Can't edit comments ...

[Sardonix]

Hi,
I'm using MS Office 2007 and for some reason I can't edit the comments on some of the cells in my Excel spreadsheet.
The red triangle is visible on the cell and when I hold my curser over the cell I can read the comments but when I right-click on the cell as normal and select Edit Comment from the pop-up menu nothing happens. I've just also discovered if I copy these comments to other cells I can't edit them there either. I've checked and the sheet and columns are not protected.

Any ideas on this?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

DR

[martindwilson]

is the workbook shared?

[Sardonix]

No, it's not.

[shg]

Post the workbook?

[Sardonix]

Post the workbook?

Can't. It's a spreadsheet with confidential student info. But thanks anyway.

[shg]

The comments are sensitive?

[teylyn]

Sometimes comments can move from their position near the cell to other places on the sheet. That happens when the comments are formatted to "move and size with cells" in the Properties tab of the Format Comment dialog.

If this is the case, you need to drag the comment back to near the cell. The challenge might be to find it first. But normally, the comment will be connected by a line to the cell, so you would just follow the line to find the comment.

You could also try this:

righ-click the cell and select "show comment".
decrease the zoom of the workbook (Ctrl-mouse wheel) until you see the comment box appear on the screen.
Drag it back to the cell.

[Joseph H End III]

I encountered exactly the same problem. I believe it was caused by inserting and editing comments in a column next to a hidden column. At some point, it caused all the comments in that column to become non-editable. Other commented cells in the sheet remain OK to edit. I have seen erratic comment behavior before associated with hiding and unhiding columns.

The only fix I could come up with is a bit cumbersome and ineligant. Here are the steps:
1) Create a new worksheet. The following steps are on the new worksheet.
2) Copy the column with the problem cells from the original sheet to the new sheet.
3) Copy the edited cells from this column to about three cells to the right of their original locations.
4) Delete the comments in the column to the LEFT of cells copied in step 3.
5) Toggle the SHOW / HIDE COMMENTS in the first commented cell in the RIGHT column.
6) Place your cursor over the cell. THe comment should come on and stay on. Note that you
can select the text in this cell. Select it and do a CTRL-C (copy).
7) Do an INSERT COMMENT to the corresponding cell in the LEFT column.
8) Do a CTRL-V (paste) of the copied comment text into the new comment.
9) Resize the new comment box to match the original.

Note that after the comment has been reinserted into the cell on the LEFT, the whole cell with
comment can be copied back to the original worksheet where the problem originated. It should be able to be edited after this repair.
This whole sequence must be repeated for each defective comment.
Once you get the rythmn, the process can be repeated fairly quickly.

[qjzhang]

I ran into the same problem. I still do not know how to re-produce this problem. It just happened.

The only solution might be to re-create all the comments, which can be done with a macro as below.
Add it into your workbook, select all cells you want to re-create the comment, then run this macro.

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[Neplusultra]

I am using excel 2003 on a Vista machine. I have found a simple and freaking effective solution to this idiot problem. I did not determine whether having hidden cells or columns next to the column with comment problems mattered or not. Here's what I did to be able to edit comments again, without any format or position changes.

I deleted the hidden column to the left of the column with my comments. I am not sure this is necessary but that column was not important so I deleted it. Next I selected the entire column with the comments at issue, and right clicked then selected "hide". Next I went to the toolbar and selected "undo". Everything worked just as it did prior to the issue popping up suddenly and without reason.

A few hours of freaking around and the nightmare is over......

Hope it works for you. Of course if the hidden column is important you can try just unhiding it, fixing it, and then rehiding. You may not even have to do that.

[Don P]

tried the suggestion of hiding the whole column and then "undo". worked like a charm.

[farresto]

I had the same issue, and the problem was that I accidentally had 2 sheets selected and didn't notice. Luckily I realized after a few minutes

Solution is as simple as Ctrl + Click the unwanted selected sheet(s) or click a different sheet first and then go back to the one you'd like to edit your comment on.

[Babumj]

Try to increase the column width of cells which contain the comments.
I have the same problem and for me it has worked.

[pnocero]

I tried Babumj's suggestion about increasing the column width and then trying the edit, and this seemed to work. I then reset the original column width and all is well.