Applies ToExcel for Microsoft 365 Word for Microsoft 365 PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac Excel for the web Word for the web PowerPoint for the web Excel for iPad Word for iPad PowerPoint for iPad Word Web App Excel for iPhone Word for iPhone PowerPoint for iPhone Word for Android tablets Excel for Android tablets PowerPoint for Android tablets Excel for Android phones PowerPoint for Android phones Word for Android phones

    

The enhanced @mention feature makes it much easier for you to connect with specific colleagues and needed resources as you collaborate on creating documents, presentations and spreadsheets. Use of the @-sign can open up immediate access to context-relevant media – even anticipating your potential resource needs.  

Notes: 

  • Search, pick and tag people by name, alias or email-id

  • Rapid, near-instant suggestion results

  • Photos presented in tiles for easy identification

  • Items suggested before you type (Zero Query)

 

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  1. Sign in to Microsoft 365 with your work or school account, and go to a document that's saved in a SharePoint library or OneDrive for work or school.

    Note: For this feature to work, you'll need to be signed in to Outlook on your PC.

  2. Add a comment from the context menu or from Review > New Comment.

    Choose New Comment on the context menu
  3. Type @ and the first few letters of the person's first or last name, and then pick the name you want (If they don't already have permission to open the document, you'll be asked to provide that).

Tip: To be more casual, feel free to delete everything except the person's first name in the @mention. To include more people, type @ again and mention someone else.

Quickly find and respond to @mentions

In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, when someone mentions you in a comment, you'll receive an email notification that includes a link that takes you to the comment in the file.

In addition, in certain versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, the email notification also shows you a preview of the text and comment thread associated with the comment (also known as context preview), and you can respond to the comment directly from the email notification (also known as inline replies).

Screenshot of a comment email notification

If you're mentioned more than once, you'll receive the links in a single email.

Note: This feature isn't available for customers using Microsoft 365 operated by 21Vianet.

Requirements

Email notifications will include context preview and inline replies if the comment is added by someone using the following versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint:

Windows

Mac

Web

Mobile (Android/iOS)

Word

Not yet

Not yet

Yes

Yes

Excel

Yes (version 1911 or later)

Yes (version 16.31 or later)

Yes

Yes

PowerPoint*

Not yet

Not yet

Yes

Not yet

*PowerPoint does not yet support inline replies

To reply to a comment from the notification email, you must be using Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, or Outlook Mobile. Support for Outlook for Mac and dark mode in Outlook on the web is coming soon.

How to turn off context previews

Admins can use a SharePoint PowerShell cmdlet to turn off context previews:

  1. Install the latest version of the SharePoint Online Services Module for Windows PowerShell.

  2. Connect to your tenant using Connect-SPOService.

  3. Run the following cmdlet: Set-SPOTenant -AllowCommentsTextOnEmailEnabled:$false

    Note: Email notifications for comments made in file that are Rights Protected or marked as sensitive via DLP rules won't include a context preview or inline replies, regardless of whether the feature is turned on or off.

How to turn off notifications for comments in OneDrive

By default, the original document creator and any participants in a comment thread are notified whenever someone creates or updates a comment thread. If the thread is long and involves multiple users, you may want to stop notifications and keep your inbox from being overwhelmed.

There is no global setting for turning off comment notifications. Participants in a thread must do that for themselves in OneDrive. To turn off notifications for comments, do the following:

  1. In a new tab in your Microsoft Edge browser, select App launcher, and then select OneDrive.Open OneDrive app

  2. Go to Settings > OneDrive Settings.Select OneDrive settings

  3. Under Notification Settings, turn off Email notification when others reply to your comments and Email notification when others comment on my documents.OneDrive Notification settings

How to turn off notifications in Outlook

At the bottom of a notification email you receive in Outlook is a setting that allows you to turn off notifications for any further comments or updates to a comment thread made in the file by the original document creator or any participants.

Turn on or off notifications

This setting works for just one file. If you're receiving notifications for comments in multiple files, you'll need to turn off Notifications for this file for each file.

Security of comment data

Microsoft does not store any comment data internally. All comments among participants in a thread are stored only on your end. Microsoft has no access to see any of your comments.

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