Comments
Add, reply to, resolve, and delete comments in Word to communicate feedback and collaborate on documents without altering the main content.
By the end of this lesson you can
- Insert, reply to, resolve, and delete comments
- Explain the difference between resolving and deleting a comment
- Navigate between comments efficiently during a review
- Write comments that a colleague can act on without asking a follow-up question
Video
Watch the lesson video, then complete the reading and challenge.
Lesson Notes
Read through the key concepts before you try the challenge.
Comments are a conversation with a future reader
You are reviewing a colleague's intake form revision at Lakeside Medical Associates.
You leave a comment that says 'This is confusing.' Your colleague opens it three days later, reads the paragraph five times, cannot work out which part you meant or what would fix it, and either guesses or comes to find you. Either way the comment cost more time than it saved.
Your task: Write comments specific enough to act on, and manage the review so nothing is silently lost.
A comment attaches a note to a specific selection without altering the text. That specificity is its value — select the exact phrase you mean, not the whole paragraph, so the reader knows precisely what you are pointing at.
Say what is wrong and what would resolve it. 'This is confusing' gives the author nothing. 'Does "within 24 hours" mean business hours or calendar hours? Suggest stating it explicitly' names the ambiguity and proposes the fix, and it can be actioned in thirty seconds without a conversation.
What Are Comments?
Comments let you attach notes to specific text in a document without changing the content. They appear as colored bubbles in the margin and are ideal for feedback, questions, and review notes.
Inserting a Comment
Select the text you want to comment on, then go to Review → New Comment. A comment balloon appears in the margin linked to your selected text. Type your note inside the balloon.
Replying to a Comment
Click inside an existing comment balloon and click the Reply button (the curved arrow icon) to add a threaded reply. This creates a conversation thread attached to the same text.
Resolving a Comment
Click the three-dot menu (…) inside a comment balloon and choose Resolve Thread. The comment turns gray to indicate it has been addressed but keeps it visible for reference.
Deleting a Comment
To permanently remove a comment, right-click the comment balloon and choose Delete Comment, or use the Delete button on the Review tab. Choose Delete All Comments in Document to remove all at once.
Navigating Between Comments
Use the Previous and Next buttons in the Comments group on the Review tab to jump between comments without scrolling through the document manually.
Knowledge Check
What happens when you resolve a comment in Word?
Practice File
Download this file and follow along with the lesson.
Challenge
Apply what you've learned in this lesson.
Complete the following tasks:
- Select a sentence in the practice document and insert a comment asking a question about the content.
- Reply to an existing comment in the document.
- Resolve a comment thread.
- Delete one comment completely.
- Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate all remaining comments.
Finished this lesson?
Progress is saved in this browser only. It is not a grade — official progress lives in Brightspace.