Collaborating on documents in Google Docs allows multiple people to provide feedback and suggestions through comments. Over time these discussions can become resolved as issues get addressed or comments become outdated. However, there may still be value in revisiting past conversations and resolved comments. Fortunately, Google Docs provides easy ways to recover and view this content again.
In this article, we will walk through the step-by-step process to recover and view resolved comments in Google Docs. Whether you want to revisit old conversations or accidentally resolved a comment prematurely, these tips will help you access that content again.
Prerequisites
Before getting started with recovering resolved comments, make sure you have the following:
- Access and edit permissions to the Google Doc
- The Google Doc open in your browser or mobile app
- Basic familiarity with the Google Docs commenting feature
As long as you meet those requirements, you can follow the steps below to view resolved comments.
Step 1: Open Comment History
The first step is to open the comment history panel, which archives all commenting activity on the document. Here is how to access it:
On desktop:
- Click on the comment icon in the top right toolbar (speech bubble icon)
- The panel will open on the right side
On mobile:
- Tap on the comment icon in the top right (speech bubble)
- The history will open in a new screen
This will display all comments ever made on the document, including resolved ones.
Step 2: Filter Comments View
Once the comment history panel is open, you can filter it to only show resolved comments. Here is how:
On desktop:
- Click on the drop-down menu next to “Comments” at the top left of the panel
- Select the “Resolved” filter option
On mobile:
- Tap on the filter icon at the top of the history screen
- Choose the “Resolved” filter
This will narrow down the list to only show resolved comments and conversations.
Step 3: Review and Reopen Comments
With the list filtered to resolved comments only, you can now browse them and reopen any comment threads you want to revisit.
To review a resolved comment:
- Click on it to open and read it
To reopen a resolved comment:
- Mouse over and click the “More” icon (3 dots)
- Choose “Reopen”
Reopening notified the original participants and makes the comment active again.
Step 4: Return Comment View to Default
Once you are done reviewing past resolved comments, you can return the comment view back to normal.
On desktop:
- Click the drop-down menu next to “Comments”
- Choose “All comments”
On mobile:
- Tap on the filter icon
- Select “All”
This will show all commenting activity again, both open and resolved.
Conclusion
Recovering resolved comments in Google Docs only takes a few clicks once you know where to look. Opening the comment history panel and filtering to resolved comments lets you revisit old conversations as needed.
With the ability to reopen comment threads, you can continue discussions or clarify points from the past. Just be mindful not to reopen too many resolved comments as that may spam collaborators with unnecessary notifications.
Hopefully these tips have helped demystify the process for working with resolved comments in Google Docs. Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions!
