Use a screen reader to add, read, and delete comments in Word
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This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Windows tools or features and Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Accessibility help & learning content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.

Modern comments in Word help you collaborate by adding feedback, assigning tasks, and engaging in conversations. This article covers how to use a screen reader and keyboard to manage comments, including adding and replying to them, mentioning others, viewing comments inline or as a list, and resolving or deleting them.

Decorative icon. Need instructions on how to add comments to a Word document, but not using a screen reader? Refer to Insert or delete a comment.​​​​​​​

Note: To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

In this topic

Add a comment

You can add a comment in a Word document, for example, when you are reviewing someone else's work, if you want to write a note in your own document, or if you'd like to track issues for follow-up.

  1. Navigate to the location in the body text where you want to insert your comment. For more information, refer to the section "Read a document" in Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word.

  2. To select the words in the body text to be highlighted as commented text, hold Ctrl+Shift and press the Right arrow key (to select words after the current cursor location) or Left arrow key (to select words before the current cursor location). You hear each selected word.

  3. To add the new comment, press Ctrl+Alt+M. The focus moves to a new comment text box by the side of the page (called the side track).

    Tip: You can also add a comment from the Comments pane. To do so, press Alt+Z, C or Alt+R, P, 1, L to open the pane. You hear: "New comment, button." Then press Enter.

  4. Type your comment, and press Ctrl+Enter to save it as a new comment thread. To return the focus to where you left off in the body text, press Alt+F12.

  5. To edit the comment, navigate to the desired comment, then press Tab key until you hear “Edit comment button,” and press Enter.

  6. Update the comment, then press Ctrl+Enter, or navigate to the Post comment button and press Enter.

Assign tasks with @mentions

Use @mentions to assign tasks directly to collaborators. Once completed, the mentioned person will receive a notification and can mark the task as resolved.  

To mention someone in a comment, follow these steps: 

  1. Go to the comment box, type @, and then type the person's first or last name. Use the Down arrow key to navigate to the desired name from the suggestions and press Enter to select it.

  2. Use the Tab key to navigate to the "Assign to" checkbox, then press Spacebar to check it.

  3. Press Ctrl+Enter to post the comment or use the Tab key to navigate to the Post comment button, and then press Enter.

Find comments inline

Comment insertion points are highlighted in the document's body text and announced by your screen reader when you use All Markup mode.

  1. To turn on the All Markup mode, press Alt+R, T, D. The markup menu is expanded, and you hear the name of the currently selected markup.

    • In the markup list, press the Up and Down arrow keys until you hear "All markup," and then press Enter to select. The focus returns to the body text.

  2. You can now start reading the content in the document. You can, for example, start continuous reading from your current location in the text or navigate the text line by line. Your screen reader announces when it finds a comment in the text.

  3. To stop reading at any time, press Ctrl. To read the previous comment, that is, the one you just passed, press Alt+R, V.

View and manage comments in Word

Word offers two ways to view comments: 

  • Contextual View: This view displays active comments near the related content, making it easy to focus on feedback within the document. It is set as the default view.

  • List View: This view shows all comments, including resolved ones, in one pane for a complete review.

Follow the instructions below to switch between these views based on your requirements. 

  1. Press Alt+R to open the Review tab.

  2. Use the Tab key to navigate to the Show Comments button, then press Alt+Down arrow key to open the dropdown menu.

  3. Use the Down arrow key to select the desired view, and press Enter to switch.

Read a list of all comments

Sometimes you might want to browse a list of all comment threads instead of reading the body text until you find a comment.

Read the list in the Comments pane

  1. Press Alt+Z, C or Alt+R, P, 1, L to open the Comments pane. The focus moves to the pane, and you hear: "New comment, button."

  2. Press the Tab key to move the focus to the first comment thread. If the focus was on a commented piece of text, you hear the details of that comment thread instead, and you don't need to press the Tab key.

  3. To browse the comment threads, use the Down and Up arrow keys. For each comment thread, you hear the name of the person who started it, and the number of replies if the thread has any.

  4. To read the first comment of the thread with Narrator, press the SR key+0. JAWS reads the comment text automatically if the Control Description option has been turned on.

  5. If you would like to read the comment in more detail, for example, line by line, press Enter when the focus is on the comment, and then press the Tab key until you hear the comment text.

    • You can then use the Up or Down arrow key to read the text in detail. When finished, press Shift+Tab once to leave the comment text field and to go back to the comment card.

    • From there, you can press the Down arrow key to navigate to the next comment in the same thread or to the next comment thread.

  6. If the comment thread has replies, press Enter to expand the thread, and then use the Down or Up arrow key to navigate between the replies.

    • With Narrator, press the SR key+0 to read each of them. JAWS reads the replies automatically if the Control Description option has been turned on.

    • To collapse the thread after reading it, press the Up arrow key until you reach the first comment, and then press Enter.

  7. To return the focus to the body text, press Alt+F12.

Read the list with JAWS in the Reviewer's Comments dialog box

  1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Apostrophe () to open the list of comments. The Reviewer's Comments dialog box opens.

  2. In the Reviewer's Comments dialog box, use the Up and Down arrow keys to move in the comment list. JAWS reads the comments and tells you who left the comment and when.

    Tip: If you want to move the focus to an associated commented text in the document, press Enter.

  3. When you're done, press the Tab key until you hear "OK button." Then press Enter to close the dialog box and return the focus to the body text.

Make JAWS read comment texts automatically

By default, JAWS only reads the comment info, for example, who inserted the comment and when, but not the comment text itself. To have JAWS read the comment text automatically when the focus is on a comment, you need to go to the JAWS verbosity settings and turn on Control description.

  1. To open the JAWS settings center dialog box, press the SR key+6.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear "Speech verbosity," press the Down or Up arrow key until you hear "Verbosity level," and then press Enter.

  3. Press the Tab key until you hear "Configure verbosity levels," press the Down or Up arrow key until you hear your current verbosity level (Beginner, intermediate, or advanced), and then press Enter.

  4. Press the Tab key until you hear "Items to be spoken," press the Down or Up arrow key until you hear "Control description," and then press Spacebar.

    • Press the Tab key until you hear "OK button," and then press Enter.

  5. To close the settings center dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear "OK button," and then press Enter.

  6. Move the focus to a comment. You hear who inserted the comment and when and then the comment text. If the focus is already in the comment pane and you press the Up or Down arrow key to navigate to another comment, you might find that the comment text is not announced.

    • When that happens, press Insert+Tab on the comment you want to hear, and JAWS reads the full comment information, including the comment text.

Navigate between comments

No matter where you are in the document, you can quickly jump to and read the next or previous comment thread.

  1. To move to the next comment thread from your current location, press Alt+R, N.

    • To move to the previous comment thread, press Alt+R, V. The focus moves to the thread in the sidetrack, or in the Comments pane if you have it open.

      Tip: When the focus is on the very last comment and you press Alt+R, N, the focus moves back to the first comment.

  2. To read the first comment of the thread, with Narrator, press the SR key+0. With JAWS, move the focus inside the commented text, and then press Alt+Shift+Apostrophe ().

  3. If the comment thread has replies, press Enter to expand the thread, use the Down and Up arrow keys to navigate between the replies, and read them individually as instructed in step 1.

    • To collapse the thread after reading it, press the Up arrow key until you reach the first comment, and then press Enter.

  4. To return the focus to the body text, press Alt+F12.

Navigate between the document and the comments

  • Switch the focus between the document and the comments: When the focus is inside the commented text or on a comment, press Alt+F12.

  • Cycle through different areas in Word: Press Alt+Z, C or Alt+R, P, 1, L to open the Comments pane, and then press F6. The focus cycles between the document body, the Comments pane, status bar, and ribbon. F6 will work even if the focus is not inside a commented text.

  • Navigate from a comment to the document body: When the focus is on a comment, press Esc key. The focus moves from the comment to the commented text in the document.

  • Navigate from the document body to a comment: When the focus is inside the commented text, press Shift+F10 to open the context menu. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Go to comment," and then press Enter.

    Tip: In the context menu, you can also find other comments related commands such as Edit comment, Reply to comment, and Resolve comment which also move the focus to the comment area.

Use keyboard shortcuts with comments

To do this

Press

Move the focus between the document and the comments.

Alt+F12

Read the comment at cursor with JAWS.

Alt+Shift+Apostrophe (‘)

Show a list of comments with JAWS.

Ctrl+Shift+Apostrophe (‘)

Read the next comment.

Alt+R, N

Read the previous comment.

Alt+R, V

Open the Comments pane.

Alt+R, P, 1, L or

Alt+Z, C

Open the context menu to access comment related items when the focus is on the commented text.

Shift+F10 or the Windows Menu key

Insert a comment.

Ctrl+Alt+M

Post a comment.

Ctrl+Enter

For a full list of the available keyboard shortcuts, go to Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Reply to comments

  1. Navigate to a comment thread you want to reply to.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Add mention or reply." Press Enter, type your reply, and then press Ctrl+Enter to save it. The focus returns to the comment thread.

  3. To return the focus to the body text, press Alt+F12.

  4. To react to a comment, press the Tab key until you hear “Like toggle button,” then press Enter to like the comment.

Delete comments

You can delete comments and comment threads one by one or delete all comments in the document at the same time.

Delete a single comment

  1. Navigate to a comment thread that contains the comment you want to delete.

  2. Press Enter and then use the Down and Up arrow keys to navigate to the right comment.

  3. Press the Tab key until you hear: "More thread options, button." Press Spacebar to open the menu. Then press the Down arrow key until you hear "Delete comment," and press Spacebar. The comment is deleted, and the focus returns to the thread.

Delete a comment thread

  1. Navigate to a comment thread you want to delete.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear: "More thread options, button." Press Spacebar to open the menu. Then press the Down arrow key until you hear "Delete thread," and press Spacebar. The thread is deleted and the focus returns to the body text if you had the thread open in the side track, or to the New button if you had the thread open in the Comments pane.

Delete all comments

Press Alt+R, D, O to delete all the comments. 

Resolve comments

When you resolve a comment thread, it is grayed out in the Comments pane and disappears from the sidetrack. No more replies can be added to a resolved thread. You can delete or reopen a resolved thread. Resolving a thread doesn't delete it.

  1. Navigate to a comment thread you want to resolve.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear: "More thread options, button." Press Spacebar to open the menu. Then press the Down arrow key until you hear "Resolve thread," and press Spacebar.

    Tip: To reopen a resolved comment thread, you must open the Comments pane, as resolved comments disappear from the sidetrack. Press Alt+Z, C to open the pane if it's not already open. Then navigate to the thread, press the Tab key until you hear "Reopen, button," and press Enter. The thread is editable again.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Use a screen reader to track and review changes in a document in Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.

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