I'm having a terrible time with WORD 2019. While scrolling, it randomly "inserts" what appears to be some kind of "comment box" on the right side of the page that is shaded in gray. I can't figure out how to get rid of it. I wasn't doing anything other than scrolling. I closed the document without saving changes, figuring that would get rid of it, but that doesn't work. Whatever went wrong is now on all my documents, not just the one I'm working on.



I'm an astrologer trying to get interpretations done by Friday, and it doesn't look like I'm going to meet my deadline now.

Can somebody please help me?

Just a thought - Is/Are your documents 'Shared'?

I know I am clutching at straws here but I was wondering if the 'Comments' area is related to Sharing to allow others to share their comments? Could be totally wrong and hope that some expert will educate us both.

If it is sharing related then turn sharing off.

In a copy, try accepting all changes and resolving all comments. If that solves it, write back for more on how this happens and what you can do.

I tried accepting all changes. The gray box is now gone, and i hope it stays that way. Fingers crossed. Thank you for your advice.

"Whatever went wrong is now on all my documents, not just the one I'm working on."

Thank you Charles but question for @kathie87124 - Did fixing it for one document fix it for all your documents?

It seems a bit weird if it did.

Yes, it fixed all my documents.

Sounds like a Word bug.

Not a bug, this is by design. It is one of the ways of viewing tracked changes and comments and puts that area on all pages, not just the ones with comments or changes.

I had another issue yesterday when changes were being tracked in red. I don't want to track changes. How can I turn off "track changes"? I don't know how to turn them on. This is so frustrating.

Track changes is under the Review tab. You can and should turn it off there.
Then, accept all changes and save.