Excel 2016 is one of the foremost spreadsheet applications for Windows and Mac platforms. That software enables users to set up worksheets that display numeric data in many ways. Excel includes a plethora of cell formatting options for tables and graphs for data visualizations. It also incorporates a handy comments feature, which enables users to provide additional info for cells’ contents.
Excel’s comment feature is undoubtedly very useful for users who need to share their spreadsheets with other persons. The Excel software highlights comments with the inclusion of small red arrows at the top right corners of cells that include them. Moving your cursor over a cell’s small red arrow displays its comment box, as shown directly below.
Excel’s comments include one user name on them. That comment name is the default Microsoft Office user name for the Excel application utilized to insert it. However, some Excel users might need to change or prefer to remove the default names for spreadsheet cell comments. If you’re wondering how exactly you can do that, check out these alternative methods for changing and removing cell comments’ user names in Excel 2016.
Part 1. How to Remove Name from Comments in Excel 2016
Some users might consider a user name to be a needless addition to comments. You can manually delete user names from comments after inserting them. However, Excel 2016 doesn’t include any built-in option for inserting comments that exclude user names. This is how to remove a name from comments in Excel 2016 with a macro.
Step 1: Open an Excel spreadsheet.
Step 2: Press the Alt + F11 keyboard hotkey to open the macro editor.
Step 3: Click the “Insert” menu, and then select the “Module” option.
Step 4: Copy the macro below with the Ctrl + C hotkey.
Sub CommentAddOrEdit()
'adds new plain text comment or positions
'cursor at end of existing comment text
'www.contextures.com/xlcomments03.html
Dim cmt As Comment
Set cmt = ActiveCell.Comment
If cmt Is Nothing Then
ActiveCell.AddComment text:=""
End If
SendKeys "+{F2}"
End Sub
Step 5: Paste the above VBA code into Excel’s macro code box with the Ctrl + V hotkey.
Step 6: Click the “File” and “Save” options.
The above macro adds a plain comment, which doesn’t include a user name, to a selected cell when you run it. Note that it’s one that incorporates SendKeys commands. So, make sure you run that macro within an active Excel spreadsheet.
You can remove user names from all comments already included within a spreadsheet with Kutools for Excel. The Kutools add-on adds a whole new tab to Excel that includes many handy additional tools for that spreadsheet. The full Kutools for Excel add-on is retailing at $49.00 on the ExtendOffice website. You can remove comments’ user names in Excel with that add-on as follows.
Step 1: After you’ve downloaded and installed Kutools, open an Excel spreadsheet that includes some comments.
Step 2: Select the Kutools tab in Excel.
Step 3: Click the “Comment” button.
Step 4: Select the “Remove/Add User Name in Comment” option to open the window shown directly below.
Step 5: Select “All sheets” on the Scope drop-down menu.
Step 6: Then select the “Remove user name from comments” radio button.
Step 7: Click the “Apply” button, and click “OK” on the dialog box that opens.
Step 8: Close the Remove/Add User Name in the Comment window with the “X” button.
Part 2. How to Change Author Name from Comments in Excel
2.1. Change Author Name in Excel Temporarily for Specified Comment
Excel 2016 includes an “Edit Comment” option with which you can change author names. However, editing comments with that option only applies permanent changes to the comments you select to modify. Thus, you’ll need to manually edit your user name in each comment separately with that option. This is how to change the name in a comment box in Excel with the “Edit Comment” option.
Step 1: Click Excel’s Review tab.
Step 2: Then select a spreadsheet cell that includes a comment to edit.
Step 3: Press the “Edit Comment” button.
Step 4: After that, you can change the user name in the comment box by deleting it and entering a new one. Or you can delete the user name if you don’t want one in the comment.
2.2. Change Author Name in Excel for New Comments
Manually changing user names for all new comments inserted in an Excel spreadsheet with the “Edit Comment” option isn’t ideal. You can ensure all new comments you add to an Excel spreadsheet have a different name by changing the user name for your MS Office software. This is how to change comment names in Excel with the personalized Microsoft Office settings.
Step 1: Click Excel’s File tab shown directly below.
Step 2: Next, click “Options” on the left of the File tab.
Step 3: Select General on the Excel Options window.
Step 4: Then change the name within the “User name” box to an alternative one.
Step 5: Click the “OK” button to save the new settings.
Step 6: Then add a comment to a cell on your spreadsheet, which will now include the new user name entered on the Excel Options window.
Note that leaving the text box for the MS Office name blank doesn’t remove the user name from Excel’s cell comments. If you do that, the user name gets replaced with the default one for your PC. So, this is not a method for removing the user name from newly inserted comments.
2.3. Change Author Name in Excel for All Existing Comments
However, method 2.2 for changing your cell comments’ user name will not change it within existing comments. Nor does Excel 2016 include any built-in option for editing the user name in all a spreadsheet’s existing comments at once. You can utilize the “Edit Comment” option to manually edit each one separately. Alternatively, you can set up an Excel macro that will change the author name for all existing comments as follows.
Step 1: Open an Excel workbook that includes comments.
Step 2: Click the Developer tab.
Step 3: Press the “Visual Basic” button.
Step 4: Click the “Insert” > “Module” options within the Visual Basic Editor window.
Step 5: Copy this VB code by selecting it and pressing the Ctrl and C keys at the same time.
Sub ChangeCommentAuthorName()
Dim oneSheet As Worksheet
Dim oneComment As Comment
Dim oldUser As String
Dim newUser As String
oldUser = InputBox("please type the old user name that you want to change", "Changing User Name", Application.UserName)
newUser = InputBox("Please type one New User Name", "Changing User Name", "")
For Each oneSheet In Application.ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets
For Each oneComment In oneSheet.Comments
oneComment.Text (Replace(oneComment.Text, oldUser, newUser))
Next
Next
End Sub
Step 6: Next, paste the above macro into the Visual Basic Editor window with the Ctrl + V keyboard shortcut.
Step 7: Select the “Save” option on the “File” menu.
Step 8: Then click the “Macros” button to open the window in the snapshot directly below.
Step 9: Select the macro you just saved, and click the “Run” button.
Step 10: Next, enter the old user name you want to change for comments in the Changing User Name window that opens; and click the “OK” button.
Step 11: Enter a new user name for comments in the text box on the Changing User Name window.
Step 12: Then click the “OK” option to change the user name in your spreadsheet’s existing comments.
You can also change the user name in all existing spreadsheet comments with the same Remove/Add User Name in Comment utility in the Kutools for Excel add-on mentioned within part 1. After selecting the “Remove user name” option, click the alternative “Add user name to comments” radio button within that utility’s window. Then you can enter a new user name in the text box and click “Apply” to add it.
Conclusion
That’s how to change and remove author names for comments in Excel 2016 with five alternative methods. Changing your MS Office user name is the best method for adjusting comment names without any additional macros or add-ons, but you’ll need to try the other methods to modify existing comments. To exclude the user name from new comments or remove it from existing ones, try utilizing the plain text macro or the Kutools for Excel add-on’s comment utility.
