Some comments not appearing in contextual view, but appear in list view.

Anonymous
2024-09-21T00:50:47+00:00

Greetings,

Since the last update (currently running MS Word Version 2408 (Build 17928.20156), some of the comments that I make in Word documents do not appear in contextual view, even though they appear in list view. I am not able to click on them in the text and have the comment appear in contextual view. After I make some comments, they disappear and are only available in list view. I am working on an important paper for the top medical journal in the world, and it is debilitating as an editor to not be able to make comments. This document is shared with 20 people. It has also happened in another document that I am working on for another client (in this document, it happened before the document was shared).

I called support. They cannot help and claim that it is not a Microsoft issue. I have copied and pasted the text with the broken comments into a new document and the problem still occurs. Saved the document to my PC (instead of OneDrive) and the problem still occurs. I have accessed the document on another computer and the problem still occurs.

I am beyond frustrated. My colleagues, global leaders in their fields, are mainly older and are technologically challenged. They will not understand if I tell them to look at the comments in list view instead of contextual view. Essential comments will be missed. I just need it to work properly. I am beyond frustrated.

Any advice is most appreciated!

Thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows

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  1. Stefan Blom 352K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-01-21T20:10:00+00:00

    The latest word from Microsoft on this is that if a comment is associated with text marked as a deletion, the comment won't display in the Contextual view (but the comment will display in other views). This is a known limitation, and it is not going to be fixed.

    What is still being investigated is an issue with invisible comments when the commented range is marked with other types of tracked changes (formatting changes, in particular).

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-01-27T14:28:59+00:00

    Thanks for you post. I work as an editor and this is causing me so much trouble. Is there anyway we can persuade Microsoft that this 'known limitation' does need to be fixed?

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  3. Stefan Blom 352K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-01-28T09:35:33+00:00

    Hypothetically, the priority for this bug may change if sufficiently many people send feedback. However, since no data loss occurs, I doubt that Microsoft can be persuaded to change their minds.

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-01-29T17:06:04+00:00

    I am having the same issue, and pasting into another document DOES NOT fix this for me. This is extremely frustrating. Does Microsoft have a solution yet??

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  5. Stefan Blom 352K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-01-29T17:57:21+00:00

    I am having the same issue, and pasting into another document DOES NOT fix this for me. This is extremely frustrating. Does Microsoft have a solution yet??

    Chloe,

    Which specific issue with comments are you referring to?

    What I wrote previously still applies, and I repeat it below.

    The latest word from Microsoft on this is that if a comment is associated with text marked as a deletion, the comment won't display in the Contextual view (but the comment will display in other views). This is a known limitation, and it is not going to be fixed.

    What is still being investigated is an issue with invisible comments when the commented range is marked with other types of tracked changes (formatting changes, in particular).

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    2 people found this answer helpful.
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