Forum Discussion
Can I remove Modern Comments and revert back?
My Word (on Microsoft 365) has updated to Modern Comments. I have a number of problems with the useability of these comments, based on the way I have used them in the past (for context, I am an educator and primarily use them when marking student assignments).
The main issue is that autotext is no longer supported in a comment. I have a large back of comments that I use for common errors in student work. Some of these comments are up to a paragraph, or contain URLs to instructions for certain things. It's incredibly helpful to be able to insert these quickly and will increase my marking time substantially if I can't use them.
Comments are slow to open. If I open a comment using a keyboard shortcut (on a Windows computer) and start typing, the first one or two letters often gets inserted into the main text
They don't use the same autocorrect tools as the main text. My typing has evolved to use those features. Two capital letters at the start of a comment don't get corrected, and simple typos don't get corrected
There are more steps to use them than before. I don't share my documents, so being able to edit comments and post when they're finalised is not particularly useful for me, as no one else is looking at them until I send the document. However, I can't click out of it to finish, I have to click or ctrl+Enter to post. I also can't just click INTO it to edit, I have to click on more buttons.
It doesn't make sense to only be allowed to edit one comment at a time, particularly if the idea is to not post them until you're ready to share with others. Sometimes in the course of writing one comment, I want to comment on something else first and then come back to the previous comment. You're forced to finish one first, to the standard you're happy for others to see, defeating the purpose of not having to post until it's finished. Why not allow multiple to be in draft?
If I forget to post and try to type a new comment, it pulls me back to my previous comment and starts typing, making me lose my spot where I wanted the next comment
It has added an extra space to the side of the document, which wouldn't be an issue except that making any formatting changes under tracked change, which I often also do when marking assignments, goes into the ORIGINAL pane where comments use to be, widening the document even further (extra space for formatting, then another extra space for comments). My computer screen isn't large enough to cope with the extra width.
Once I post a comment, it's still selected. There have been a number of times I've posted a comment then tried to ctrl+F something in the document, but it won't respond to my ctrl+F. Not something that is necessarily a huge issue but it is annoying and I can't see the purpose for keeping a comment selected when it's posted and non-responsive.
Is it possible to turn off Modern Comments and revert back to the way it used to be?
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."
220 Replies
I suspect that most experienced users of Word agree with your opinions. Some fellow Word MVPs have reported several shortcomings and limitations of the new "comment experience" to the Office team.
What you can do is post feedback via File > Feedback in Word.
- Echoing what others have said. We do not want this. It makes Word far less functional. At the very least, let us put the comments in the wide margin where the tracked changes appear, not outside it in yet another column! I literally cannot see the comments on my (small) monitor; they are cut off on the right side.
- I am also an educator and spend more of my time leaving margin comments than working in the main body of the text. Although I often collaborate with students and colleagues in the comments, none of the new "features" have actually proven useful.
Instead, my job has become way more difficult since the "modern" comments rollout. There are so many more steps to posting, editing, or deleting a comment now, and I LOATHE that I can't continue with my work if I have forgotten to officially post a comment. For the love of all things holy, Microsoft, please give us a way to turn this feature off.- Another educator here. This "update" is a "downdate" for those of us who don't share, except with one student at a time. It is unwieldy, time-consuming and frustrating. Why can't we simply undo the update and revert to Track Changes as it was?
Yes, please allow us to revert this awful and regressive "update". Everything said above is true and in addition, equations don't render properly in the new comments, it is no longer obvious what text is being referenced by a comment when it used to be easy to highlight a section of text and comment on that section specifically, and the inability to just click into and edit comments is unbelievably frustrating. What is the purpose of this ridiculous extra annoyance of having to "post comments".... Help!
- I would also very much like to be able to revert to the old comments. Mostly, I do not collaborate in the dynamic mode for which the modern comments were introduced. More often, I develop a text (say an agreement) with another person in an off-line or semi-on-line mode, when we share our comments on the developed text once in a day or two. Sometimes with one- or two-days breaks. In this mode I appreciated the possibility to have the history of developing the text preserved in the comments with functionality of commenting on comment, with the possibility to reply to comments, resolve comments etc.
Modern comments enforced by automatic 365 updates are therefore for me an unwelcome change and I would appreciate very much the possibility to stay with the traditional comments.I fully agree with you.. This change is a disaster to me! This feature is not "modern" at all.
