Not able to add a note to an Excel cell

Question

Not able to add a note to an Excel cell

Jim Stevenson 40

When I right-click on a cell within Excel and then select New Note, a red triangle appears on the upper right corner of the cell. However, no note opens up. I can therefore not add a note. How can this be fixed?

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Answer accepted by question author

John Jefferson Doyon 88,240 Independent Advisor

Thanks for checking that, and sorry the first steps did not fix it.

Since notes work in a new workbook, this is likely an issue with that specific workbook or sheet.

Please make a copy of the file first. Then try this in the copied file:

Go to Review > Notes > Delete Note on the affected cell, save the file, close Excel, then reopen it and try adding the note again.

If the note still will not open, try copying the sheet contents into a new workbook, since notes are working correctly there. Use Select All, copy the data, then paste it into a new workbook and test New Note again.

Also, is the sheet protected, or is the file saved as .xls instead of .xlsx?

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3 additional answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 437.7K

In the workbook which exhibits the issue: Go to Excel> Preferences> View. In the For Objects Show group select All rather than Nothing. The preference is workbook-specific, not global.

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Answer 2

Jim Stevenson 40

When I tried Review > Notes > Show All Notes a short diagonal line appears as if to lead to a note, but there is no note. When I opened a new Excel workbook, I was able to add a note. So this appears to be just in this workbook. My version of Excel is 16.110.2. When I try to check for an update, it gives me an update error "Some apps have encountered errors". I do have "Automatically keep Microsoft apps up to date" checked.

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Answer 3

John Jefferson Doyon 88,240 Independent Advisor

Hi, I'm John! I will help you with this.

The red triangle means Excel is creating the note, but the note box may be hidden, collapsed, or opening off-screen.

Please try this first:

Select the cell, then go to Review > Notes > Show/Hide Note.
If nothing appears, try Review > Notes > Show All Notes.
If the note box appears somewhere else on the sheet, drag it back or resize it.

After that, right-click the same cell and choose Edit Note, not New Note.

Also please update Excel for Mac. Open Excel, then go to Help > Check for Updates, install any updates, then restart Excel. Microsoft recommends updating Office for Mac through Help > Check for Updates.

Does this happen in all Excel files, or only this workbook? Can you add a note in a new blank workbook?

What Excel version/build do you see under Excel > About Excel?

Jim Stevenson 40 Reputation points

2026-07-04T22:25:08.59+00:00

When I tried Review > Notes > Show All Notes a short diagonal line appears as if to lead to a note, but there is no note. When I opened a new Excel workbook, I was able to add a note. So this appears to be just in this workbook. My version of Excel is 16.110.2. When I try to check for an update, it gives me an update error "Some apps have encountered errors". I do have "Automatically keep Microsoft apps up to date" checked.