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Comments and notes updates in Excel for the web

Feature deep dive
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Hi Office Insiders! My name is Scott McFadden, and I’m a Program Manager on the Excel team. I’m excited to announce the debut of yellow sticky comments—now called notes—in Excel for the web. I also want share some recent updates to the threaded comments and notes experience in Excel.

The transition to threaded comments and notes in Excel 

When we released threaded comments in Excel for Windows, Excel for Mac, and Excel for the web in January 2019, we decided to keep the original legacy comments (the yellow sticky notes) in the Windows and Mac versions and rename them notes. We recognized that notes and comments serve different purposes, and that supporting both allows us to address different user scenarios (conversations vs. annotations).

However, when we introduced threaded comments, we also removed the ability to create notes in Excel for the web. This meant that notes created in the desktop version looked and worked differently in Excel on the web. For example:

  • Notes on the web did not appear when hovering over the in-cell indicator. It required the user to hover and click an on-object UI, which would open the note in the Comments pane.Screenshot showing what the On-Object UI previously looked like when a note showed up in Excel for the web.
  • Notes on the web did not appear as yellow sticky notes. Instead, they took the form of threaded comments. When users attempted to edit or reply to a note, they would be required to first convert the note to a threaded comment.
  • You could create new threaded comments on the web, but not new notes.

For reference, here is how comments and notes appear today in Excel for Windows:

Screenshot showing a threaded comment in Excel Threaded Comment: Used for conversations.

 

Screenshot showing yellow sticky note in Excel. Note: Used to make annotations or share instructions.

Improving the comments and notes experience

Today, we are announcing some important steps we’ve taken to address the inconsistencies mentioned above and improve the overall user experience with notes and comments in Excel for the web.

  • We’ve enabled both threaded comments and notes to display as floating objects. We now support floating notes on the grid, and have moved notes out of the Comments pane. Now, when you hover over the in-cell indicator, notes (and comments) will float on the grid, directly aligned to the cell they are related to. No more jumping back and forth from the cell to the pane to read your notes! This was a top request in your customer feedback—and we are happy to deliver!
  • We’ve updated the notes to look like notes (rather than threaded comments). Comments and notes each have their own familiar UI. We have updated the notes on the web to align with the look and feel of notes created on Windows and Mac. Now, when you create a note in either, it will render as a yellow sticky note on the web. When viewing notes on the web, there will no longer be confusion as to whether the object is a note or a comment.
  • We now support the functionality to create both threaded comments and notes on the web. For the first time ever, we’ve introduced the ability to create yellow sticky notes in Excel on the web. Now, web users will be able to choose the optimal solution for their specific scenario.

How it works

Working with comments and notes across Windows, Mac, and the web is simple.

  • On the Review tab, you can:
    • Select New Comment to create a comment.
    • Select New Note to create a note.

NOTE: You can also right-click the cell you want to place a comment or note on, then use the shortcut menu to accomplish the task.

Other commands related to comments and notes are also found on the Review tab, allowing you to show or hide notes or comments, move to the next or previous item, convert notes to comments, and more.

Scenarios to try

To explore the improved functionality of notes and comments in Excel for the web, try the following:

  • View desktop notes on the web.

Create a note in Excel for Windows or Excel for Mac. Notice that when you view the note in Excel for the web, it appears on hover and looks like the yellow sticky note you are familiar with.

Screenshot showing what notes from Excel for Windows look like on Excel for the web.

  • Create a note on the web.

Excel now supports the creation of both comments and notes on the web. To create a yellow sticky note, select Review > New Note. (You can also right-click a cell and select New Note in the shortcut menu).

Screenshot showing what a note looks like when created in Excel for the web.

  • Manage notes on the web.

When you select a cell that contains a note, you can right-click it and choose a command to edit, show/hide, delete, or convert the note to a threaded comment. Using the Notes button on the Review tab, you can create new notes, navigate through all notes with the next and previous commands, and convert all notes to threaded comments.

Screenshot showing how to manage notes with dropdown menu commands on Excel for the web.

  • Show all notes on the grid.

To see all your notes on the grid, select Review > Notes > Show All Notes.

Screenshot showing the dropdown menu command to show all notes on Excel for the web.

 

  • See all notes and all threaded comments

If you want to see all your notes and all your threaded comments at the same time, select Review > Notes > Show All Notes, and then select Show Comments to open the Comments pane.

Screenshot showing an Excel workbook screen showing all notes and the comments pane on Excel for the web.

  • Convert a note to a threaded comment.

If you have created a note in a cell and want to start a conversation or @mention someone, you need to convert the note to a threaded comment. Simply select and right-click the cell with the note you want to convert, choose Convert Note in the shortcut menu, and then click the Convert button confirm the action. The note becomes a threaded comment, and you can now start a conversation, @mention others, and send notifications.

Screenshot showing the confirmation message in Excel for the web when converting a note to a comment.

Tips and Tricks

  • When we introduced threaded comments and renamed the legacy comments as “notes,” we recognized that many people would want to continue to use the notes with their familiar keyboard shortcut. So, we retained the legacy comment shortcut (Shift+F2) to create a note. We are also introducing a new keyboard shortcut to create a threaded comment: Ctrl+Shift+F2 (Command+Shift+F2 on the Mac).
  • On cells that already contain a note, pressing Shift+F2 will put the note in Edit mode.
  • On cells that already contain a threaded comment, pressing Ctrl+Shift+F2 (Command+Shift+F2 on the Mac) will open the comment and put the focus in the Reply box.

Known Issues

Notes in Excel on the web work much like notes have always worked in Excel for Windows and Excel for Mac. However, there are still a few differences and areas to be aware of.

Notes in Excel on the web:

  • Do not support rich text formatting, background color, or images.
  • Cannot be repositioned on the grid.
  • Can be shown, hidden, and resized, but for a given user session only. Other co-authors will not see these formatting changes.

Want to know more about Excel for the web? See What’s new in Excel for the web and subscribe to our Excel Blog to get the latest updates. Stay connected with us and other Excel fans around the world—join our Excel Community and follow us on Twitter.

Availability

We’ll be rolling this feature out to all users of Excel for the web during the month of August. 

Features are released over some time to ensure things are working smoothly. We highlight features that you may not have because they’re slowly releasing to larger numbers of Insiders. Sometimes we remove elements to further improve them based on your feedback. Though this is rare, we also reserve the option to pull a feature entirely out of the product, even if you, as an Insider, have had the opportunity to try it.

Feedback

We want to hear from you! Please share your feedback on your threaded comments and notes experience.

  • To give feedback and suggestions in Excel on the web, click Help > Feedback from the ribbon, or from the footer, choose Give Feedback to Microsoft.
  • On Windows, you can click Help > Feedback.
  • On the Mac, you can click Help > Feedback or use the Send us a Smile 😊 or Send us a Frown 🙁 buttons at the top right.  

When you share your feedback, please add #threadedcomments&notes so that we can easily find your input. You can also post your comments in the Excel Tech Community.

Learn what other information you should include in your feedback to ensure it’s actionable and reaches the right people. We’re excited to hear from you!

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