Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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: Viewing Comments.

Viewing Comments

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 1, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365

When you are adding a comment, Word displays the comment balloons at the right of the document. Most users, when they are through entering the comment text, hide the comment balloons so they will be able to see more of their document at once. If you later want to view your comments, follow these steps:

Make sure the Review tab of the ribbon is displayed.
In the Tracking group you see the Reviewing Pane tool. Click the down-arrow at the right of the tool. You should see two options displayed.
Choose either Reviewing Pane Vertical or Reviewing Pane Horizontal, according to your desires. The Reviewing Pane should appear as indicated by your choice.
Make any changes to your comments, as desired.
Close the Reviewing Pane by again clicking on the Reviewing Pane tool.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12656) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Viewing Comments.

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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Limiting Input to a Format

When setting up a worksheet for others to use, you might want to make some limitations on what can be entered in certain ...

Discover More

Complex Lookup Formulas

If you need to combine information in some of your cells in order to produce a result needed to, in turn, look up other ...

Discover More

Catching Single-Letter Spelling Errors

There have been times when I've reviewed my writing and found lots of "lone letters," detached by a single space from the ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Comments in Text Boxes

If you use text boxes in your documents, you may sometime want to place a comment in the text box, the same as you can do ...

Discover More

Displaying Document Comments

Adding comments to a document is a normal activity when writing and editing. Once comments have been added, you may ...

Discover More

Removing All Comments

Need to get rid of all the comments in your document that are added to your text? You can do so by using the regular Find ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 9 - 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.