How to Add Comments to Microsoft Word

Word 2007/2010/2013/2016 (Windows operating system)

Click the "References" tab. It's at the top of the window, usually between the "Page Layout" and "Mailings" tabs. This group of actions allows us to insert a variety of reference tools such as tables of contents, endnotes and endnotes, citations, subtitles, and so on.

Place the cursor where you want the legend to appear. By default, annotations will be indicated by small, increasing numbers. Place the mouse pointer where you want the number to appear.

Click the "Insert Footnote" button, located in the "Footnotes" section of the "References" tab. The caption number will be inserted, and a text frame will be separated and added to the bottom of the page. Word will automatically bring the mouse cursor down to the footnote so you can fill in the content.

An endnote is a footnote (other than a citation) that appears at the end of a document. By default, endnotes are numbered with Roman numbers (I, II, III, etc.).

As an alternative, you can press Ctrl + Alt + F to create a footnote, or Ctrl + Alt + D to create an endnote.

Change the condition for comments to be retyped. By default, the number of comments increases throughout the document. You can change the numbering so that it restarts with each page or break in the document.

Click the Menu button in the left corner of the "Footnotes" section to open the "Footnote and Endnote" window. In the "Format" section, use the "Numbering" drop-down menu to select the condition under which you want the caption to be numbered.

You can insert a break in your document by clicking the "Page Layout" tab, clicking the "Breaks" button in the "Page Setup" section, and selecting the type of line break you want to insert. . Besides changing the way that footnotes are numbered, the line wrap property is also a great way to change the document page layout to specific sections.

Change caption settings. If you prefer to mark footnotes with symbols instead of numbers, want them to appear below the text instead of at the bottom of the page, or start numbering from a different number, you can customize in the "Footnote and Endnote" window. ". Click the Menu button in the lower right corner of "Footnotes" to open this window.

Click Symbol. to select a symbol from the Symbol menu. Although the "Symbols" font is opened by default, you can choose any character from any font.

Word 2011 (Mac operating system)

Switch to Print Layout view. Click View and then select Print Layout .

Place the mouse pointer where you want the comment to appear. The annotation will appear at the cursor's position, so you should place the cursor at the end of the text you want to create a reference annotation.

Insert caption. Click the "Document Elements" tab, then click the "Footnote" button in the "Citations" section. A comment will be inserted at the mouse cursor position and you will be taken to the comment box to proceed with entering content. The footnote will appear as a separate line of footnotes at the bottom of the page.

As an alternative, press Command + Option + F to create a footnote, or Command + Option + E to create an endnote.

Change caption settings. If you prefer to mark footnotes with symbols instead of numbers, want them to appear below the text instead of at the bottom of the page, or start numbering from a different number, you can customize in the "Footnote and Endnote" window. ". Click Insert and select Footnote .

Click Symbol. to select a symbol from the Symbol menu. Although the "Symbols" font is opened by default, you can choose any character from any font.

By default, the number of comments increases throughout the document. You can change the number so that it restarts with each page or each break in the document. In the "Format" section, use the "Numbering" drop-down menu to select the condition under which you want the annotation to be renumbered.

You can apply setting changes to just the selected text, to the current paragraph, or to the entire document.

Word 2003 (Windows operating system) or Word 2004/2008 (Mac operating system)

Switch to Print Layout view. Click View and then select Print Layout .

Place the mouse pointer where you want the comment to appear. The annotation will appear at the cursor's position, so you should place the cursor at the end of the text you want to create a reference annotation.

Insert caption. Click Insert → Reference → Footnote. to open the "Footnote and Endnote" window. Select "Footnote", then select the numbering option. You can number annotations automatically or select character symbols to insert.

In Word 2004/2008, click Insert → Footnote. .

As an alternative, you can press Ctrl + Alt + F to create a footnote, or Ctrl + Alt + D to create an endnote on Windows operating systems. For Mac operating systems, press Command + Option + F to create a footnote, or Command + Option + E to create an endnote.

Enter caption content. When a footnote is created, Word moves the mouse cursor down to the footnote box. You can type the comment content and then click back into the document when finished.

Kareem Winters

Update 10 November 2023