Forum Discussion
Can I remove Modern Comments and revert back?
Send feedback to Microsoft to let them know what you think about the so-called modern comments; for instructions, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-do-i-give-feedback-on-microsoft-office-2b102d44-b43f-4dd2-9ff4-23cf144cfb11.
Microsoft's rationale about "posting" is mentioned in the support article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/using-modern-comments-in-word-edc6ae71-0a2d-49fe-8faa-986f1e48136a (which you may have seen already).
Finally, you should see an option to temporarily revert to the previous, more user-friendly interface at File > Options > General. Clear the check box next to "Enable modern comments."
This new comment system is a disaster. I too have lost years of shortcuts in comments, and macros designed to enable me to quickly make comments that I would now be required to write in full. It would be quicker for me to write the comments by hand. Also, because I can no longer use symbols, much of what I need to do, teaching involving mathematical notation, I can no longer do. Last, just a set of simple macros enabling me to highlight with better, clearer, more obvious colours than Microsoft's rather primitive highlighting colours, are now prevented.
Why in the name of all reason would you make a system that was less user friendly, more restrictive, and requires some kind of "posting". My comments are for the student only, not for discussion or "posting". They are not a conversation.
Send feedback to Microsoft to let them know what you think about the so-called modern comments; for instructions, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-do-i-give-feedback-on-microsoft-office-2b102d44-b43f-4dd2-9ff4-23cf144cfb11.
Microsoft's rationale about "posting" is mentioned in the support article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/using-modern-comments-in-word-edc6ae71-0a2d-49fe-8faa-986f1e48136a (which you may have seen already).
Finally, you should see an option to temporarily revert to the previous, more user-friendly interface at File > Options > General. Clear the check box next to "Enable modern comments."
- Thanks for this suggestion, like the writer you responded to I am totally fed up with "modern comments"--but I'm not finding the "enable" option under File etc. when I open a Word document (this is where I should be per your instructions, correct?) Purchased Word 2021 in I think Nov. 2021... Did MS remove the option?
The option to enable or disable modern comments is only meant to be temporary, according to Microsoft, so depending on your version, it may have been removed again.
I still see the option in Word, version 2202 (part of a Microsoft 365 Personal subscription), running under Windows 11.
Which specific Office product (and version) are you running?
Stefan_BlomYour directions for how to temporarily revert to the old style comments does not apply to the Mac version. There are no Options listed under File in the latest version on the Mac.
For the Mac users: Preferences > General > Enable modern comments (un-check this box)
mwarner77 Thank you for assisting those of us on Apple products. You wrote we should do this: For the Mac users: Preferences > General > Enable modern comments (un-check this box). But where is Preferences hidden? I cannot locate that either.
- You'd go through Word: in Word, click on the Word tab in the upper left. The "Preferences" tab should be just below "About Microsoft Word." Go to General > Enable Modern Comments and uncheck the box from there. I'm using Word for Mac 16.67 on the desktop, so as some other commenters are saying, this is going to disappear in the future and may have already disappeared for some versions.
>>For the Mac users: Preferences > General > Enable modern comments (un-check this box)
Thank you! This is the most helpful comment I have seen.
A sanity saving work-around, campbedm! Many of us don't have (or didn't take) the time to poke around in preferences. You did! Thank you so much!
And to microsoft pin-heads: calling it 'modern comments,' hiding ways to change preferences without a heads-up that you even could: shame, shame, shame! And exactly what I can't stand about Microsoft, though I'm forced to use it. You consistently force corporate-based choices upon us, with no consideration that we might actually want to do something different. How about designing programs that work the way individuals users work and not what corporate tech decide? And how about making that choice making transparent (starting with a GUI that guides us through choice-making when a major update occurs)? Opacity creates frustration with the product, which in turn creates resentment against the producer.
That is correct. My reply was only in reference to the Windows version (I have never used Word on a Mac).
