Version History Issues

How to Restore Deleted Comments in a Shared Word Document

Nimra Malik Oct 1, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user wants to know if it is possible to recover deleted comments from a shared Word document while preserving the original authorship.

How to Restore Deleted Comments in a Shared Word Document

Product: Microsoft Word
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Collaborating on a shared document where comments were accidentally deleted by a team member and need to be retrieved.
Observed behavior: Word does not provide a direct recovery or restoration feature for deleted comments from previous versions that preserves their original attribution.

Before you start

Ensure your document is saved in OneDrive or SharePoint, as Version History relies on cloud saving to maintain previous iterations of your file.

Solution 1Recommended

Use Version History to Manually Recover Comments

Since Word cannot automatically merge deleted comments back into your current file, you must access an older version and manually copy the text.

Microsoft Word does not have a built-in feature to directly restore deleted comments while keeping the original author's attribution. The only practical workaround is to open a past version of the document and manually transfer the lost information into your current working file.

Open Version History

Click on 'File' in the top ribbon, select 'Info', and then click on 'Version History'. Alternatively, click the document name at the top center of the application window and select 'Version History'.

Locate the Previous Version

In the Version History pane on the right, browse through the timestamps and select a version saved before the comments were deleted. Click 'Open version' to view it in a separate window.

Copy the Comment Content

Find the deleted comments in the older version. Highlight the text inside the comment box, right-click, and select 'Copy' (or press Ctrl+C).

Paste into the Current Document

Return to your latest document version. Highlight the relevant text, insert a new comment, and paste the copied text. You may want to manually type the original author's name to maintain context.

Use Version History to Manually Recover Comments

Attribution Limitation: When you paste the recovered comment into the current document, Word will list you as the author. It is currently impossible to force Word to reassign the pasted comment to the original author.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Undo shortcut restore a deleted comment?

Yes, pressing Ctrl+Z (Undo) immediately after deleting a comment will restore it. However, if you have closed the document or performed multiple edits since the deletion, the Undo function will no longer work for that specific action.

Can I merge the old version into the new one to restore comments?

Using the 'Compare' or 'Combine' feature in Word focuses on document text changes and formatting. It generally does not cleanly reinstate deleted comments from an older version into a newer one with their original attribution, making manual copying the most reliable method.

Where are older document versions saved?

For Version History to work, your document must be saved to a cloud service like OneDrive or SharePoint. If the document is only saved locally on your hard drive, Word does not retain a history of previous versions unless you manually saved separate backup files.

Document & File Issues