Missing Comments in Word 2016

Question

I have an issue with some colleagues, where an editor working in Word 2016 is editing and added comments in the usual balloons in the margins. The original author is using an older version of Word (i don't specifically know which one, i'm afraid) and has responded in comments also, but on returning them to the editor, she is not able to see the comment responses. They exist as entries in the Reviewing Pane, but not in the usual Comment Balloons. 

Is there a compatibility issue here between versions of Word? We can't see that it's linked to file type/extensions or Review/Display settings. 

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hello,

Based on the information you have provided, you are having issues with the missing comments in Office Word. Word doesn't always display the complete text of a comment in a balloon. This can happen when the page contains many comments or very long comments. To see the complete text for all comments in a document, view the comments in the Reviewing pane. You can also use balloons in Print Layout view or in Web Layout view to easily see and respond to reviewers' changes and comments. Here's how:

1. On the Review tab, click Show Markup in the Tracking group.
2. Select the Comments check box. If you do not see the comment balloon, click Print Layout or Web Layout on the View tab.

Let us know if the steps provided will make any difference.

Thank you.

Answer 2

So far I've opened the document in Word 2003, 2010, and 2016, and both Hilary's and Morgan's comments appear in all of them. For example, this is what I see in Word 2016.

As far as I'm aware, there is no version compatibility problem with respect to comments or replies.

What could happen is this: If I go to Review > Show Markup > Specific People and uncheck the box for Morgan, those comments and replies disappear.

Checking the box again makes them reappear.

However, arguing against this theory, if that box is unchecked then the comments and replies don't appear in the Reviewing pane, either.

Answer 3

That does seem odd. If you could provide a sample with the evanescent comments, perhaps one of us could look at it both in Word 2016 and in an earlier version and figure something out. You can upload a sample file to OneDrive, Dropbox, etc., make it public, and post the link here.

Answer 4

I believe the ability to add replies to comments was added in Word 2010. If the original author is using an earlier version, this might explain the loss of replies, although this thread suggests that there may be a problem even in Word 2010. Instead of replying to the comment, perhaps the editor could just add a new comment?

Answer 5

Hi Anna Bon,

This issue doesn't stem from having too many comments or them being too long, i'm afraid. The balloons do not appear at all, so it's not that the complete text is missing, but that the balloons simply are not there. This means that the editor is unable to view relevant comment balloons added by the author, and therefore may well miss them.

Do you know if there's an issue here with incompatibility between working in Word 2016, then the next user reverting to an older version of Word, before then the file is re-opened in Word 2016? It seems strange that the comments do exist - as shown by them being present in the Reviewing Pane - but there's no way to have them display in the usual marginal balloons.

Thanks!