Comments Don't Appear when Cell is Pointed To

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 18, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Virginia noted that when she places her mouse pointer over a cell that has a comment, the comment doesn't appear, even though it used to. She checked the Comment settings in Excel, and they are set to allow viewing of comments. Virginia noted that the problem first appeared after she created a macro to display comments and subsequently deleted the macro.

Assuming that your Comments settings really are set properly, there are only two possibilities that could be occurring. First, your workbook could be corrupted in some way. This is easy enough to figure out—just check to see if the problem occurs in all workbooks or in just this one. If the problem is in only one workbook, then chances are good that it is due to some sort of corruption. In this case you'll need to transfer your information from the old workbook to the new one, as described in other issues of ExcelTips.

The second possibility is that the boxes displayed by your macro really weren't comments. There are several objects which can display like comments and, if it was done with code, it would suggest something other than comments since comments do not need code to display them.

If they are comments they will have a red triangle in the upper-right corner of the cell. You might try to add a new comment to see if it works OK. If it does, then the problem is not with the comments. In that case, you'll need to somehow recover your macro to again display the information you seek.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3257) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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

Setting Up Custom AutoFiltering

The filtering capabilities of Excel are very helpful when you are working with large sets of data. You can create a ...

Discover More

Understanding Mirror Margins

Rather than have the margins of your documents always be the same, you can use what Word calls "mirror margins." Here's ...

Discover More

Inserting a Special Symbol

The vast majority of what you enter into a document can be accomplished through the use of the regular keyboard. However, ...

Discover More

Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros 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

Editing Comments

Comments can be very helpful in a worksheet. After they are added, you may want to change what they contain. Here's how ...

Discover More

Printing Comments

Comments can be a boon when you want to annotate your worksheets. If you want, you can instruct Excel to print the ...

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.

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 three less 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.