An update to Google Docs makes managing comments much simpler

Google’s Workspace suite, which includes Docs, Sheets, and Slides, for sheer ease and simplicity. These tools provide easy sharing, smooth operating system syncing, and a clear user interface for exchanging ideas and working together via comments and suggestions. Links and private email invites are the only ways to share Google Workspace files with others for collaborative work. Those who are invited can provide their opinions on the file’s content by adding comments to specific passages. But with too many comments and responses from several coworkers, it can easily become difficult to manage, particularly if you’re the one in charge of putting recommended amendments.

Fortunately, Google has revealed changes to the Docs, Sheets, and Slides comments section. We’ll use Docs as an example to clarify, but the modifications also apply to other Workspace services. On the web, the Comments button next to the revision history button triggers the opening of a new sidebar containing the comments. Google provides a For you section with just the comments; such as those you’re tagged in, that you need to respond to, saving you from becoming lost in a sea of criticism. All the comments are shown in a sidebar under the other tab, All comments. This view can also be enabled via View > Show all comments.

You can either close the sidebar to see the expanded material float next to the text it’s appended to, or click on each comment to expand it separately. This is what Google refers to as the Expand comments option in the View menu; it isn’t present on Sheets. You can Minimize comments by selecting View > Comments, which turns each comment into a circular symbol on the right side of the screen so you can continue working without the comments taking up too much useful space. The recommendation and any threaded conversations below are seen when you hover over the icon. This capability is exclusive to Docs and Sheets, but it might be useful on smaller laptop screens and mini-Chromebooks.

Use the same View menu’s Hide comments option to completely hide comments from view; they won’t reappear until you select one of the previously listed choices. The distribution of these new choices is evident in the fact that we are already seeing them appear on the Google Docs web UI. By March 3, these features, which aren’t dependent on account type will be available to all Workspace suite users.

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