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How to Search within Comments in Microsoft Word

By Erin Wright

In my last software tutorial, we viewed comments from specific reviewers in Microsoft Word. Today, we’ll look at how to quickly search within comments in Microsoft Word without having to search the whole document.

For added efficiency, this tutorial includes an option to search all comments or limit the search to comments from specific reviewers. (See step 3 below.)

We’ll begin by selecting comments, and then we’ll search within that selection.

This tutorial is available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 150 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. These steps also apply to Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016. The steps are similar for Word 2013 and Word 2010.

Select All Comments or Comments from Specific Reviewers

1. Select the Review tab.

Image of Microsoft Word Review Tab | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

2. Select Show Markup and ensure that the Comments option is selected.

Image of Microsoft Word Show Markup Option with Comments Selected | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

3. Select Specific People and then ensure that All Reviewers is checked if you want to search all comments. Or, deselect reviewers whose comments you want to exclude from the search.

Image of Microsoft Word Specific People Option | How to Search Within Microsoft Word Comments

Search Within the Selected Comments

4. Select the Home tab.

Image of Microsoft Word Home Tab | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

5. Select the down arrow next to Find in the Editing group.

Image of Microsoft Word Find Drop-Down Arrow | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

6. Select Advanced Find from the Find drop-down menu.

Image of Microsoft Word Advanced Find Menu Option | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

7. Enter your search term in the Find what text box in the Find and Replace dialog box. Your search term can be a single or partial word or a phrase.

Image of Find What Text Box in Find and Replace Dialog Box | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

Pro Tip: Select the More button if you want to use wildcards or add parameters to your search (e.g., matching uppercasing or lowercasing, searching for whole words only).

8. Select the Find In button.

Image of Find and Replace Dialog Box with Find In Button Highlighted | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

9. Select Comments from the Find In drop-down menu.

Image of Find and Replace Dialog Box Find In Comments Option | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

10. Select Find Next repeatedly until you have located all occurrences of your search term in the comments.

Image of Find and Replace Dialog Box with Find Next Button Highlighted | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

Important Note: You may not see both dialog boxes described in step 11 and step 12 below if your cursor was placed at the beginning of the document when you started the search.

11. Select the Yes button in the dialog box stating that Word has finished the search and asking if you want to continue the search.

Image of End of Search in Selection Alert Box | How to Search in Comments in Microsoft Word

12. Select the Yes button in the dialog box stating that Word has reached the end of the comments and asking if you want to continue to search from the beginning. (In this instance, Word is referring to the beginning of the comments, not the beginning of the document.)

Image of End of Comments Alert Box | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

13. Select the OK button in the dialog box stating that the search is complete.

Image of Search Finished Alert Box | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

14. Select the X to close the Find and Replace dialog box.

Image of Find and Replace Dialog Box with Closing X Highlighted | How to Search Within Comments in Microsoft Word

For more how-to articles about Microsoft Word, please visit my Microsoft Word tutorials page and my Microsoft Word YouTube playlist.

Updated February 23, 2022

Filed Under: Microsoft Word Tagged With: Track Changes, Word 2010, Word 2013, Word 2016, Word 2019, Word 2021, Word 365

Home » How to Search within Comments in Microsoft Word

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Technical Writer and Editor Erin Wright

Hello! My name is Erin. I am a technical writer and editor who shares writing-related software tutorials on this website and on YouTube.

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