How to Preface comments in origin email text with my name and have it highlighted.

Question

I cannot find how to highlight and preface with my name the comments in the original email text that I am replying to. This is an important feature and I have wasted a lot of time trying to find out how to do this.

Answer 1

Dear @Philip Belcher,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your description, you wonder how to highlight and preface with your name the comments in New Outlook.

Unfortunately, currently the new Outlook does not include the "Preface Comments With" feature. While this option is available in the classic Outlook for Windows, Microsoft has streamlined certain features in the new Outlook to focus on a more unified experience across platforms.

As an alternative, you can manually add comments in the body of the email by inserting your name or initials in a specific font and color. To maintain consistency:

1. Highlight the text you’ve added.
2. Use the formatting options in the ribbon to set a unique font, color, or style.

After researching and according to other users, I understand how important this feature can be for streamlining communication and making edits or comments directly in email replies or forwards more efficient.

Therefore, I strongly recommend submitting your suggestion through the Ideas · Community, where the Microsoft product team actively reviews user input. Many improvements have been made based on community suggestions, and your idea could help prioritize this feature for future updates. Or you also can find the similar feedback as your issue and kindly upvote it. The higher votes, the more attention the related team will pay on.

Please understand that as a forum moderator, I do not have the authority to influence Microsoft’s updates, features, or design decisions as user. I always try my best to provide helpful information and possible workarounds to support you with the issue you’re experiencing. 

Once you submit feedback, you can leave the link here so me and other users who have the similar issue can vote it together.

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Answer 2

This answer is unsatisfactory. Why has the 'New' Outlook dropped this important and productive feature?

Answer 3

To preface comments in the original email text with your name and highlight them in Outlook, you can use the commenting feature available in the email reply. However, the specific functionality to automatically highlight comments or prefix them with your name may not be directly supported as a built-in feature in Outlook.

Here are some steps you can take to achieve a similar effect:

1. Manually Add Your Name: When you add a comment in the reply, type your name at the beginning of the comment. For example, you can write: "[Your Name]: This is my comment."
2. Highlighting Text: You can manually highlight the text by selecting it and using the highlighting option in the formatting toolbar. This will visually distinguish your comments from the rest of the email text.

If you are looking for a more automated solution, consider using Outlook add-ins or third-party tools that might offer enhanced commenting features.

Unfortunately, the current context does not provide specific instructions on how to automate this process or highlight comments directly in the original email text.