[updated for Modern Comments, Nov 2022]

Tired eyes, tiny type? Bump up the font size in the Reviewing pane to read Comments and tracked changes in MS Word with less strain.

The easiest fix is to change the zoom setting in the Reviewing pane. This doesn’t change the actual font size, but it makes it easier to read! Scroll down for video demos using classic Comments in Word 365 for Mac and for Windows. (Instructions on increasing font size in Comment balloons are in this other post, but they don’t work in the 2019 version of Word because Comments are now set to “normal” style, nor does adjusting styles work with Modern Comments.)

Zoom the Reviewing pane to increase the font size in Comments

1. Open the Reviewing pane: Click the Reviewing pane button on the Review ribbon or use a shortcut to open the Navigation/Find pane, then click the page-like icon. (Mac shortcut: cmd + H — Windows: ctrl + H)
2. Place the cursor in any comment you can see in the Reviewing pane.
3. From the View menu, select Zoom, then click a percentage and then OK. (Or simply move the zoom slider on the status bar, at the bottom right of the Word window.)

Mac demo

Windows demo

Other resources:
http://legalofficeguru.com/shrunken-comment-balloon/

What to do if your comment boxes go tiny in Word

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