Remove comments one at a time or all at once

You can delete comments from a Word document in two ways: remove individual comments as you read through the document, or delete every comment at once. The method you choose depends on whether you want to keep some comments and remove others, or start with a clean document.

Both approaches take less than a minute. Individual removal lets you decide which feedback to keep. Bulk removal is faster when you're done reviewing and want the document comment-free before sharing it.

Key Takeaways

  • Right-click any comment in the margin and select Delete to remove it individually.
  • Use the Review tab and the Delete button to remove all comments at once from your entire document.
  • Deleting a comment does not change the text in your document — it only removes the feedback note.
  • Word shows you who made each comment and when, so you can decide which ones matter before you delete.
  • Deleted comments cannot be recovered unless you undo the action immediately or restore from an earlier version.

Delete one comment at a time

Open your Word document and look at the right margin where comments appear as colored boxes with initials. Click anywhere inside the comment you want to remove. The comment will highlight and a small menu will appear above it.

Right-click directly on the comment box itself. A menu will pop up with several options. Click Delete. The comment disappears immediately, and the text in your document stays exactly as it was. The comment box is gone, but the words remain unchanged.

Repeat this for each comment you want to remove. This method works well when you have a few comments to delete or when you want to keep some and remove others based on what they say.

Delete all comments at once

If your document has many comments and you want to remove them all, use the bulk delete feature. Open the document and click the Review tab at the top of the Word window.

Look for the Delete button in the Comments section of the ribbon. Click the small arrow next to it to see your options. Select Delete All Comments in Document. A confirmation message may appear asking if you're sure. Click Yes to confirm.

Every comment in the document will be removed at once. This is much faster than deleting comments individually, but it removes all of them with no way to pick and choose. If you change your mind immediately, press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) to undo and restore the comments.

What happens to your document text

Deleting a comment removes only the feedback note itself, not the text it was attached to. If someone commented on a sentence, that sentence stays in your document exactly as written. The comment box disappears, but the words do not.

This is different from accepting or rejecting tracked changes, which actually modifies the text. Comments are separate — they are feedback about the text, not changes to it. Removing a comment just removes the feedback.

Recover deleted comments

If you delete comments by mistake, you have a few options. The fastest is to press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) immediately after deleting. This undoes the deletion and brings the comments back, as long as you haven't made other changes to the document since.

If you've already saved the document or made other changes, you can check if Word saved an earlier version. Click File, then Info, then look for Version History or Recover Unsaved Documents depending on whether you saved the file. This only works if you're using OneDrive or SharePoint to store the document.

If the document is stored only on your computer and you've already saved it without the comments, recovery is not possible through Word. Your best option is to ask whoever added the comments to send them again or to restore from a backup if you have one.

Track who made each comment before you delete

Before you delete comments, you may want to know who wrote them and when. Hover your mouse over any comment in the margin. A small box will appear showing the commenter's name, the date, and the time the comment was made.

This information helps you decide which comments matter. If a comment is from your supervisor or a key reviewer, you might want to read it carefully before deleting. If it's from someone else or it's very old, you may feel comfortable removing it without reviewing.

You can also use the Review tab to navigate through comments one by one. Click the Next button in the Comments section to jump from one comment to the next. This lets you read each one before deciding whether to delete it.

Comments in shared documents and track changes

If you're working on a document with other people through OneDrive or SharePoint, deleting a comment removes it for everyone. The comment will no longer appear in anyone's copy of the document. Make sure you want to delete it before you do, because other reviewers will see that it's gone.

Comments are separate from tracked changes. You can have both in the same document. Deleting comments does not affect tracked changes, and accepting or rejecting tracked changes does not delete comments. You need to handle them separately if you want both gone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete comments from just one person?

Word does not have a built-in filter to delete comments by author only. You can delete them individually by reading each one and removing the ones from a specific person, or you can delete all comments at once. If you need to remove only one person's feedback, going through individually is the only option.

What if I delete a comment by accident?

Press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) right away to undo the deletion. If you've already saved the document or made other changes, undo may not work. Check File > Info for version history if your document is stored on OneDrive or SharePoint.

Does deleting comments change the document's edit history?

Deleting comments does not show up as a tracked change. The document's text history remains the same. If you're using version history, you can still see earlier versions that had the comments, but the current version will not have them.

Can I delete comments but keep tracked changes?

Yes. Comments and tracked changes are separate features. You can delete all comments without affecting any tracked changes in the document. Handle them independently based on what you need to keep and remove.

Why can't I see the delete option when I right-click a comment?

Make sure you're right-clicking directly on the comment box in the margin, not on the text in the document. If the document is read-only or protected, you may not be able to delete comments. Check the title bar to see if it says "Read-Only" and ask the document owner to give you editing permission.