How to annotate a Word document
To annotate a Word document, go to the Review tab and click New Comment after selecting the text you want to mark — your note appears as a balloon in the margin. For inline edits, turn on Track Changes so every addition and deletion is color-coded and the original author can accept or reject each one. To collect annotations from someone else without emailing a file back and forth, share a link they can comment on directly in a browser.
Add comments with the Review tab
Select any text, image, or heading you want to flag, then go to Review → New Comment (or press Ctrl+Alt+M on Windows, ⌘+Option+A on Mac). A colored bubble appears in the right margin with your note attached to the exact selection. You can reply inside the thread, resolve comments, or reopen them — so a single note can hold a whole back-and-forth without cluttering the document body. Use @mentions (type @ then the person's name) if they're in the same Microsoft 365 tenant to notify them directly.
Track Changes for line-level edits
Go to Review → Track Changes to turn it on (or Ctrl+Shift+E). Every insertion, deletion, and formatting change is now color-coded with your name and a timestamp — red strikethrough for deletions, underlined colored text for insertions. The original author can go through each change with Accept or Reject in the Review toolbar. One gotcha: if the recipient opens the file in a different Word version or in Google Docs, some markup may not transfer cleanly. Send as .docx, not .doc, to minimize this.
Highlight text and add ink annotations
For quick visual callouts, select text and use the Text Highlight Color button on the Home tab — same as a marker pen, available in multiple colors. On a touchscreen or stylus device, the Draw tab gives you a full set of digital pens and pencils so you can circle, underline freehand, or draw arrows pointing at specific elements. Ink annotations are saved in the file and visible to anyone opening it in Word, though they export as flat images if the file is later saved as PDF.
Share for review so the client annotates in the browser
Emailing a Word file for client feedback creates a version problem almost immediately: they download it, add their comments, save a copy with a name like 'proposal_v2_FINAL_clientnotes.docx', and email it back. You're now reconciling two files. The alternative is sharing a review link — the client annotates the document in their browser without downloading anything, without needing a Microsoft account, and every note lands in one place. You see their comments, reply, and share a revised version on the same link without creating a new attachment.
If a client or colleague needs to mark up your document — not just read it — the fastest path is a shared link rather than an attached file. Drop the doc into Drafty, share the URL, and they click the exact paragraph they mean and pin a note right there. No Microsoft account, no downloaded file emailed back as 'proposal_FINAL_v3_clientNOTES.docx'. Every note is anchored to the spot they meant, in one thread.
Open a live demoQuestions
- How do I add a comment in Word?
- Select the text you want to annotate, then go to the Review tab and click New Comment. A margin bubble appears linked to your selection. On Windows the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Alt+M; on Mac it's ⌘+Option+A.
- What is the difference between comments and Track Changes in Word?
- Comments are margin notes that don't alter the document text — they're for questions, suggestions, or feedback. Track Changes records actual edits (insertions, deletions, formatting) inline so the original author can review and accept or reject each one. You'd typically use both together: Track Changes for the edits, comments for the reasoning behind them.
- How do I let a client annotate a Word document without a Microsoft account?
- The cleanest way is to share a link they can open in a browser rather than emailing the file. They mark up the document directly, without signing in or downloading anything. This also avoids the version-fragmentation problem where every person's copy becomes a separate file.
- Can you annotate a Word document on a phone?
- Yes — the Microsoft Word app for iOS and Android includes a Review tab with New Comment and Track Changes. The interface is more compact than desktop, but all the annotation features work. You can also open and comment on Word documents in Google Docs on mobile if that's what your reviewer has installed.
- How do I accept or reject all tracked changes at once?
- In the Review tab, click the dropdown arrow on Accept and choose 'Accept All Changes', or on Reject and choose 'Reject All Changes'. This clears the markup in one step. If you want to review them individually first, use the Next and Previous buttons to move through each change one at a time.
- How do I collect annotations from multiple people without ending up with multiple files?
- The file-email cycle compounds fast — three reviewers return three annotated copies and you're merging them by hand. Word's built-in solution is real-time co-authoring via OneDrive or SharePoint (everyone edits the same live file). If your client doesn't have a Microsoft account, a shared browser link lets multiple people annotate the same document without touching the source file at all.
Keep exploring
Stop emailing files back and forth.
Share one link. They comment on the exact spot — no account, always the current version.