Comments let you have a conversation on top of the canvas without changing anything on it. Drop one on the canvas where it matters, leave a question or a piece of feedback, and resolve it once it has been dealt with. They are the lightweight way to review work, agree on changes, and keep a record of why something is the way it is.
Leaving a comment
A comment is attached to the thing it is about, so the reader sees exactly what you are talking about.
Right-click the element (or long-press it on a touch screen), open Collaborate and choose Add Comment. Every boxed element can carry a thread; arrows cannot. On a Participant link there is no right-click menu: select the element and press Add Comment on its toolbar.
Type your note in the Comments popover and press Comment (or Ctrl+Enter, Cmd+Enter on a Mac). The element shows a small comment icon with the count near its top (or along its bottom edge, if you chose Footer for Element Indicators in Settings › Editor; Off hides it). See Element Indicators.
Press that icon any time to reopen the thread and read or reply to what is there. Esc or the close button shuts the popover.
Because a thread lives on the element rather than inside its content, you can leave feedback on a draft without nudging anyone's shapes or arrows out of place. Each comment shows its author's name, colour and how long ago it was posted. While a thread is open, you can delete your own comments with the bin that appears when you hover one; people who can edit the document can delete anyone's.
On a Sheet, a comment can be about a single cell: right-click the cell and choose Insert Comment. See Comment on a Cell.
To comment on a place rather than a shape, an empty patch of canvas or the gap between two clusters, use a comment panel: the same thread as a card on the canvas, joined to whatever it is about by an ordinary arrow.
Mentioning a teammate
Type @ in a comment to tag someone on your team. A list of teammates appears as you type: use the arrow keys and Enter (or click) to pick one, and their handle, like @priya-kaur, goes into the comment. Esc closes the list and leaves what you typed.
A mention does two things for the person you tag:
- The thread appears on their Inbox, marked Mentioned You, even if they never commented.
- They get an email quoting your comment, unless they have turned off Someone Mentions Me in a Comment in their email notifications.
You can mention the members of the team whose library holds the document, as long as you are a member of that team too, including people who have been invited but not joined yet. On a personal document there is nobody to mention; move it into a team library first. You need to be signed in to mention anyone.
Resolving comments
Once a comment has been actioned, press Resolve at the top of its thread to clear it from the working view while keeping the record. It becomes a green Resolved badge, the reply box is hidden, and the element's comment icon goes away. To reopen the thread, find it under Resolved in the Collaborate panel and press Reopen beside the badge. Resolving keeps the canvas focused on what still needs attention rather than on questions that are already settled.
Every open thread on a tab is also listed in the Collaborate panel, the Collaborate button in the bottom-right corner with a count of what is still open. Its Resolved view holds the threads you have resolved. Use comments to:
- Request changes during a review without editing someone else's work directly.
- Ask a question anchored to the exact element it is about.
- Capture a decision so the reasoning is not lost once the canvas changes.
Comments and collaboration
The canvas is multiplayer, so comments are part of how a group works on the canvas together. New comments appear for everyone in the document as they are posted. A collaborator can answer a question where it was asked, and a reviewer can leave feedback for the author to pick up later.
Because the canvas works without signing in, a guest you hand a share link to can read and join the conversation too. Commenting needs a Participant or Editor share link: someone on a Viewer link can read the threads but not add to them, resolve them or delete anything.
A few things to know:
- Comments aren't part of undo. Pressing undo never takes back a comment, yours or anyone else's.
- Owners can be emailed. When someone comments on a document you own, you can get an email, controlled by Someone Comments on My Document in your email notifications.
- Comments stay private in the Community. A document shared to the Community never shows its comments to visitors.
Keep each comment to one point. A marker that asks a single, specific question is far easier to resolve than a long thread covering five unrelated things.
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