Review comments disappeared

Anonymous
2014-05-04T12:30:54+00:00

So I've spend long hours addressing student coursework, giving comments on their projects.  They said the comments wouldn't work so I re-opened their documents and they appear to be correct.  Where are all my comments gone?  The actual comment boxes are still there but they are empty.  This is incredibly annoying.  Can I get them back or have they gone forever?  Screen shot provided for reference.

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  1. Stefan Blom 353.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-05-04T18:04:47+00:00

    Whether comments are shown depends on the settings on your students' machines. You could always save to PDF (via File | Save As) before sending the comments; that way, you make sure that your comments display the way you want them to.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-07-30T19:48:14+00:00

    I am having the same issue.

    PDF would not help when I expect a different contributor to edit and add comments.

    Thanks

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  3. Stefan Blom 353.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-07-30T21:01:13+00:00

    I am having the same issue.

    PDF would not help when I expect a different contributor to edit and add comments.

    If comments don't show as expected, make sure that the Display for Review drop down (found in the Tracking group on the Review tab) is set to "All Markup."

    "All Markup" resembles the display of markup in Word 2007 and 2010. Does that help? If not, you will have to explain in detail what you are trying to accomplish.

    Note that "All Markup" is a sticky option; that is, it should stay selected even if you exit Word or open a different document.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-04-01T00:25:34+00:00

    Also having this problem (in Word 2016).  I open the manuscript, as I do each day, and it says it won't open--Word has found an error that in the details option is described simply as "Comments"--so when I finally get it to open it has ERASED EVERY SINGLE COMMENT.  Comment bubbles are still there, sitting empty.  Need a better solution than "make sure 'All Markup'" is selected.  Not my first day--all my settings are correct and I need to know if I've just lost months of work here or if there is a way to restore the comments.

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  5. Stefan Blom 353.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2016-04-01T08:55:34+00:00

    Also having this problem (in Word 2016).  I open the manuscript, as I do each day, and it says it won't open--Word has found an error that in the details option is described simply as "Comments"--so when I finally get it to open it has ERASED EVERY SINGLE COMMENT.  Comment bubbles are still there, sitting empty. 

    See if the balloons contain text formatted as hidden or in white color.

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