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: Searching Comments.

Searching Comments

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 19, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


When I am creating a worksheet, it is not unusual for me to add all sorts of comments to various cells. This is a great way to keep notes and to document exactly what is going on in the worksheet. There have been workbooks I have created that include scores of comments.

If you are like me, then what is out of sight is often out of mind. This means that I can forget what I put in all the comments or—worse yet—I may remember that something is in a comment, but I don't remember the cell to which that comment is attached. Subsequently finding the right comment can be perplexing.

Fortunately, Excel makes it quite easy to search through comments in a worksheet. Simply follow these steps:

  1. Press Ctrl+F to display the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
  2. Click the Options button, if necessary, to make sure that the dialog box displays all the searching options. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

  4. In the Find What box, enter what you want to find in the comments.
  5. Using the Look In drop-down list, select Comments.
  6. Click on Find Next.

Excel locates any cells that have comments that include the desired text. The cell is selected, but the comment is not displayed. You will need to close the Find and Replace dialog box and then display the comment for the cell.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2945) 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: Searching Comments.

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. ...

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