Cell comments are a useful way to leave notes, questions, or context on a specific cell during collaborative work, but they tend to accumulate over the life of a spreadsheet and are easy to forget about once the discussion they were part of has been resolved. A file full of leftover comments looks unfinished when shared externally, can accidentally expose internal notes or questions to someone outside the team, and adds unnecessary clutter when printing or exporting a sheet.
Clearing every comment from a worksheet before it is finalized, shared, or archived is a simple but important housekeeping step, particularly for files that will be sent to a client or external partner.
Recent versions of Excel distinguish between two similar but separate features: Notes, the classic yellow-box annotations, and Comments, which support threaded replies and are tied to Microsoft 365 co-authoring. Both attach to individual cells and both need to be removed separately if a file contains a mix of the two, since the menu options and shortcuts for clearing them are slightly different depending on which type is present. Checking which type your file actually uses avoids the confusion of trying to delete a Note using the Comments removal command, or the other way around.
Once you know which annotation type is present, both can be selected and cleared across an entire sheet in a few clicks.
A common mistake is using the Comments removal command on a file that actually contains classic Notes, or the other way around, since the two annotation types use different menu commands in current versions of Excel and clearing one does not remove the other. It is worth checking the Review tab to see which annotation type is present, or simply running both cleanup steps together, before assuming a file is fully clear of leftover reviewer notes.
- Select the entire worksheet by clicking the small triangle in the top-left corner of the grid.
- Go to the Review tab on the ribbon.
- For classic Notes, click Delete in the Notes group.
- For threaded Comments, right-click any commented cell and choose Delete Comment, repeating for each one if a bulk option is unavailable in your version.
- Save the file once every comment or note has been cleared from the sheet.
Clearing comments one worksheet at a time is manageable for a single file, but a folder of client-facing spreadsheets that all need the same cleanup before distribution benefits from automation. Turbo Excel Cleaner's Remove Cell Comments feature strips every comment and note from every sheet in every file you load, so internal review notes never accidentally ship in a file meant for external sharing.
This is commonly run together with Remove Hyperlinks and Remove Conditional Formatting as part of a final pre-distribution cleanup pass, stripping out everything that was useful during internal review but should not be part of the finished, shared version of a file.
- Removes all cell comments and notes from a worksheet
- Handles both classic Notes and threaded Comments
- Applies across every sheet in every file in the batch
- Pairs well with hyperlink and formatting cleanup before sharing
- Works on Excel and OpenDocument workbook formats
Does removing comments affect the data in the cells?
No, removing a comment or note only clears the attached annotation; the underlying cell value and formatting are left completely unchanged.
What is the difference between a Note and a Comment in Excel?
Notes are the classic static yellow-box annotations, while Comments are the newer threaded, reply-capable annotations tied to Microsoft 365 co-authoring; a file can contain either or both.
Can I remove comments from just one sheet instead of the whole file?
The batch cleaning feature clears comments across every sheet in a file automatically; for a single-sheet fix, the manual Review-tab method described above lets you target one worksheet at a time.
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