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Note

Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.

A comment is a note or annotation that an author or reviewer can add to a document. Microsoft Word displays the comment in the Reviewing pane or in a balloon in the margin of the document. This article answers some frequently asked questions about the Comment feature in Word.

Symptoms

While using Word for Mac one or more Toolbars are missing and cannot be added.

Cause

This behavior can be caused by one of these things:

  • The oval button in the upper-right corner of the document was clicked. This button 'toggles' display of toolbars on and off.
  • There is an issue with the Normal template in Word.
  • The toolbars or menus are modified.

Resolution

To resolve this problem, try the following methods.

Method 1: Make sure that tool bar display is not turned off

  1. In the upper-right corner of the window click the oval button.

    Note

    When this button is clicked, it hides all the toolbars. A second click causes the toolbars to be displayed.

  2. If the toolbars reappear, quit, and then restart Word to make sure that the appropriate toolbars are displayed.

If Method 1 did not resolve the problem, try Method 2.

Method 2: Reset the toolbars and menus in Word

You can reset the toolbars and menus in the Customize Toolbars and Menus option, any saved customization is removed, and all settings are reverted to the original default settings.

  1. Open Word.
  2. Go to View in the menu.
  3. Choose Toolbars.
  4. Select Customize Toolbars and Menus.
  5. Select Toolbars and Menus in the top of the Customize Toolbars and Menus window.
  6. Select the item in the list you want to reset (Menu Bar, Standard, Formatting).
  7. Click Reset.
  8. Click OK when getting prompt: 'Are you sure you want to reset the changes made...'
  9. Click OK.

Note

When View is missing from the menu, then you can also Control Click the Standard Toolbar and go to Customize Toolbars and Menus here.

If Method 2 did not resolve the problem, try Method 3.

Method 3: Create a new Normal template Note

When a new Normal template is created, any saved customization is removed, and all settings are reverted to the original default settings.

Step 1: Quit all programs

To quit active applications, follow these steps:

  1. On the Apple menu, click Force Quit.

  2. Select an application in the 'Force Quit Applications' window.

  3. Click Force Quit.

  4. Repeat the previous steps until you quit all active applications.

Warning

When an application is force quit, any unsaved changes to open documents are not saved.

When you are finished, click the red button in the upper-left corner and proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Word 2008 and 2011: Move the Normal.dotm template file to the Trash

  1. Quit all Microsoft Office applications.
  2. On the Go menu, click Home.
  3. Open Library.

    Note

    The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.

  4. Select the Application Support folder.
  5. Select the Microsoft folder.
  6. Open the Office folder.
  7. Open the User Templates folder.
  8. Move Normal.dotm to the Trash.
  9. Start Word, a new Normal.dotm template will be created when you choose Quit Word in the Word menu.

Note

When you had Word 2004 on your Mac previously and you now have Word 2008 or Word 2011, also check if the Word 2004 Normal file is present on the system, if so, trash this Normal template file as well.

Step 3: Word 2004: Move the Normal template file to the Trash

  1. Quit all Microsoft Office applications.
  2. On the Go menu, click Home.
  3. Select the Documents folder.
  4. Select the **Microsoft User Data **folder.
  5. Move Normal to the Trash.
  6. Start Word, a new Normal template will be created when you choose Quit Word in the Word menu.
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Note

Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.

Summary

A comment is a note or annotation that an author or reviewer can add to a document. Microsoft Word displays the comment in the Reviewing pane or in a balloon in the margin of the document.

This article answers some frequently asked questions about the Comment feature in Word.

More Information

What is a balloon?

A balloon shows markup elements (for example, comments) in the margins of your document so that it doesn't cover text or affect the layout of the document. You can use balloons in Print Layout view or in Web Layout view to easily see and respond to reviewers' changes and comments.

How do I view the comments in a Word document?

To view the comments in a document, follow these steps:

Word 2010 and Word 2007

  • On the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then select the Comments check box. If you do not see the comment balloon, click Print Layout or Web Layout on the View tab.

Word 2003 and Word 2002

  • On the View menu, click Markup. Word displays balloons in your document for each comment. If you do not see the comment balloon, click Print Layout or Web Layout on the View menu.

How do I hide the comments in my Word document?

To hide the comments, follow these steps:

Word 2010 and Word 2007

  • On the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then clear the Comments check box.

Word 2003 and Word 2002

  • On the View menu, click Markup.

How do I insert a comment?

To insert a comment, follow these steps:

Word 2010 and Word 2007

  1. On the Review tab, in the Comments group, click New Comment.
  2. Type your comment in the comment balloon that appears when you are in Print Layout view or Web Layout view, or in the Reviewing pane when you are in Normal view or Outline view.

Word 2003 and Word 2002

  1. Select the text or item that you want to comment about, or click the place where you want to insert your comment.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Comment.
  3. Type your comment in the comment balloon that appears when you are in Print Layout view or Web layout view, or in the Reviewing pane when you are in Normal view or Outline view.

Note

You cannot insert a comment in the header or footer area of a document. How do I change a comment?

To change an existing comment, do one of the following:

  • Click the comment balloon, and then type the text that you want.
  • In the Reviewing pane, find the comment that you want to change, and then type the text that you want.

How do I delete a comment?

To delete a comment, do one of the following:

  • Right-click the comment balloon, and then click Delete Comment.
  • In the Reviewing pane, right-click the comment, and then click Delete Comment.

What is the Reviewing pane?

Word doesn't always display the complete text of a comment in a balloon. This can happen when the page contains many comments or very long comments. To see the complete text for all comments in a document, view the comments in the Reviewing pane.

Word 2010 and Word 2007

  • On the Review tab, click Reviewing Panein the Tracking group, and then click Reviewing Pane Vertical or Reviewing Pane Horizontal.

Word 2003 and Word 2002

  • On the Reviewing toolbar, click Reviewing Pane. If the Reviewing toolbar is not displayed, point to Toolbars on the View menu, and then click Reviewing.

How do I print the comments in my Word document?

To print a document with comments showing, follow these steps:

Mac

Word 2010

  1. On the View tab, click Print Layout in the Document Viewsgroup.

  2. On the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then select the Comments check box.

  3. To display the comments the way that you want them to appear in the printed document, do one of the following:

    • View all comments: To view all comments in your document, on the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, point to Reviewers, and then click to select All Reviewers.
    • View comments that were made by a reviewer: To view the comments that were made by a specific reviewer, on the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, point to Reviewers, and then click to select the reviewer whose comments that you want to display.
  4. On the File menu, click Print.

  5. Under Settings, click the arrow next to Print All Pages.

  6. Click Print Markup.

Word 2007

  1. On the View tab, click Print Layout in the Document Viewsgroup.

  2. On the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then select the Comments check box.

  3. To display the comments the way that you want them to appear in the printed document, do one of the following:

    • View all comments: To view all comments in your document, on the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, point to Reviewers, and then click to select All Reviewers.
    • View comments that were made by a reviewer: To view the comments that were made by a specific reviewer, on the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, point to Reviewers, and then click to select the reviewer whose comments that you want to display.
  4. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Print.

  5. In the Print dialog box, change the Print what box to Document showing markup, and then click OK.

Word 2003 and Word 2002

  1. Click Print Layout on the View menu.

  2. On the View menu, click Markup to display the comments in your document.

  3. Display the comments the way that you want them to appear in the printed document. To do this, do one of the following:

    • View all comments: To view all comments in your document, click Show on the Reviewing toolbar, point to Reviewers, and then click to select All Reviewers.
    • View comments that were made by a reviewer: To view the comments that were made by a specific reviewer, click Show on the Reviewing toolbar, point to Reviewers, and then click to select the reviewer whose comments that you want to display.
  4. On the File menu, click Print.

  5. In the Print dialog box, change the Print what box toDocument showing markup, and then click OK.

How do I print my document without printing the comments?

To print a document without printing the comments, follow these steps:

Word 2010

Do one of the following:

Method 1

Margins Drop Down Not Showing In Microsoft Word Mac Crack

  1. On the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group.
  2. Clear the Comments check box.

Method 2

  1. On the File tab, click Print.
  2. Under Settings, click the arrow next to Print All Pages.
  3. Click Print Markup.

Word 2007

Margins Drop Down Not Showing In Microsoft Word Mac Free

Do one of the following:

  • On the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group, and then clear the Comments check box.
  • Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Print. In the Print dialog box, change the Print what box to Document, and then click OK.

Word 2003 and Word 2002

Do one of the following:

  • Click Markup on the View menu to hide the balloons in your document, and then print your document.
  • Click Print on the File menu. In the Print dialog box, change the Print what box to Document, and then click OK.

I can see the comments, but how do I determine the author of a comment and when it was made?

To see the author's name and the date and time that the comment was made, do one of the following:

  • Rest the mouse pointer on the comment balloon. A tooltip that contains this information appears.
  • Open the Reviewing pane and locate the comment.
    How do I respond to a comment?

Word 2010 and Word 2007

  1. Click the comment that you want to respond to.
  2. On the Review tab, click New Comment in the Comments group.
  3. Type your comment in the comment balloon that appears.

Word 2003 and Word 2002

  1. Click the comment that you want to respond to.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Comment.
  3. Type your comment in the comment balloon that appears.

Additional Resources

For more information about how to use comments, see Remove tracked changes and comments from a document.