How to change user name in Excel comments, change comment shape, and more tips. Short videos and step by step written instructions. NOTE: Shapes and Pictures are not available with Threaded Comments.
How to Print a Worksheet with Comments in Excel. Lori Kaufman March 1, 2016, 10:24am EDT. But the cell reference and the name of the person who wrote the comment are included with the comment. To print the comments as they are displayed on the screen, select the “As displayed on sheet” option. Click “OK” to accept your change.
Threaded Comments
Microsoft is introducing Threaded Comments in Office 365, so you might see those soon, if you don't have them already.
WARNING
Before you use Threaded Comments, instead of old-style (Legacy) comments, be sure to understand what features you will lose.
- Legacy comment features, such as changing shapes, inserting pictures or adding colors, will not be available in Threaded comments.
- Thanks to Bill Jelen (Mr. Excel) for this warning -- 'If you try to edit an old comment, a long message will tell you to Convert to Threaded Comments and all of your comment formatting will be lost.'
Legacy Comment Icons
The old-style (Legacy) comments will still be available, but the icons to create and edit them will be hidden.
To continue working with Legacy comments, add the following icons to the Quick Access Toolbar, or to the Excel Ribbon:
- New/Edit Comment (Legacy)
- Previous Comment (Legacy)
- Next Comment (Legacy)
- Show/Hide Comments (Legacy)
- Show All Comments (Legacy)
Threaded Comments Video
To learn more about Excel Threaded Comments, watch this video by Bill Jelen.
Change the User Name
Instead of showing the user name at the start of an Excel comment, you can change to something generic, such as 'Note:' However, this change affects the User Name in all Microsoft Office programs, so you may want to reset the name before you exit Excel.
To change your User name:
- At the top left of the Excel window, click the File tab
- Click Options, and in the Options window, click the General category
- Scroll down to the section, 'Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office'
- Delete the existing User Name, and type a new entry
- Click OK
Copy Comment to Other Cells
If you want the same comment in multiple cells, you can copy and paste an existing comment.
- Select the cell with the comment that you want to copy
- Press Ctrl + C, to copy the cell
- Select the cell(s) where you want to paste a copy of the comment.
- On the Ribbon's Home tab, click the Paste button, and then click Paste Special
- In the Paste Special window, under Paste, click Comments
- Click OK
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126247720/497751821.gif)
Change the Comment Shape
Add a bit of interest to a worksheet, by changing the comment shape from a rectangle.
NOTE: Shapes are not available with Threaded Comments.
Watch the video, to see the steps for in Excel 2007 or later. Written instructions are below the video. Click here to go to the instructions for Excel 2003.
Change a Comment Shape
First, add the Change Shape command to the QAT
- At the right end of the QAT, click the drop down arrow
- Click More Commands
- In the Choose Commands From drop down, click All Commands
- In the list of commands, click Change Shape, and click Add, to move it to the Quick Access Toolbar
- Close the Excel Options window.
Next, follow these steps to change the comment shape
- Right-click the cell which contains the comment.
- Choose Edit Comment
- Click on the border of the comment, to select it.
- On the QAT, click the Change Shape command, and click on a shape to select it.
- When finished, click outside the comment.
To change the comment shape in Excel 2003:
- Right-click the cell which contains the comment.
- Choose Edit Comment
- Click on the border of the comment, to select it.
- On the Drawing toolbar, click the Draw button
- Choose Change AutoShape, and choose a category.
- Click on a shape to select it.
- When finished, click outside the comment.
Add Picture to Comment
To see how to add a picture to a comment, watch the steps in this short video. The written instructions are below the video.
NOTE: Pictures are not available with Threaded Comments.
Add Picture to Comment
NOTE: These instructions are for Excel 2007 and later versions. See below for Excel 2003 steps.
Instead of text, you can show a picture in an Excel comment.
- Right-click the cell which contains the comment.
- Choose Show/Hide Comments, and clear any text from the comment.
- Click on the border of the comment, to select it.
- Choose Format|Comment
- On the Colors and Lines tab, click the drop-down arrow for Color.
- Click Fill Effects
- On the picture tab, click Select Picture
- Locate and select the picture
- To keep the picture in proportion, add a check mark to Lock Picture Aspect Ratio
- Click Insert, click OK, click OK
Add Picture to Excel 2003 Comment
Instead of text, you can show a picture in an Excel comment. Watch the steps in this short video, and the written instructions are below.
To add a picture to a comment in Excel 2003:
- Right-click the cell which contains the comment.
- Choose Show/Hide Comments, and clear any text from the comment.
- Click on the border of the comment, to select it.
- Choose Format|Comment
- On the Colors and Lines tab, click the drop-down arrow for Color.
- Click Fill Effects
- On the picture tab, click Select Picture
- Locate and select the picture
- To keep the picture in proportion, add a check mark to Lock Picture Aspect Ratio
- Click Insert, click OK, click OK
Change the Default Font Size
You can change the font size of new Excel comments by changing the settings in your Control Panel.
(Instructions for Windows XP)
(Instructions for Windows XP)
- Right-click on the desktop, and choose Properties
- On the Appearance tab, click Advanced.
- From the Item dropdown, choose Tooltip
- Choose a font Size, click OK, click OK
(Note: selecting a font type here will not affect the default font used in Excel comments)
Change the Comment Indicator Colour
Comment indicators are red, and there's no option to change that setting. As a workaround, you can draw triangular shapes over the indicators, and fill them with a different colour from the palette.
For instructions, see Excel Comments -- VBA
Alternative to Excel Comments
Add a comment to a Data Validation Input Message, and it can be displayed when you tab to the cell.
- Select the cell in which you want to see the message
- On the Ribbon's Data tab, click Data Validation
- Click on the Input Message tab to activate it
- Add a check mark to 'Show input message when cell is selected'
- Type your message heading text in the Title box. This text will appear in bold print at the top of the message.
- Type your message in the Input message box.
- Click OK
Download Sample File
To see comment shapes and pictures, download the Comment Tips sample file. The zipped file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.
More Tutorials
The name of your macOS user account and the name of your home folder must both be the same. Changing these names does not change or reset the password of your user account.
Because doing this incorrectly could damage your account and prevent you from logging in, you should back up your important data before proceeding.
First rename the home folder
![After After](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126247720/796107368.png)
- Log out of the account you're renaming, then log in to a different administrator account. (If you don't have another administrator account, you can create one in Users & Groups preferences.)
- Open the Users folder on the startup disk. It contains the home folder for each user. To get there, you can choose Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar, then enter
/Users
. - Rename the user's home folder without using any spaces in the new name. You'll be prompted to enter the administrator name and password that you used to log in. If you're using file sharing to share the home folder, you won't be able to rename it until you stop sharing the folder.
Then rename the account
While still logged out of the account you're renaming, follow these additional steps:
- Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.
- Click , then enter the administrator name and password that you used to log in.
- From the list of users on the left, Control-click the user you're renaming, then choose Advanced Options.
- Change the “Account name” field to match the new name of the home folder. It should have no spaces.
- The account name also appears in the “Home directory” field, after
/Users/
. Change that account name to match the new name of the home folder. - If you want to change the full name associated with your account, update the ”Full name” field as well. It can be any name, and you can use either the full name or the account name to log in to your Mac or make changes that require your name and password.
- Click OK, then restart your Mac.
- Log in to the renamed account, then verify that your old files and folders are visible and the account is working as expected.