Delete a single comment by right-clicking it

Open the document in Microsoft Word. Find the comment you want to remove — it appears as a colored box in the margin on the right side of the page, with a line connecting it to the text it refers to. Right-click directly on that comment box in the margin.

A menu will appear. Click Delete Comment. The comment and its connecting line disappear when ready. If you change your mind within a few seconds, press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) to undo the deletion.

This method works whether the comment is yours or someone else's. You do not need special permissions to delete any comment in a document you can edit.

Key Takeaways

  • Right-click a comment box in the margin and select Delete Comment to remove it permanently from the document.
  • You can delete all comments at once using the Review tab, which is faster than removing them one by one.
  • Deleting a comment does not change the document text itself — only the feedback in the margin disappears.
  • If you delete a comment by mistake, press Ctrl+Z when ready to undo the action.
  • Word tracks who deleted a comment if Track Changes is turned on, so others will see the deletion in the revision history.

Delete all comments at once using the Review tab

If your document has many comments and you want to remove them all, use the Review tab instead of deleting one at a time. Open the document, then click the Review tab at the top of the Word window.

Look for a button labeled Delete with a dropdown arrow next to it. Click the arrow to see your options. Select Delete All Comments in Document. Word will remove every comment from the entire document in one action.

This is much faster than right-clicking each comment individually, especially in long documents with dozens of comments. However, this action cannot be undone with Ctrl+Z if you wait more than a few seconds, so use it only when you are certain you want all comments gone.

Understand what happens to the document text when you delete comments

Deleting a comment removes only the feedback in the margin — it does not change any of the actual words in your document. The text that the comment was attached to stays exactly as it was. This means you can safely delete comments without worrying that you are removing important content.

If a comment contained a suggestion for how to rewrite a sentence, deleting the comment does not explore that suggestion. You would need to make those edits yourself if you want them. Comments are separate from the document text, so removing them is always reversible in that sense — the original words remain untouched.

Know the difference between deleting and resolving a comment

Word offers two ways to handle comments you no longer need to see: delete and resolve. Deleting removes the comment entirely. Resolving marks it as addressed but keeps it in the document, usually grayed out or collapsed.

Use resolve when you want to show that you have read and acted on the feedback, but you want to keep a record that the comment existed. Use delete when you want the comment completely gone. If you are working with others on a shared document, resolving is often better because it shows your collaborators that you saw their feedback, even if you decided not to use it.

Delete comments when Track Changes is on

If Track Changes is turned on in your document, deleting a comment is itself tracked. This means other people with access to the document will see that you deleted a comment, and they can see what the comment said before you removed it. The deletion appears in the revision history.

If you want to delete a comment without leaving a record that you deleted it, turn off Track Changes first. Click the Review tab, then click Track Changes to toggle it off. After that, any comments you delete will not appear in the revision history. Turn Track Changes back on when you are done if you need to track other edits.

Recover a deleted comment if you catch the mistake quickly

If you delete a comment and realize when ready that you made a mistake, press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Cmd+Z on Mac to undo the deletion. This works only if you undo within a few seconds — Word keeps only the most recent actions in the undo history.

If more than a few seconds have passed, or if you have made other edits since the deletion, you cannot recover the comment through undo. If the document is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, you may be able to view the version history to see what the comment said, but you cannot restore the comment itself to the current version of the document.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete someone else's comment in a shared document?

Yes, if you have edit access to the document, you can delete any comment. However, if Track Changes is on, others will see that you deleted it. If you want to flag a comment as unhelpful without removing it, resolve it instead — that shows you have read it without erasing it.

Does deleting a comment change the document's edit history?

Only if Track Changes is turned on. When Track Changes is active, the deletion is recorded and visible to anyone who can see the revision history. If Track Changes is off, the deletion leaves no record.

What if I delete a comment but need to remember what it said?

If the document is in OneDrive or SharePoint, you can check the version history to see earlier versions of the file that still contained the comment. Open the file, click File, then Version History to browse past versions. This does not restore the comment to the current document, but you can read what it said.

Can I delete comments from a PDF or read-only Word file?

No. You can only delete comments from a Word document you can edit. If the file is read-only or in PDF format, the delete option will not appear. Ask the document owner to give you edit access, or ask them to remove the comments for you.