MVP #30: How To Print An Excel Document With Comments Showing

Two days ago, a colleague at work (yeah, the job I quit) wanted to print an Excel document that has some vital comments. She wanted the comments to show in the final print out.

So how did we achieve that?

Not hard at all.

Here is the sample file I will use to demonstrate this. It's the Know Your Net Worth template I shared with you some months back. (The template is one of those free Excel templates, I just modified it a little).

It's got a comment in cell B5.

 So let's view it by turning on Show all comments.
Goto Review >> Show All Comments

Here's what happens:

But if you try printing, here's what the print out will look like:

Not displaying the comment. 

So how do you force Excel to display the comment in the print out?

Here are the simple steps.

Goto Page Layout >> Page Setup. Click on the small icon at the lower left of the Page Setup section.

A dialog box will appear. Click on the Sheet tab. Set the Comments to As displayed on sheet. Finally, click on OK.

Try printing again. This is what you'll get:

And that's how to make Excel print comments embedded in an Excel document.

Congratulations!