Pop-up Comments

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 29, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you work with Comments in your documents, you may really like this tip. Did you know that Word can automatically display a comment when you position the mouse over the comment marker in your document? For instance, if there is a comment marker such as [ALW1] in your document, and you position the mouse pointer over that marker, a small pop-up window appears and displays the contents of the comment.

If your version of Word does not do this, simply follow these steps to turn on the feature:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the View tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The View tab of the Options dialog box

Make sure the ScreenTips check box is selected.
Click on OK.

Why Word refers to the pop-up comments as "ScreenTips" is beyond me. Normally, ScreenTips are a different feature, as described in the following tip.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (644) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Showing Text Boundaries for Pages, not for Paragraphs

Word allows you to configure how your document is displayed rather extensively. One configuration that has been around ...

Discover More

Understanding the While...Wend Structure

Logical structures are important in programming, as they allow you to control how the programming statements are ...

Discover More

Catching Single-Letter Spelling Errors

There have been times when I've reviewed my writing and found lots of "lone letters," detached by a single space from the ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners today!

More WordTips (menu)

Pasting a Comment into Your Document

When developing a document, you may end up with all sorts of comments that you need to deal with. One common task is to ...

Discover More

Changing the User Name in Existing Comments

Want to change the name that Word associates with various comments previously added to your document? Here are some ideas ...

Discover More

Comments Use Tiny Font when Printed

When you print out your documents, do any comments in the document appear very tiny on the printout? It could be because ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is three more than 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.