Excel Note vs Comment is a key topic to understand to improve clarity and collaboration in Microsoft Excel.
Think of Microsoft Excel’s Notes and Comments like a product that underwent a major redesign. Originally, what you now know as Notes were once called Comments. Then, Microsoft upgraded the feature, introducing threaded Comments for conversations, but confusingly brought back the old Notes under a new name.
It’s like renaming an old classic while launching its modern replacement—it’s no surprise you might feel mixed up! Don’t worry, though—I’ll make it simple for you. By the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly when to use Notes and when to use Comments to collaborate effectively. Let’s dive in!
What Is a Note in Excel?
A Note in Excel is a virtual sticky note. It’s a square-shaped floating object connected to the originating cell with a line arrow. Before Excel for Office 365 and Excel 2018, a Note was known as a Comment. Since the introduction of Threaded Comments in Excel, Microsoft replaced Comments with Notes.
You can include rich text, images, background color, object styling, etc., to a Note to make it look stylish. Also, you can customize a Note in various ways by selecting the shape object, right-clicking, and choosing the Format Comment option. Here, you get modifications, like Font, Alignment, Colors and Lines, Size, Protection, Properties, Margins, and Alt Text.
However, these are offline comments on cells and don’t update dynamically. You can’t reply to someone when using Notes.
Adding a Note in Excel

To attach a Note to any cell in your worksheet, click on the source cell, right-click, and choose the New Note option.
You can also use the shortcut key combination Shift + F2 to instantly create a Note after selecting the source cell.

The default Note will show up. The name you’ve set up as the User name in the General section of the Excel Options tool will be visible in the new Note as the author’s name.
An interesting behavior of a Note is you can drag and drop it anywhere within the boundaries of the worksheet and the connected line arrow will stretch or move automatically.
What Is a Comment in Excel?
A Comment in Excel for Office 365 and later editions is actually a threaded comment. You and other collaborators of the workbook can participate in asynchronous and synchronous conversation in a Comment.
It shows the author name pulling that from the User name field in Excel options. It also shows the date, year, and time. If you add a note citing a collaborator’s name in the workbook, that person can reply to that comment so you see it the next time you open the workbook.
Also, Excel sends you email notifications when someone submits a comment reply. You can close a Threaded Comment if the conversation has ended and no longer replies are needed.
Though Threaded Comment is a pretty new addition, you can’t insert pictures or customize the content of such Comments.
Adding a Comment in Excel

Go to the target cell where you want to start a threaded conversation, right-click, and select the New Comment option in the context menu.
If you prefer navigating on the Excel desktop app using the keyboard exclusively, use the shortcut combination Ctrl + Alt + M.

You can now type in your instructions or messages in the Start a conversation field. Once you’re done typing, press Ctrl + Enter to save the comment.

If a comment was added to a shared workbook and you wish to reply, click on the Reply field, type in your response regarding the comment, and hit Ctrl + Enter to save the answer.
Microsoft Excel Note vs Comment: Features
Now, let me walk you through an in-depth comparison of Excel Comments vs Notes through these standard features available in both Notes and Comments in Microsoft Excel.
Ease of Use
Excel Notes are for quick note-taking. So, it’s easy to create, edit, save, and lock such notes. Also, the dragging and dropping feature makes it effortless to organize multiple notes in the same worksheet. Moreover, the automatically connecting arrow line helps to understand which note is linked to which cell.
Contrarily, Threaded Comments are for dynamic conversations in an offline or online workbook environment. So, its usage is a bit more complicated than Notes. For example, you can’t move a Comment from its original location. Also, a comment contains lots of data, like date, time, year, author, etc., that might distract you more often.
Appearance

Notes come with a minimalistic appearance. A tiny red triangle, in the top right corner of a cell, functions as the indicator for a note. Hovering on that icon makes the note visible but goes away if you stop hovering the cursor. A note is made of a text box object with a default yellowish shade. The shape is always connected to the originating cell with a dark and thin arrow line. Overall, it looks a bit outdated compared to the modern user interface of Excel.

Contrarily, Excel Comments have contemporary design elements matching easily with the latest Excel UI visuals. It shows up with a fixed author’s name which you can edit in the Excel Options tool. There’s a message box where you can type texts. Other major details you see on a Comment are date, time, threaded replies to your comments, author of a reply, and a More thread actions menu so you can resolve or delete a thread.
Editability

Anyone with edit access to an Excel workbook can edit all the notes irrespective of the Microsoft Account they’re logged in within the Excel app. Upon right-clicking a cell, you get the Edit Note option, provided that the cell contains a note. However, if you lock a note using the Protect Sheet feature, shared users will need a password to unlock the protected notes.

You can only reply to a comment that you didn’t create. If you’re the creator of the comment you can edit the comment using the Edit comment button located in the top right corner of the comment box. There’s no right-click menu option to edit comments. Also, you can’t lock an Excel Comment as you can do it for Notes.
Visibility

The Show All Notes command in the Review tab allows you to make all the notes in a worksheet visible. By default, showing all notes will bury the dataset underneath the text shapes. You’ll need to manually organize the notes by dragging them and dropping them outside the dataset.

On the other hand, the Show Comments command creates a sidebar on the right side of the Excel app. There, Excel shows all the comments in an orderly fashion.
Printing

Excel Notes come with better printing features than Threaded Comments. For example, you can print all the notes at the end of the sheet.

Alternatively, you can use the Show All Notes command to make all the notes visible and print them as is using the As displayed on sheet feature in the Page Setup > Sheet dialog box.
Excel Comments can only be printed at the end of the sheet. Also, if you use the As displayed on sheet feature to print notes, comments won’t be printed at all.
Microsoft Excel Note vs Comment: When to Use Eash
Find below some suitable scenarios to learn when to use Notes or Comments.
When Notes Are Appropriate
- Clarifying Cell Content: Sometimes a cell’s value doesn’t tell the full story. Notes are perfect for filling in the gaps, like explaining what a number represents or adding a quick description. For example, instead of someone guessing, “What’s this 2,500 about?” you can add a note saying, “This is Q1’s revenue before adjustments.”
- Citing Data Sources: If your data came from somewhere specific, like a report, website, or survey, adding a note keeps things transparent. For instance, a note saying, “From 2023 Market Trends Report” can save everyone a lot of time searching for where the info came from.
- Leaving Handy Reminders: Notes are like sticky notes for your spreadsheet—they’re great for personal reminders. Maybe you need to double-check a value, follow up with someone, or finish tweaking a formula. Add a quick note like, “Check this with Sarah” or “Review before final submission,” and you’re less likely to forget something important.
When Comments Are Appropriate
- Talking About Content: Comments are perfect when you need to hash something out with your team. Let’s say a number in a cell doesn’t feel quite right—you can add a quick comment like, “Is this the final Q3 figure?”
- Requesting Fixes or Feedback: Need someone to check or tweak something? Comments are your go-to tool. Instead of sending a vague message, you can tag someone right in the spreadsheet with something like, “@Alex, can you review this formula?” or “@Mia, should we update this with the new pricing?”
- Tracking Changes Easily: When things are changing fast, comments help you keep track of what’s happening and why. You can leave a comment like, “Updated this number after the client meeting” or “Combined these categories based on team feedback.”
Microsoft Excel Note vs Comment: Head-to-Head Comparison
Compared Features | Notes | Comments |
Functionality | Additional context or explanations | Enable collaborative discussions |
Microsoft 365 Integration | No | Yes |
Visibility | Show All Notes; overlaps the dataset | Show Comments; organized in the Comments sidebar |
Sharing | Always shared | Sharing can be customized to stop someone from replying or editing |
Workbook Performance | No impact | Impacts performance |
User Interface | Simple; outdated | Advanced; modern |
Reply Ability | No | Yes |
Text Formatting | Yes | No |
Image Formatting | Yes | No; doesn’t allow image integration |
Shape Resizing | Yes | No |
Edit Author Name | Yes | No |
Shape Background | Customizable | Fixed |
Shortcut Keys | Shift + F2 | Ctrl + Alt + M to add; Ctrl + Enter to save |
Editing Content | Yes | Yes only with the same profile |
Moving Shapes | Yes with drag-and-drop action | No |
Printing Content | Yes | Yes |
📚 Read more: You might also want to go through these quick Microsoft Excel tutorials and guides to advance your Excel skills:
Conclusions
This in-depth comparison of Excel Note vs Comment should have helped you understand the differences and similarities between Notes and Comments.
From today onwards, you can use these helpful Excel data annotation and collaboration tools efficiently in your data analytics and visualization journey.
Did you like this Excel Comments vs Notes guide? Comment below to share your appreciation. If you’ve got any feedback, you’re encouraged to reply.
0 Comments