You can also add comments to a document; this can be done whether or not you’re tracking changes. Comments can be useful to ask questions, to mark points of interests, or to explain why you changed text the way you did.

 

To insert a comment, click to place your insertion point where you want the comment and then use one of these commands:

-          Click the Insert menu and click Comment.

-          Use the Ctrl+Shift+M shortcut.

-          Click the Insert Comment button () on the Reviewing toolbar.

 

You can then add your text in the balloon that appears. (The date and time, your initials, and the number of the comment will automatically appear in the comment.)

 

 

In the sample on the previous page, we’re in print layout so the comment appears as a balloon in the right hand margin, with a line pointing to the text it’s associated with. Here’s how the comment will look if we switch to normal view:

 

 

The comment is no longer visible, although the text that it is associated with is a different colour. As well, you can see the author’s initials and the comment number (KM1) beside the marked text.

 

To see the actual comment, we can mouse over it like we did for other changes. Or, we can open the reviewing pane by clicking the Reviewing Pane button () on the reviewing toolbar. (The keyboard shortcut for that command is Alt+Shift+C.)

 

 

Although you can resize the reviewing pane, you cannot move it. This pane lists all the formatting changes, inserts, deletions, and comments in the document. It also lists the author of those changes as well as the date and time they were performed. You can use this pane in print layout as well; it can be a handy tool when reviewing changes.

 

To turn the pane off, just click the Reviewing Pane button again or use the Alt+Shift+C shortcut.