Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Pasting a Comment into Your Worksheet.

Pasting a Comment into Your Worksheet

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 1, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Excel allows you to add comments to individual cells in a worksheet. I often use comments to included explanatory concepts, or to store alternative information to what is in the worksheet. There have often been times when I've wanted to copy something from a comment and place it into a cell on the worksheet. These steps are helpful in this regard:

  1. Right-click the cell whose comment you want to copy and paste into a cell. You'll see a Context menu for the cell.
  2. Choose Edit Comment from the Context menu. Excel displays the comment, with the insertion point in the comment balloon.
  3. Select the text in the comment that you want to paste into a cell. Make sure you do not select the author text at the beginning of the comment or the paragraph mark at the end.
  4. Use Ctrl+X to cut the text or Ctrl+C to copy the text to the Clipboard.
  5. Select the cell into which you want to paste the comment.
  6. If you want to paste the comment text as a formula, press the equal sign.
  7. Press Ctrl+V to paste the information to the cell.

If you performed step 6 to indicate you were creating a formula, press Enter to finish the paste. Excel pastes your comment text into the cell. You can now delete the comment from the source cell (if desired) by right-clicking the cell and choosing Delete Comment.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3385) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Pasting a Comment into Your Worksheet.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Refreshing Web Discussions

How to refresh the Discussions screen to ensure all comments are visible.

Discover More

Tombstone Date Math

Doing math with dates is easy in Excel. Doing math with old dates, such as those you routinely encounter in genealogy, is ...

Discover More

Changing Revision Bar Thickness

Ever wonder how to customize the way the Track Changes feature displays revision bars at the side of changed material? ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Viewing Comments

There are three different ways that Excel allows you to display any comments that are in your worksheet. Here's how you ...

Discover More

Changing the Comment Color

Normally Excel displays comments in a color reminiscent of sticky notes you keep around your office. If you want them to ...

Discover More

Managing Comments

If you frequently add comments to cells in a worksheet, Excel provides a variety of tools you can use to manage those ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

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.

What is two more than 3?

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 Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.