In this article, we will be talking about the various methods that you can use to add comments in Google Docs.
We will also show the steps for providing suggestions using the suggesting mode.
Specifically, the following are the methods we will be discussing:
- Different ways of adding comments (highlighting the text, right-clicking, using keyboard shortcuts, etc.)
- Different ways of adding suggestions (similar to the methods for adding comments)
Let’s get started.
Adding comments in Google Docs
Step 1: Open your Google Docs document.
Step 2: Highlight your text.
The next step is to highlight the part of your text for which you want to add comments.
Step 3: Add the comment.
Next, you can use one of the several methods for adding a comment.
As soon as you highlight the text, you should see two options appear on the right edge of the page, as shown in the image below.
The first option allows you to add a comment. Click on it and type out the comment you would like to add. Then, click on ‘Comment.’
Another way in which you can add a comment is by right-clicking and choosing the comment option from the drop-down menu.
To do this, highlight the relevant portion of your text and right-click on the screen. A drop-down menu should appear. Select the ‘Comment’ option from this drop-down menu.
Keyboard shortcuts are another time-saving way of doing things in Google Docs.
The keyboard shortcut for adding a comment in Google Docs is Control + Alt + M (or Command + Option + M for Mac users).
Make sure to first highlight the portion of the text you would like to comment about. Otherwise, if you use this shortcut without highlighting the text, the comment will be added for the word where your cursor is located.
Lastly, a rather time-consuming way of adding a comment is by going to the ‘Insert’ tab.
This tab is located in the top left corner of the screen, to the right of the ‘View’ tab. Click on it.
When you click on it, a drop down menu should appear. At the bottom of the menu, you should see the ‘Comment’ option. Click on it and the comment box will appear, where you can type out your message.
(Optional) Step 4: Use comment options.
In the previous step, we talked about the four ways in which you can add a comment. In this step, we will talk about using the various comment options that Google Docs offers.
The first option is assigning action items.
If you are adding comments in a shared Google Doc, you can assign tasks to specific people.
To do this, add ‘@’ in your comment and click on the person whom you would like to assign the task to.
Another comment option you can use is editing comments. To make changes to a comment you’ve already added, click on the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the comment box and select the ‘Edit’ option from the drop down menu that appears.
From this drop down menu, you can also see the ‘Delete’ option. If you want to remove your comment, you can select this option.
Another option you can see in the drop down menu is ‘Link to comment.’ Choose this option if you want to add a link to this comment in another part of the document (or in a different document).
Lastly, let’s talk about resolving a comment. A quick way of removing a comment that you no longer need is by resolving it. This can be done by clicking on the tick mark at the top of the comment box.
Adding Suggestions in Google docs
Suggestions are different from comments. When you add a suggestion, you are making edits to the document and waiting for the creator of the document to either accept or reject your edits.
Here’s an example. Below, an edit is made and you can either click on the cross (and reject the edit) or click on the tick (and accept the edit).
In this section, we will talk about the different ways of adding suggestions in your Google Docs document.
Step 1: Change your document to ‘Suggesting’ mode.
To add suggestions, you can change your document from ‘Editing’ to ‘Suggesting’ mode.
At the top right corner of the screen, you should see ‘Editing’ (next to a pencil icon). This is right below the blue-coloured ‘Share’ button. Click on this option and select ‘Suggesting’ from the drop down menu that appears.
Now, every change you make in the document will be a suggestion that you or someone else can either accept or reject. In other words, the edits you make in suggesting mode are not final and need to be approved in order to be finalized.
Another way in which you can add a suggestion is by highlighting the relevant text and selecting the second option from the edge of the page:
You could also right-click and select the ‘Suggest edits’ option.
To assign an edit to a specific person, type ‘@’ in the box and choose a person.
Once you’re done suggesting edits, you can go back to the editing mode.
Conclusion
That brings us to the end of our article.
Thank you for reading this article!