Printing a Word document often requires a clean, comment-free output. Whether you're sharing a final draft with a client or submitting work for review, knowing how to hide comments when printing is crucial. This guide outlines the best practices to ensure your printed document is polished and professional, free from distracting comments and revisions.
Understanding the Problem: Why Hide Comments Before Printing?
Comments in Microsoft Word are invaluable during the editing and revision process. They allow for collaborative feedback and detailed annotations. However, these same comments can clutter a printed document, making it difficult to read and less visually appealing. Hiding comments before printing ensures a clean, professional output that focuses solely on the main text.
Method 1: The Simple Toggle - Hiding Comments for Printing Only
This is the easiest method and ideal for a quick print job. The changes are temporary, and your comments will reappear in the document once you close and reopen it.
- Open your Word document: Navigate to the document containing the comments you want to hide.
- Access the Print Preview: Click on "File" and then "Print." Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + P (or Cmd + P on a Mac).
- Locate the Print Options: In the Print Preview window, look for options related to "Comments" or "Markup." This might be within a section labeled "Options," "Settings," or similar.
- Select "Hide Comments": Choose the setting that explicitly hides comments when printing. The exact wording may vary depending on your Word version. The option will typically present a checkbox or dropdown menu.
- Print your document: Once you've selected the "Hide Comments" option, click the "Print" button to produce a clean, comment-free version.
Method 2: More Permanent Solution - Controlling Print Settings Directly
For more control over your print settings and to avoid needing to repeat the process each time, adjust your print settings more permanently. This will ensure comments are hidden every time you print from this document unless you alter these settings again.
- Open your Word document: Locate the document you wish to print.
- Access Print Options: Go to "File" > "Print" (or Ctrl + P / Cmd + P).
- Advanced Print Settings: Look for an "Advanced" button or similar option within the print settings. This will open a more extensive set of options.
- Print What: Within the advanced settings, search for a section titled "Print What" or similar. This section allows you to choose specific aspects of your document to include in the print.
- Select "Document": Ensure you only have the option of "Document" selected. This is the crucial step. Choosing this will prevent comments, tracked changes, and other revisions from appearing on your printed document.
- Print your document: Proceed with printing the document using the selected "Document" only option.
Troubleshooting and Additional Tips
- Different Word Versions: The exact wording and location of options may vary slightly depending on your version of Microsoft Word. However, the underlying principle remains consistent.
- Hidden Comments and other Markup: Check if your print settings allow you to control other markup elements, such as tracked changes or highlights, to achieve completely clean printouts.
- Multiple Printers: Make sure you haven't accidentally configured different print settings for particular printers if you use multiple devices for printing.
By following these best practices, you can efficiently hide comments when printing Word documents, ensuring that your printed output is clear, professional, and free from any unwanted annotations. Remember to choose the method that best suits your workflow and printing needs.
