Print comments by changing one setting before you print

Word does not print comments by default — it prints only the document text. To print the comments themselves, you need to change a single setting in the Print dialog before you send the document to your printer. The setting is called Print Markup, and it appears in the same place where you choose how many copies you want.

This matters because comments are invisible on a printed page unless you tell Word to show them. If you hand someone a printed document without changing this setting, they will see only the final text, not the feedback or notes you left in the margins. The person reading the printout will have no way to know comments exist unless they open the file on their own computer.

Key Takeaways

  • Word hides comments during printing by default, so you must turn on Print Markup in the Print dialog before printing.
  • Print Markup appears under the Settings section of the Print panel, below the option to print single or double-sided.
  • You can print comments only, the document with comments visible in the margins, or tracked changes alongside comments using the same setting.
  • The Print Markup setting does not change your document — it only affects what appears on the printed page.
  • If Print Markup is grayed out, you have no comments or tracked changes in the document, so there is nothing to print.

Steps to print comments in Word on Windows

Open your document in Word and make sure it contains the comments you want to print. Then press Ctrl+P to open the Print panel on the right side of your screen. You will see a preview of your document on the left and printing options on the right.

Scroll down in the Settings section on the right until you see Print Markup. Click on it. A dropdown menu will appear with four choices: Print Markup Off, Print All Markup, Print Comments Only, and Print Tracked Changes Only. Select Print All Markup if you want the document text plus comments visible in the margins. Select Print Comments Only if you want only the comments themselves on the page, without the document text. Then click the Print button at the top of the panel.

The document will print with comments showing. If you have many comments, Word may print extra pages to fit them all. Comments appear in colored boxes in the right margin, labeled with the commenter's name and the date the comment was added.

Steps to print comments in Word on Mac

Open your document and press Command+P to open the Print dialog. At the bottom of the dialog, you will see a dropdown menu that says Microsoft Word or shows another process name. Click on it and select Show Details if it is not already expanded.

Look for a dropdown labeled Print Markup in the expanded options. If you do not see it, click the dropdown that currently says Copies & Pages and change it to Print Markup. Then select Print All Markup to print the document with comments visible, or Print Comments Only to print comments without the document text. Click Print.

What happens when you print comments only

If you choose Print Comments Only, Word prints a list of every comment in the document without printing any of the actual document text. Each comment shows the commenter's name, the date and time it was added, and the comment text itself. This is useful when you want to review feedback without printing the entire document, or when you want to send someone just the notes without the full text.

The comments are printed in the order they appear in the document, not alphabetically or by commenter. If you have 20 comments scattered throughout a 50-page document, printing comments only might produce just 2 or 3 pages of feedback.

Why Print Markup might be grayed out

If the Print Markup option is grayed out and you cannot click on it, your document contains no comments or tracked changes. Word disables this setting when there is nothing to print. Add a comment to the document first, then try again. You can add a comment by selecting any text, right-clicking it, and choosing New Comment.

Print Markup also becomes unavailable if you are printing to certain types of printers or if your Word installation is missing updates. If you believe your document has comments but Print Markup is still grayed out, close the document, close Word completely, and reopen both. This often fixes temporary glitches.

Print Markup does not change your document

Turning on Print Markup only affects what appears on paper — it does not modify the document itself. After you print with comments showing, the comments remain in the file exactly as they were. You can print the same document again without comments by opening the Print dialog and setting Print Markup back to Print Markup Off.

This means you can print multiple versions of the same document for different purposes: one version with all comments for your team, and another version without comments for a client or external reader. The original file stays unchanged either way.

Printing tracked changes alongside comments

If your document has both comments and tracked changes (insertions, deletions, and formatting changes), you can print them together. In the Print Markup dropdown, select Print All Markup. This will show both the tracked changes highlighted in the document text and the comments in the margins on the same printout.

If you want to see only the tracked changes without comments, select Print Tracked Changes Only instead. This is helpful when you want to review what text was added or removed but do not need to see the accompanying notes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I print comments from only one person?

Word does not have a built-in filter to print comments by author. If you need to print only one person's feedback, you can delete the other comments before printing, or you can print all comments and manually mark which ones belong to each person. After printing, you can undo the deletions to restore the comments to your file.

Will comments print if I use Print Preview?

Print Preview shows you what will print, including comments if Print Markup is turned on. You can see the comments in the preview before you send the document to the printer. If comments do not appear in the preview, they will not appear on the printed page either.

What if the comments are cut off on the printed page?

Long comments sometimes extend beyond the right margin. Try printing in landscape orientation instead of portrait, or reduce the document margins to give comments more room. You can also print comments only to see the full text without the document text taking up space.

Do I need to save the document before printing comments?

No. Word prints the comments that are currently in the open document, whether or not you have saved it. However, it is good practice to save before printing so you do not lose any recent changes if something goes wrong.

Can I print comments from a document I received from someone else?

Yes. If someone sends you a Word document with comments, you can open it and print the comments the same way you would print comments from your own document. The Print Markup setting works on any comments in any document, regardless of who created them.