips for Word 2013?

2016-12-20 08:54:51

Danny Nicholas

This might help, Don:
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/54581/how-do-i-view-comments-in-microsoft-word-2011-for-osx

Short and sweet, but not as happy as Windows

Here's your solution. From the Review tab, under Tracking, select the Show Markup drop down and uncheck everything but comments.

But hey! You've got a MAC, so you're life is already better than a Windoz user.

2016-12-19 16:37:33

Don Mattocks

Allen, you have so many great things for Window users, but completely leave us Mac folks in the cold. I would love to know how to find comment marks, but the vertical scroll bar doesn't have a small round ball below it. Please help. Could you just put one more sentence in your instructions like "sorry Mac users - you don't have that option", or "for you Mac users the small ball is under the XXXX" Many thanks for considering us Mac folks.

2016-12-19 10:37:02

Danny Nicholas

Fantastic Tip! I would never in a billion years thought to look for a toolbar object on the lower right corner of the screen. This is invaluable to me since I review documents with lots of comments and they are easy to miss on the second and subsequent read-throughs.

2016-12-19 10:08:08

Eileen

If you click on the Review ribbon, the comments section lets you delete, jumpt next, and jump to previous.

2016-12-19 07:34:52

Ethan Hack

The Object Browser icon was removed in Word 2013 (to the best of my knowledge). However, you can use F5 (Goto) or Home - Find - Goto on the ribbon.

2016-12-19 07:06:53

Rodney Jones

I cannot find the Object Browser Icon and the Word Help sysyem dowsn't seem to mention it. I am using Word 2016 as part of Office 365.

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