Wednesday, 20 June 2012

How to Add a Comment to a Cell in Excel

You can add comments to a cell, if you want. To see how they work, take a look at the spreadsheet below:

A comment added to a cell


The function in cell B1 generates a random number from 1 to 49. You can get it to generate a new random number by clicking inside the formula bar and pressing the return key on the keyboard.


We'll add a comment to the cell to let anyone using the spreadsheet know what to do.

First, construct the spreadsheet above. For the RANDBETWEEN( ) function to work, you have to enable it. To enable the function, click on Tools from the menu bar. From the drop down menu, click on Add-ins. A dialogue box pops up. Click on Analysis Toolpack and then click OK.

If Tools > Add-insdoesn't work, you can enter this formula in cell B1

=RAND( ) * 49 + 1


The formula will generate a Random number between 1 and 49. You then need to format the cell to Number and set the decimal places to zero.

Once you have the above spreadsheet up and running, you can add your comment. To add a comment to cell B1, do the following:


  • Click on cell B1


  • From the menu bar, click on Insert


  • From the drop down menu, click on Comment


  • A yellow text box will appear to the right of cell B1, as in the image below:



The Comments Textbox


Excel will add to the comment the name of the person who's computer it is. In this case it was done on Kays computer. You can delete this name by pressing the backspace key on your keyboard.


To add your comment, just start typing. You can enlarge the text box by holding down your left mouse button on one of the white squares and dragging.

Enlarging the Textbox


Click on any other cell in your spreadsheet and the comment will disappear. The cell will have a red triangle in the top right corner, indicating that it contains a comment. Like the one below. Though this is a black and white image, so the effect is not too apparent:


Triangle Indicates the Cell contains a comment


If you move your mouse over cell B1 the comment will pop up. Try it and see.


If you want to get rid of a comment, do the following:




  • Click inside the cell that contains the comment


  • Click once with your right mouse button


  • A menu appears


  • Click "Delete Comment" with your left mouse button


  • The comment is deleted

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