Comments vs. Notes in Microsoft Excel: What's the Difference?

While Microsoft Excel's comments and notes tools some fto you annotate a cell, they service antithetic purposes, enactment successful divers ways, and alteration successful however they look connected a printed Excel worksheet. In this guide, I'll amusement you however to usage them earlier summarizing their similarities and differences.

Comments successful Microsoft Excel are individual-cell annotations that tin beryllium turned into a conversation-style thread of abstracted comments. As a result, they're large for collaborative worksheets.

To adhd a remark to a compartment that doesn't already person one, right-click the applicable cell, and prime "New Comment."

Alternatively, prime the cell, and click "New Comment" successful the Review tab connected the ribbon.

Whichever way you take, a floating remark container appears wherever you tin benignant your annotation.

When you click the greenish arrow oregon property Ctrl+Enter, the remark saves beneath your username, and a purple tag is added to the top-right country of the affected compartment to bespeak that a remark has been added.

Hover your cursor implicit a tagged compartment astatine immoderate clip to spot its comments.

You'll besides announcement that each comments are stamped with the day and time, making it easier to way erstwhile they were added.

To adhd a remark to a thread, prime the "Reply" substance field, insert your further annotation, and property Ctrl+Enter. New remark threads cannot beryllium created for a compartment that already has a remark oregon thread. This prevents a compartment from having conflicting annotations.

If you're signed successful connected your enactment account, benignant @ successful the remark box, and prime a coworker oregon adjacent you privation to tag successful the remark and notify.

Once the thread is complete, and each related tasks person been actioned, click the 3 dots successful the top-right country of the archetypal comment, and prime "Resolve Thread." Taking this measurement prevents immoderate further comments from being added, though you and others tin inactive presumption the speech past by hovering implicit the cell.

Alternatively, to region the thread altogether, click "Delete Thread." However, usage this enactment with caution, arsenic you can't reconstruct deleted threads erstwhile they're gone! You tin besides edit a enactment by clicking the pencil icon.

After you resoluteness a thread, the compartment tag turns from purple to gray, and the New Comment fastener successful the Review tab connected the ribbon is grayed out, meaning you can't commencement a caller remark thread for this cell.

Instead, to reopen the thread to adhd further comments, hover implicit the cell, and click the "↺" arrow successful the top-right corner.

To spot each unfastened and resolved comments connected a worksheet, click "Show Comments" successful the Review tab connected the ribbon. Then, successful the Comments pane, you tin adhd further annotations to unfastened threads, commencement a caller thread for the selected cell, oregon click the filter icon successful the top-right country to amusement unfastened or resolved threads only.

If you privation comments to amusement connected printed versions of the worksheet, first, click the "Page Setup" dialog container launcher successful the country of the Page Setup radical of the Page Layout tab. Then, successful the Sheet tab of the Page Setup dialog box, prime "At End Of Sheet," and click "OK."

Now, aft pressing Ctrl+P, scroll to the extremity of the people preview to spot however the threads volition look successful the printout, and people the expanse erstwhile you're ready!

How to Use Notes successful Microsoft Excel

Notes successful Microsoft Excel are elemental annotations linked to idiosyncratic cells. They are astir commonly utilized to adhd discourse to a cell's content, and they tin besides enactment arsenic an overflow to prevention you from cramming excessively overmuch accusation into a cell.

To adhd a enactment to a cell, right-click the applicable cell, and prime "New Note." You can't adhd a enactment to a compartment that already contains one.

On the different hand, prime the compartment to which you privation to adhd the note, and click Notes > New Note successful the Review tab connected the ribbon.

Then, a enactment container with a blinking cursor beneath your Microsoft username appears wherever you tin benignant the annotation for that cell. Click immoderate compartment successful the worksheet to exit the enactment edit mode erstwhile you're done.

To format the font successful a note, either prime the substance and usage formatting keyboard shortcuts—like Ctrl+B for bold, and Ctrl+i for italics—or right-click anyplace wrong the enactment and prime "Format Comment" to motorboat the Format Comment dialog box.

Notes successful Microsoft Excel are akin to the Windows Sticky Notes app successful that you tin resize the substance container by clicking and dragging the handles, and you tin determination the enactment anyplace wrong the worksheet by clicking and dragging the borderline of the shape.

Any cells with notes person a reddish tag successful the corner, and you tin hover implicit them astatine immoderate clip to spot their content. When you bash this, an arrow appears betwixt the enactment and the compartment to which it refers—a utile diagnostic if you person tons of notes successful 1 worksheet.

On the different hand, you tin unit Excel to show each compartment notes astatine the aforesaid time. To bash this, successful the Notes drop-down paper of the Review tab connected the ribbon, click "Show All Notes." Click the aforesaid fastener to fell them again.

To amend a note, right-click the applicable cell, and click "Edit Note."

You tin besides region a enactment successful this right-click paper by selecting "Delete Note." However, beryllium alert that erstwhile you delete a note, you can't get it backmost again!

If, aft adding notes, you privation to stock your worksheet with others, you mightiness take to crook the notes into comments, truthful that the collaborators tin adhd their thoughts and suggestions. To bash this, successful the Review tab connected the ribbon, click Notes > Convert To Comments.

You'll past spot a informing that images and formatting volition beryllium removed successful this process. If you're good with that, click "Convert All Notes." It's besides worthy pointing retired that you can't person idiosyncratic notes to comments—it's a lawsuit of each oregon nothing!

Notes converted to comments are not time-stamped, since Excel didn't way precisely erstwhile you added the archetypal note.

To show notes erstwhile you people your worksheet, click the "Page Setup" dialog container launcher successful the country of the Page Setup radical of the Page Layout tab, earlier opening the "Sheet" tab of the Page Setup dialog box.

Then, successful the Comments And Notes drop-down paper of the Print section, take 1 of the pursuing 2 options:

• At End Of Sheet: This displays each comments and notes astatine the extremity of the printout, including the compartment to which they refer, the writer (if available), and the annotation. Selecting this enactment besides prints immoderate comments successful the worksheet.
• As Displayed On Sheet: If you person activated Show All Notes successful the Notes drop-down of the Review tab, the notes volition people precisely arsenic they look successful your workbook connected screen. Selecting this enactment prints notes lone (not immoderate comments).

Once you're blessed with your choice, click "OK," past property Ctrl+P to people your worksheet.

Here's a summary array that shows you the similarities and differences betwixt Microsoft Excel's comments and notes:

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In this guide, I've discussed conscionable 2 of the utile tools successful the Review tab successful Microsoft Excel—but determination are galore more! For example, it's wherever you tin cheque whether your workbook is accessible to everyone, protect an idiosyncratic worksheet oregon the full file with a password, and track immoderate changes that person been made.