Work collaboratively on Word documents

To make a comment in a Word document, place the text-entry cursor next to the relevant word or, if preferred, highlight a section of text, then click on the Insert menu and select Comment. If that option is not immediately visible, click on the double arrows at the bottom of the menu to reveal more choices. What happens next depends on which View is currently being used (click on the View menu to find out – the highlighted icon shows which one is in use).

If the View is set to Normal, then the Reviewing pane opens at the bottom of the Word window. This is divided into sections headed ‘Main document changes and comments’, ‘Header and footer changes’ and ‘Text Box changes’. There is a coloured band across the top of the Main document changes and comments area, indicating the comment number, the author of the comment, and the date and time it was made. The entry cursor flashes below, ready for text input. Up in the main document itself, a word or section is highlighted and the author’s initials are shown.

Type the desired comment. This is not shown immediately in the main document, being visible only in the Reviewing pane. To see the comment in the document, move the mouse pointer over the highlighted text and a pop-up box will appear. This shows the comment itself, together with the name of the author and the date and time it was created. Move the pointer away from the highlighted text and the comment goes away. To keep the comment permanently on screen, a different view needs to be selected.

Open a document and select Print Layout from the View menu. Insert a comment as in step one. This time, the Reviewing pane does not open automatically. Instead, the relevant word or section is highlighted, and a line goes outwards to the margin. Here, there is a shaded balloon, showing the author’s initials. The entry cursor is flashing, ready for text input. In this view, the comment text is immediately visible and remains so. Hover the mouse pointer over the comment balloon, and a pop-up shows the author’s name and the date and time of the comment.

In both views, as more comments are added, they are numbered sequentially. If an additional comment is inserted before an existing one, the subsequent numbers are adjusted to reflect the new comment. However, there are differences when it comes to editing existing comments. In the Print view, simply click in the balloon and add or delete text as necessary. In the Normal setting, locate the comment in the Reviewing pane (click on the highlight in the main document) then click on the comment and edit it.

There are two different scenarios that may apply when getting rid of a comment (one as the author of the comment, the other as the author of the original document), but the method is exactly the same. The quickest way of erasing a comment is to right-click on it (either on the balloon or the highlighted text) and select Delete Comment from the pop-up menu.

Whichever view is selected, Word displays the Reviewing toolbar when comments are being used. Among other things, this contains icons for managing comments, but note that not all of these icons are relevant. The two buttons with solid blue arrows are actually for moving between changes to the document, but also work for moving between comments. There is also an icon for inserting comments, a faster alternative to going through the Insert menu. This can be found between the icon marked with a red cross and the highlight button.

On the far right of the Reviewing toolbar is an icon for the Reviewing pane. This pane is opened automatically in Normal view but not in Print view. Click on the icon in Print view to open the Reviewing pane at the bottom of the Word window. Note this does not necessarily change the way in which comments are inserted. The balloons remain on the screen, and can be typed into directly. However, if preferred, the Reviewing pane can be used instead. With Normal view selected, click on the Reviewing pane icon to close it and see more of the document.

Just to the right of the Reviewing pane icon there is a down-pointing triangle. Click on this to get a pop-up box offering toolbar options, then hover the pointer over the next pop-up for Add or Remove Buttons. Now hover the cursor over the Add or Remove Buttons to get another choice and click on Reviewing. This in its turn displays a list of icons available for the Reviewing toolbar. Those that are ticked are already on the toolbar; the others are not included. Click on one of these to place it on the toolbar.

Finally, note that at present the Word document displays all the comments (or references to comments) along with the text. There may be occasions when it would be preferable to see the document without the comments, while still retaining them. Look on the Reviewing toolbar, at the left-hand side. The box there shows the words ‘Final Showing Markup’. Click on the down-pointing arrow by the box and a list of further options will appear. These are ‘Final’ (no comments displayed) and ‘Original’, also with the choice of ‘Markup’. Select Final to see and, if desired, print the document without the comments included.

Finally, note that at present the Word document displays all the comments (or references to comments) along with the text. There may be occasions when it would be preferable to see the document without the comments, while still retaining them. Look on the Reviewing toolbar, at the left-hand side. The box there shows the words ‘Final Showing Markup’. Click on the down-pointing arrow by the box and a list of further options will appear. These are ‘Final’ (no comments displayed) and ‘Original’, also with the choice of ‘Markup’. Select Final to see and, if desired, print the document without the comments included.