You must learn how to edit comments in Microsoft Excel to manage workbook comments efficiently.

Comments in Excel allow for easier collaboration. However, you may enter an incorrect or poorly written comment you wish you could edit. To your surprise, yes, Microsoft allows you to edit your comments as long as you’ve got access to the workbook.

Follow along with me as I explain different methods to edit comments in an Excel workbook. Let’s get started!

Using the Edit Comment Command

If you’re the author of the comment you wish to edit, you can simply use the Edit comment command located in the top right corner of the comment pop-up.

So, navigate to the worksheet and locate the cell that has the comment.

Hover the cursor over the comment indicator to visualize the comment interface.

Now, click on the pencil icon in the comment dialog box.

The previously entered comment will become editable. You can edit the comment in the comment field.

Once done editing, press Ctrl + Enter or click on the checkmark icon in the comment interface to save the changes you’ve made.

Using the Comments Sidebar

The default Edit comment command is suitable for editing one or two comments but not for bulk editing. Not to mention, if there are many comments in the worksheet, it’ll become problematic for you to track which comments you’ve edited so far and which are left. Here steps in the Show Comments command in Excel that creates a sidebar of stacked comments organized in the order of their appearance.

Go to the source worksheet that has many comments in it.

Navigate to the Review tab and click on the Show Comments command in the Comments block.

The Comments sidebar will open from the right side.

Excel stacks the old comments at the bottom and the latest on the top of the stack.

You’ll find the Edit comment option in all the comment cards that show up on the navigation panel.

Click on the Edit comment icon and change your comment.

Press Ctrl + Enter or click on the checkmark icon to save the changes you’ve made.

Using a Keyboard Shortcut

If you’re using any Excel edition other than the Excel for Microsoft 365 desktop app, you probably want to edit the Notes, which were previously called Comments.

Editing Notes or earlier Comments is super easy if you know the quick keyboard shortcuts.

Simply select the cell that contains the Notes or Comments and press Shift + F2.

Excel will immediately take the cursor into the Notes interface. The cursor will start blinking, which means you can now edit the Note.

📒 Read More: Microsoft Excel Note vs Comment: Explained

Editing Comments in a Shared Workbook

Sometimes, you might not see the Edit comment icon near your own comments in a shared workbook. That’s because Excel online workbooks come with role-based access controlled centrally by Microsoft’s access control system. So, if you can’t edit a comment, it must be a shared workbook.

The owner of the workbook might have granted you edit access initially when you entered one or more comments. Now, they have revoked that access, so you can’t edit your own comments. However, by default, all comment authors should be able to edit their respective comments without any issues.

To edit comments in such a workbook, reach out to the workbook owner and ask them to grant you edit access once again.

Find below the quick steps to allow anyone edit access to an online Excel workbook:

Click on the Share button in the top right corner of the Excel web app.

Choose Manage Access from the context menu that shows up.

Click on the Grant Access icon in the top right corner.

Type in the recipient’s email in the field below the Grant access section.

Click on the Can view icon on the right side and switch that to the Can edit option.

Checkmark the Notify people checkbox.

Hit the Grant access button at the bottom left corner.

That’s it! If the workbook owner performs the above steps from their end, you should regain edit access to the said workbook.

You can now open the workbook again and edit your comments.

The Edit comment command isn’t readily available in the Excel for the web app.

First, you need to bring up the comment interface on the individual cell if it’s one comment you need to modify.

Alternatively, click on the Comments button in the top right corner of the Excel web app interface, near the Share button.

This will open the Comments navigation panel on the right side.

Now, click on the horizontal three dots or the kebab menu either on the comment interface or on a specific comment in the navigation panel.

A context menu will pop open, showing the Edit comment option. Click on that.

The comment field will now become editable.

You can modify the comment and hit Ctrl + Enter to save the comment text.

Editing Comments in the Excel Mobile App

If you’re using the latest Excel mobile app on an Android or iOS device, you can edit the comments freely. Let me show you the quick steps below.

Firstly, open the Excel workbook in which you want to edit a comment.

Use the touchscreen to select the cell that contains a comment.

A text box will show up in the top right corner of the selected cell.

Touch the message box to open the Comments menu from the bottom.

Long press on the comment text to open the Edit option on top of the comment text.

Tap Edit.

The Edit comment interface will open. Here, you can modify the comment.

Tap Save in the top right corner to save the changes, or tap Cancel in the top left corner to discard the changes.

Conclusions

So far, you’ve learned various methods to edit comments in Microsoft Excel. When editing one or two comments, you can simply use the Edit comment icon in the respective comments you wish to modify.

However, when you need to edit multiple comments in an organized fashion, you can use the Comments navigation panel.

You can use the comment box to share your feedback and suggestions.