Introduction

Before presenting your PowerPoint, you might decide to ask someone else to look over it. The two of you might even collaborate on a presentation. If you were revising a hard copy of a report, you might add comments in the margins or compare your rough and final drafts side by side. You can also do these things in PowerPoint using the Comments and Compare features

Optional: Download our practice presentation.

Commenting on presentations

When you are revising or collaborating on a presentation, you might want to make notes or suggestions without actually changing anything on the slide. Using comments allows you to take note of anything on a slide without altering the slide itself. Comments can be added and read by the original author or any other reviewers.

To add a comment:

1. Select the text or click on the area of the slide where you want the comment to appear.
2. Select the Review tab, then locate the Comments group.
3. Click the New Comment command.

   
   

   Clicking the New Comment command
4. The Comments pane will appear on the right side of the window. Type your comment.

   
   

   Typing a comment
5. Press Enter or click anywhere on the slide to return to your presentation.

Added comments show up as small thumbnails rather than full-sized notes. To read a comment, click the thumbnail to open the Comments pane.

To edit a comment:

1. Select the comment you want to edit by clicking the comment thumbnail.

   
   

   Clicking the comment thumbnail
2. The Comments pane will appear. Click the comment to edit it.

   
   

   Clicking the comment
3. Make the desired changes.

   
   

   Editing a comment
4. Press Enter or click anywhere on the slide, and the comment will update to reflect your edits.

   
   

   The edited comment

To respond to a comment:

1. Click the thumbnail of the comment you want to edit. The Comments pane will appear.
2. The selected comment will be highlighted. Click Reply...

   
   

   Responding to a comment
3. Type your comment.

   
   

   Typing the response
4. Press Enter or click anywhere on the slide. The new comment will appear below the original comment, and a new thumbnail will appear on the slide.

   
   

   The finished response

To delete a comment:

1. Select the comment you want to delete.
2. From the Review tab, click the Delete command.

   
   

   The Delete Comment command

To delete multiple comments, click the Delete drop-down arrow and select Delete All Comments and Ink on This Slide or Delete All Comments and Ink in This Presentation.

Comparing presentations

If you are collaborating on a presentation or asking someone else to review your presentation, you might want to use the Compare feature. The Compare feature combines two versions of the same presentation. This allows you to see the differences between the two and decide which changes to include in the final version of your presentation.

To compare two presentations:

Before you start, you'll need to have one version of the presentation open. When you're ready to compare, you'll select the second version.

1. Select the Review tab, then locate the Compare group.
2. Click Compare.

   
   

   The Compare command
3. A dialog box will appear. Browse for and select the desired file.

   
   

   Browsing for the desired file
4. Click Open.
5. The Revisions pane will appear, allowing you to compare the two presentations.

Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn how to review comments and changes using the Compare feature.

Challenge!

1. Open an existing PowerPoint presentation. If you want, you can use our practice presentation.
2. Select text on any slide, and add a comment.
3. Edit the comment you just added.
4. Delete all comments in the presentation.