How to modify a Comment Box in Excel

The default comment box style in Excel is, unfortunately, fairly outdated. You can't really change much other than fonts and colors. In this article, we are going to show you how to modify a Comment Box in Excel.

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Default style

Excel allows you to modify its default comment box style with some very limited options. You can apply different font types and basic styles like bold or italic. Changing the font and background colors is also available.

If you are interested, you can find out more about these options from the Format Comment dialog. To display this dialog, follow the steps below:

Right-click the parent cell and select the Edit Comment option
Hover the mouse over the edge of the comment to see the cursor change to a four way cross with arrows at the ends.
Right-click
Select Format Comment

You can navigate between tabs to and customize it however you'd like.

Let's now take a look at how you can further customize comment fields.

Using shapes as a comment box

This approach is somewhat different than using a comment box. The goal here is to replace an Excel shape with a comment box. Let's begin!

First you need to add a hidden command into your ribbon or quick access toolbar.

Right-click on the ribbon and select Customize the Ribbon from the context menu
Select All Commands in Choose commands from the dropdown
In the box below, scroll-down until you see Change Shape and select it
In the box to the right, select a group that you want to see the Change Shape (we created a new tab and a new group)
Click the Add >> button
Once you see the Change Shape command in the right box, click OK to apply the change

These actions will add the Change Shape command into your ribbon.

You can learn more about customizing your ribbon in our article How to customize ribbon in Excel.

Once the Change Shape command becomes available, you can start modifying the shape of a comment box.

Start by selecting the comment by left-clicking the edge of the box after seeing the four way cross with arrows. Similar to the previous steps, but this time do left-click instead.
Once the comment box is selected, click on Change Shape command in the ribbon.
Click on the new shape you want to make a comment box