In the bustling world of collaborative work environments, Google Docs serves as a linchpin, facilitating the sharing and editing of documents in real-time.
The ability to comment on specific text sections enriches the collaborative process, allowing users to provide feedback, ask questions, and suggest edits.
However, there comes a time when the sidebar becomes cluttered with comments, or perhaps you simply need to present your document without the inline notes.
Hiding comments in Google Docs becomes a necessity.
In this comprehensive guide, we'll delve into different methods for hiding comments. By following this guide you would be able to easily show or hide comments in your documents.
So, let's get started and learn how to hide comments in Google Docs.
Note: This article contains affiliate links. When you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, we get a small compensation at no cost to you. See our Privacy Policy and Disclaimer for more info.
Ways to Hide Comments in Google Docs
Below I have mentioned three methods using which you can easily show or hide comments in Google Docs.
Let's see all these three methods one by one.
Method 1: Show & Hide Comments
Lots of comments in the document can make it messy and hard to read. This method is one of the quickest and easiest to hide all comments at once in your Google documents.
Please note that through this method, you're only hiding the comments from your documents. None of the comments are deleted.
Below you can see that my document contains two comments in two different paragraphs. Now, let's say we want to hide these comments, then we need to follow the process highlighted below.
To hide all the comments from your Google document, click on View >> Comments >> Hide comments.
By clicking on Hide comments as shown below, you'll be able to hide all the comments in your documents.
Below, you can see that by using the Hide comments option, all the comments on my documents are now hidden. You can also use the shortcut key Ctrl+Alt+Shift+J on your keyboard.
Now, you'll be able to work on your documents distraction-free.
Next, if you want to show all the comments as earlier, go to View from the top menu and click on View >> Comments >> Show all comments.
By clicking on the Show all comments option, you'll be able to show again all the comments in your document.
Thus, you can easily toggle between viewing and hiding comments, and customize your document view based on your preferences and workflow.
Method 2: Set Viewing Mode
In the previous method, we learn how to hide all the comments from a Google document. This allows us to edit our document while keeping our comments hidden.
Next, sometimes you may want to share your document with others but don't want them to make any changes to it. This means that they will be able to read and view but will not able to edit your content including comments.
This method allows you to keep previous comments in the document.
Google Docs offers the following three modes:
- Editing mode: Under this mode, you'll be able to modify your document.
- Suggesting mode: You can suggest edits to a document that other people can review.
- Viewing mode: This mode doesn't allow anyone to make any changes to your document.
To set your document to viewing mode while keeping all your previous comments, go to View >> Mode >> Viewing, as shown below.
As you click on Viewing mode as shown above, your documents will be available for reading and viewing. Plus, all the comments in the document will also be hidden from the view. See the below screenshot.
In the above screenshot, you can see that by clicking on the Viewing mode (eye button), you can easily go back to either the Editing mode or the Suggesting mode.
For example, if you want to enable the Editing mode, just click on Editing, and you would be now able to edit your content and all your comments would also be visible for editing purpose.
Method 3: Mark Comment as Resolved
Comments in Google Docs are used for suggestions, questions, or clarifications. Once these are resolved, you can hide these comments to clean up the document and work distraction-free.
To resolve the comment, follow the process as mentioned below.
On the right side of your document, you can see all the comments. To resolve a comment, you just need to simply click on the blue Tick mark in the comment box.
As you click on the blue Tick mark of a particular comment, this will hide that comment from the document. See the below screenshot.
Similarly, you can resolve all the comments in the document and hide it from the view.
Now, if you again want to show the comment, click on the Show all comments icon located at the top right of the page as shown below.
Now, click on the three dots as shown above and click on Re-open to restore the comment. Below, you can see that the comment we re-open is now again added to our document.
This is how you can show and hide comments in Google Docs.
Also Read: How to Remove Grey Background in Google Docs
Why Comments are Used in Google Docs?
Comments in Google Docs are a versatile tool for collaboration and communication. They serve several key purposes:
- Providing Feedback and Questions: You can highlight specific sections of a document and leave comments with suggestions, questions, or clarifications. This allows for asynchronous communication and ensures everyone's feedback is captured in one place.
- Assigning Action Items: You can tag individuals in comments and assign them specific tasks related to the highlighted section. This helps keep track of responsibilities and ensures everyone is on the same page.
- Facilitating Discussions: You can reply to comments, creating a threaded conversation about specific points. This allows for deeper discussion and problem-solving without cluttering the main document.
- Tracking Changes: Comments offer a historical record of changes to the document. You can see who commented, what they said, and when, providing valuable context and accountability.
- Emoji Reactions: Google Docs allows for quick emoji reactions to comments or highlighted sections. This adds a non-verbal layer of communication, expressing agreement, confusion, or other emotions efficiently.
Additional benefits:
- Improved clarity and understanding: Comments help avoid misunderstandings caused by unclear wording or formatting.
- Enhanced collaboration efficiency: Comments streamline communication and keep everyone informed without cluttering the document itself.
- Increased accountability: Assigning tasks and tracking changes in comments fosters a sense of responsibility and ownership.
Overall, comments are a powerful tool in Google Docs for effective collaboration, communication, and document management.
When to Hide Comments?
The reasons for hiding comments can vary:
- Presenting: You're showcasing the document to an audience.
- Printing: Creating a hard copy without the marginal notes.
- Reviewing: Focusing on content without being distracted by side notes.
- Distraction-free writing: Intending to write or edit without previous comments influencing your thought process.
Wrapping Up
By utilizing these different methods, you can effectively manage and control the visibility of comments in your Google Docs.
This allows you to tailor the document's presentation to your specific preferences and requirements.
Whether you need to temporarily declutter your workspace or permanently remove comments, Google Docs offers the tools to support your editing and collaboration needs.
I hope you found this tutorial on how to hide comments in Google Docs helpful. If you've liked it, please share it with your friends on social media.
For more useful tutorials and related articles, please check out the below listed resources from our blog.
