Close comments by changing the view or hiding the pane

The fastest way to close comments is to switch your view. In Word, comments stay in the document but you can stop seeing them by clicking the Review tab, then selecting straightforward Markup from the Tracking group. This hides comment balloons on the right side of the page without deleting them.

If you want the comment pane gone entirely, click Review, then find the Comments group and select Show Comments (or Hide Comments depending on your version). The button toggles the pane closed. Comments remain in the document — they are just invisible on screen.

You can also right-click any comment balloon and choose Delete Comment to remove individual comments one at a time. This actually removes them from the document rather than just hiding them.

Key Takeaways

  • Switching to straightforward Markup view hides comment balloons without deleting the comments themselves.
  • The Show Comments or Hide Comments button in the Review tab toggles the entire comments pane on and off.
  • Right-clicking a comment and selecting Delete Comment removes it permanently from the document.
  • Turning off Track Changes in the Review tab stops Word from recording new edits, but does not close existing comments.
  • Comments and tracked changes are separate features — closing one does not affect the other.

The difference between hiding comments and deleting them

Hiding comments keeps them in the document but removes them from view. This is useful when you want to focus on reading or editing without the visual clutter, but you may need to see them again later. Deleting comments removes them permanently.

If you are working with a document that has many comments and you want to clear them all at once, Word does not have a single "delete all comments" button. You must delete them individually by right-clicking each one, or you can use Find & Replace to search for comments. Open Find & Replace (Ctrl+H), click More Options, then check Find all and search for comment marks to select multiple comments at once.

Turn off Track Changes to stop recording new edits

Comments and tracked changes are separate. Closing the comments pane does not stop Word from tracking edits. To turn off tracking, click the Review tab and toggle Track Changes off. The button will no longer be highlighted, and Word will stop recording who changed what.

If Track Changes is on, every edit you make — deletions, insertions, formatting changes — gets marked in the document. Reviewers can see exactly what was changed and by whom. Turning it off means your edits blend into the document without a record. This is different from accepting or rejecting changes; it straightforward stops the recording process going forward.

Why comments stay in the document after you close them

Word treats comments as part of the document structure, similar to footnotes or bookmarks. Hiding them or closing the pane does not remove them. This design lets multiple people review the same document — one person can hide comments while another person reads them.

When you save the document, comments are saved with it unless you explicitly delete them. If you send the document to someone else and they open it, they will see all the comments you left, even if you had them hidden on your screen. This is intentional: comments are meant to be preserved for the full review cycle.

How to prevent comments from appearing in printed or exported documents

If you print a document with comments visible, the comments will print as balloons on the right margin. To print without comments showing, hide them first using straightforward Markup view or the Hide Comments button, then print normally. Word will print only the document text.

When you export to PDF or another format, comments usually do not transfer unless you specifically choose to include them. In the Export or Save As dialog, look for options related to comments or markup. Most formats (PDF, HTML, plain text) strip comments by default, so your exported file will contain only the final text.

Restore comments if you hide them by mistake

If you hid comments and want to see them again, click Review and select All Markup from the Tracking group. This restores the full view with all comments visible in their balloons. You can also click Show Comments in the Comments group to toggle the pane back on.

If you deleted comments by mistake, Word's Undo function (Ctrl+Z) will restore them — but only if you undo when ready. Once you save the document, deleted comments cannot be recovered. If you need to preserve comments during editing, consider saving a backup copy before you start deleting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does closing comments delete them from the document?

No. Hiding comments or closing the comments pane keeps them in the document. You must right-click each comment and select Delete Comment to actually remove it. Hiding just takes them off your screen.

Can I delete all comments at once?

Word has no single delete-all button. You can delete them one by one by right-clicking each comment, or use Find & Replace to select multiple comments at once, then delete them together. Open Find & Replace, click More Options, and search for comment marks.

Will comments print if I hide them?

No. If you hide comments using straightforward Markup view or the Hide Comments button before printing, they will not appear on the printed page. Only the document text prints.

What happens to comments when I save the document?

Comments are saved with the document unless you delete them. If you hide comments and save, they remain in the file. Anyone who opens the document later will see them unless they hide them too.

Is there a way to turn off comments for new documents only?

Word does not have a setting to disable comments globally. You turn off Track Changes per document using the Review tab. Comments are always available as a feature; you control them individually in each file.