Sharepoint Word file comments corrupted

Question

Sharepoint Word file comments corrupted

Anonymous

Hi there,

There appears to be an issue with a specific Word file that our research lab is hosting on Sharepoint. Prior to May, this file could be edited and new comments could be added. However, it is now impossible to add new comments or even edit the file. When attempting to download the file to open on desktop, a message tells me that the file contains unreadable content. When the file is opened in desktop, some comments are missing. Nobody in my Teams is able to edit the online version of the document, and all get the same error message when attempting to open the document locally.

I have attempted to reload old version histories, but they do not load. The box for 'restore' and the box for 'save a copy' are greyed out. It is impossible to see old version histories. I have also tried to save a copy of the online file, but it tells me that the comments are corrupted and that Word needs to "repair the document". In the "repaired" version, comments show up blank (see the attached screenshot).

If there is a way to restore functionality to the Sharepoint version of the document, and enable members of our team to respond to comments, I would greatly appreciate it. If there are any steps I can take to prevent the problem happening again, that would also be excellent.

Thank you.

Ella

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3 answers

Answer 1

Hi Ella,

For the situation you’ve encountered, I do understand the inconvenience caused and feel very sorry about it.

Since normal troubleshooting steps cannot resolve the issue, I suggest you should submit a service request in Admin center to get advanced technical assistance and diagnostics. For detailed instructions on how to get support, please refer to Get support - Microsoft 365 admin. A technical support engineer can perform a remote session to investigate the situation, verify the backend configurations, and run any necessary synchronization tools to resolve the problem.

If you’re an end-user, kindly coordinate with your Office 365 Global Administrator for assistance.

Please feel free to reply below if you have any update or further concern.

Best regards,

Doris V - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Hi Doris,

Thank you for your reply!

Unfortunately, the version history is inaccessible. I can open the file locally, but when I do so, some comments are lost (looking like the attached screenshot). I'd really appreciate it if there is a way to recover the comments that seem to be corrupting the file. Thank you!

Answer 3

Hi Ella Hannon,

Thank you so much for reaching out to the Microsoft Community. I apologize for the experience you have had with this issue. According to your description, I understand that you have faced the difficulties in Sharepoint word comments. Regarding your problem, you can try a few steps to check:

Check for File Recovery Options

Go to File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents in Word.
Or try View > Version History from the SharePoint file menu (if it becomes available).
If you can open the file locally, try File > Save As to create a clean copy.

If the issue persists, please share a screenshot of the error or submit a ticket directly to Microsoft Support for further assistance. For detailed instructions on how to get support, see Get support - Microsoft 365 administrator.

Thank you in advance for your understanding! Your patience and cooperation will be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Doris V - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist