MS Word 2016 comment bubbles not numbered

NONE of the given workarounds here (macros, styles etc.) solve the problem mentioned initally. What you need for a proper review with multiple roundtrips are FIXED and VISIBLE comment numbers which do not change even if you add more comments.

In the "real world", complex answers to complex comments are often given in external documents, excel sheets, emails, handwritten or on Skype meetings: "Let's look at comment number 123. Everybody on the same page?"

This was nicely implemented in old Word, when comments started with something like "FK123", in print AND screen version - with "FK" as the author's initials and "123" as a fixed/constant/static number, even if you delete older or insert preceding comments.

How hard can it be?!

What are you trying to download? All you have to do is open a Visual Basic Editor window (for example by pressing Alt+F11 or by clicking the Visual Basic button on the Developer tab) in Word, create a Module in the Normal project and paste in the code from my reply in January. Click the Save button on the toolbar. Once you have created and saved the template, you can assign a keyboard shortcut to your newly created macro, so that you can easily run the macro.

I wish someone would tell me why Microsoft builds an application for people who work with words (i.e., Word), has decades now of experience with it, and then one day removes a feature (and this is one of many) that has significant value for every single person who works with other people on documents (i.e., practically everyone, but especially for the heaviest users (academics, lawyers, etc.)), virtually none of whom have any experience with and no reason to know either that a macro might be the answer or where or how to get it, much less create it.  The fact that a macro can make this work in the useful way it used to means that there is ZERO reason for the functionality to have been removed, and probably zero reason why it could not have been made an option.

Further, the fact that this is no longer built into the application and is not shared in a clear, findable way within the application itself, but instead requires (after likely months of frustration), doing a web search and maybe finding an answer in support, but just as or more likely finding it on an independent site (when there is one).  And the resolution is a DIY fix (or highly substandard workaround) in an unfamiliar and intimidating way that will require time and effort away from the actual (billable and generally precious) time needed for doing the work for which we have the application to begin with.

This same lack of readily available information and satisfactory, repeatable fixes from Microsoft occurs for known issues and errors (for example, the havoc that working with comments in Word 2016 and an older version can cause; too many others to recall).

As I wrote, a comment number is shown (following your initials) for comment balloons when you look at the Print Preview (found at File | Print) and also in an actual printout:

If you want comment numbers in Print Layout view, you will have to make use of a macro. The following one by MVP Doug Robbins can be run multiple times after you have added, removed or rearranged comments:

Sub NumberComments()

'Macro created by MVP Doug Robbins, April 2017

Dim i as Long

Dim rngComment as Range

With ActiveDocument

    For i = 1 to .Comments.Count

        Set rngComment = .Comments(i).Range

        With rngComment

            If Left(.Text, 7) = "Comment" Then

                .Text = "Comment " & i & " " & Mid(.Text, Instr(.Text, "-"))

            Else

                .Text = "Comment " & i & " - " & .Text

            End If

        End With

    Next i

End With

End Sub

For installation instructions, see http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm.

I have no idea why the display of comments has changed. It is a bad idea to display something and print something different, of course. I think we all prefer what-you-see-is-what-you-get.

I recommend that you post a suggestion for Microsoft to change the behavior in a future version. You can do so in the forum at http://word.uservoice.com. If someone else has already made that suggestion, you can choose to vote in that thread instead.