Google Sheets / Getting Started with Google Sheets
Add comments to sheets
If you wish to collaborate on a sheet and save any messages sent to other users, comments should be used. You can add a comment to any part of a sheet, and other colleagues working on the sheet can add replies. Once the comment has been actioned, it can be marked as resolved.
Adding comments
To add a comment to a sheet:
Click on the cell where you wish the comment to appear
Click on the Insert menu and choose Comment or press Ctrl Alt M
Type the comment text, then click Comment
You can also add a comment by selecting the cell you wish to apply the comment to, then clicking on the Comment button on the toolbar along the top of the screen.
Cells with comments attached will show with an orange triangle in the top-right corner.
Position the mouse over a cell that includes a comment to view the comment.
To edit a comment, click on the cell that contains the comment, then click on the Ellipses in the comment box. Choose Edit.
To remove the comment, click on the cell that contains the comment, then click on the Ellipses in the comment box. Choose Remove.
To view all comments in a sheet, click on the Comments button near the top-right corner of the screen. All comments will be listed in a pane on the right-hand side of the screen.
You can filter this pane to show comments on all sheets or the current sheet only, and view all comments, only open comments or only resolved comments.
To respond to a comment, use either of these methods:
Click on the Comments button to show all comments, then click in the Reply link below the comment you wish to respond to. Type your text and click on Reply.
In the sheet, click on the comment you wish to respond to, then enter the response text in the box that appears under the comment. Click on Reply to post your response
Once a comment has been resolved, you can click on the Resolve button to hide it from the sheet. The comment will still stay in the comment pane so can be viewed by clicking on the Comments button.
You can choose how you are notified of any additions to a document discussion.
Click on the Comments button to show the Comments pane
Click on the Notifications button
Choose to be notified of All comments or only for replies to comments you have added
Assign actions to colleagues
As well as mentioning a colleague in a comment in a sheet, you can also assign an action to a colleague. Your colleague will be able to see if a sheet has actions assigned to them, and will be able to mark each action as complete.
To assign an action in a sheet:
Click on the cell you wish to assign to a colleague
Click on the Insert menu and choose Comment, or click on the Comment button on the toolbar
Type any text to support the action e.g. action instructions
Type + or @ followed by the name of the person you wish to assign the action to
Select the name from the list of suggestions
Click on the Assign To box
Click on Assign
If you need to reassign an action to someone else, you can do so as follows:
Click on the comment in which the action was assigned
Click in the Reply box
Type + or @ followed by the name of the person you wish to reassign the action to
Select the name from the list of suggestions
Click on the Reassign To box
Click on the Reassign button
You can see if you have any actions in a shared document by the number that displays next to the document in Google Drive:
Click on the number
Click on Action Items to open the document and display the first action
Mark an action as complete by clicking on the check box next to the item.
