Insert Comment option is missing from right-click menu

Anonymous
2019-03-09T21:28:27+00:00

I am using Excel 2016 on Windows 10. Today, the "Insert comment" option disappeared from the right-click pop-up context menu. When I right-click on a cell with no comment, there is no option to add one. If I right-click on a cell with a comment, I can edit or delete the comment. On the Insert tab of the ribbon, the Comments section is grayed out. This problem is affecting all spreadsheets that I have tried.

I googled the problem and tried every solution offered but none of them worked. How can I add comments to cells again?

Thank you

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-05-29T23:18:37+00:00

    That work-around by using shift F2 to insert a comment does work, but is not convenient.  So Microsoft..... please restore the functionality of right click to insert a comment in a cell.  The right click to insert a comment stopped working for me a couple of days ago, coincidentally??? right after Microsoft's last "update" was installed a couple of days ago.  Hmmm, I usually find that these forced updates do not improve things.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-05-29T12:27:09+00:00

    Thank you, I have exactly the same problem but I didn't know about the Shift F2 button! I was going insane not knowing what to do, your comment has helped me! Thank you!

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-05-28T14:18:53+00:00

    I'm expecting the answer that Insert Comment with right click is an Office 365 feature.

    After a year or more or scratching their heads with another problem (deselecting a cell with CTRL in Excel 2016) someone found the only solution: "Olaf Hubel (Microsoft) posted a new reply in Excel on 03-07-2019 01:29 PM:

    Re: Unable to deselect in excel

    Sorry for all the confusion around this.

    The Deselect feature is an Office 365 (Home, Business, ….) and Office 2019 feature.

    This means it does not work in Office 2016. We had a bug where it was turned on for a very short time by mistake in Office 2016. We have fixed this bug, this happend at the same time we also had to disable the feature for a month in Office 365. After we fixed all open issues we turned it back on for Office 365.

    The deselect feature never existed in Office 2016 (or any other older version). We created this feature in late 2017.

    I hope this answers your question.

    Olaf"

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-05-24T09:03:29+00:00

    Same problem for me.

    Context menu for adding comment is not available anymore, in menu "Review" the toolbar buttons are missing, in menu "Insert" I can see a button "Comment" but it is grayed...

    Only way to add a comment is using the shortcut SHIFT+F2...

    If there are comments in the sheet, I see the context menu entries for deleting, display/hide or editing the comment, but I cannot add new ones.

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-05-15T15:44:55+00:00

    Same for me today.  Rt-click Comment functions no longer available, unless a comment already exists.  I use Comments all day every day, so need this functionality.  Will use the work-around until fixed.  Any Thoughts?

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