UIS Tip of the Week: Inserting a Comment in Microsoft Excel 2003

I recently worked on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, and wanted to explain part of the contents for my colleagues. The thing is, e-mail wasn't good enough because I wanted to include my explanation directly in my document, so that any time they opened the document they could see my notes.

Turns out you can do this in Excel by inserting a comment right into your document----in fact, right next to any cell in your spreadsheet. Anyone who can open your document will be able to see your comment.

To insert a comment:

1. Select the cell in which you want the comment.

2. Select Comment from the Insert menu.

A small box appears next to the cell you selected.

3. Type in your comment. If you see a user name (the screen example in the previous step shows UIS:), just delete it if you want, or add another one (for example, Note:). To start a new line, just press the Enter key.

4. When you're done typing your comment, click anywhere outside the comment box. A small triangle appears in the cell to which you've added the comment.

5. To display the comment, just move your mouse pointer over the cell.