Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 17, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Besides simply adding and viewing comments one at a time, Excel includes some tools that allow you to easily manage your comments. The tools used to manage comments are found on the Reviewing toolbar. If you have quite a few comments in your worksheet, these tools can be a great help.
You can display the Reviewing toolbar by choosing Comments from the View menu or by choosing Toolbars from the View menu and then choose Reviewing from the list of available toolbars.
The buttons on the Reviewing toolbar make it very easy to work with the comments. For instance, you can add a comment to a cell by clicking your mouse on the New Comment tool.
Perhaps the most helpful tools are the Previous Comment and Next Comment tools. These allow you to work strictly with comments and jump from one to the other. As you click your mouse on one of these tools, Excel highlights a comment. The New Comment tool changes to Edit Comment, and you can use the Hide Comment tool to dismiss the comment and the Delete Comment tool to permanently remove it.
When you are done working with comments, you will want to click on the Hide All Comments tool and then close the Reviewing toolbar.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2242) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.
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!
There are three different ways that Excel allows you to display any comments that are in your worksheet. Here's how you ...
Discover MoreWhen formatting comments, you can use a graphic as a background for the comment box. If you later want to move this ...
Discover MoreExcel allows you to not only put information into cells, but into comments attached to those cells. Here's how to copy ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments