How to Export Word Comments to a CSV for External Review Tracking

When you finish a collaborative review in Word, comments are trapped inside the document file. Extracting those comments into a CSV file lets you share feedback with stakeholders who do not have Word installed, import comments into project management tools, or audit reviewer activity outside the document. Word does not include a built-in Export Comments to CSV command. This article explains two methods to extract comments: using Word’s native macro system and using a free online tool. Both methods preserve the comment author, date, page number, and body text.

How Word Stores Comments and What a CSV Export Needs

Word stores comments as XML elements inside the .docx package. Each comment contains an author name, initials, a timestamp, a reference to the text or object it is attached to, and the comment body. When you open the document in Word, the application renders these XML elements in the Reviewing Pane or as balloons in Print Layout view.

A CSV export must extract four fields for each comment:

• Author – the name of the reviewer who inserted the comment
• Date – the date and time the comment was created
• Page – the page number where the commented text appears
• Comment Text – the body of the comment

Word does not expose a one-click Export Comments button. You must either run a VBA macro that loops through all comments in the document and writes them to a text file, or save the document as plain text and use Excel to split the data into columns. Both methods require the document to have at least one comment.

Method 1: Export Comments to CSV Using a VBA Macro

1. Open the document and press Alt + F11
   This opens the Visual Basic for Applications editor. If the editor opens but shows no project pane, press Ctrl + R to display the Project Explorer.
2. Insert a new module
   In the Project Explorer, right-click the document name under Normal or Project (Document). Choose Insert > Module. A blank code window appears.
3. Paste the export macro
   Copy the following code and paste it into the module window:
   Sub ExportCommentsToCSV()
Dim doc As Document
Dim comm As Comment
Dim fso As Object
Dim ts As Object
Dim csvPath As String
Set doc = ActiveDocument
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
csvPath = doc.Path & "\" & Replace(doc.Name, ".docx", "") & "_Comments.csv"
Set ts = fso.CreateTextFile(csvPath, True)
ts.WriteLine "Author,Date,Page,Comment"
For Each comm In doc.Comments
ts.WriteLine Chr(34) & comm.Author & Chr(34) & "," & _
Chr(34) & comm.Date & Chr(34) & "," & _
Chr(34) & comm.Scope.Information(wdActiveEndPageNumber) & Chr(34) & "," & _
Chr(34) & Replace(comm.Range.Text, Chr(34), """") & Chr(34)
Next comm
ts.Close
MsgBox "Comments exported to " & csvPath
End Sub
4. Run the macro
   Press F5 while the cursor is inside the macro code, or close the editor and press Alt + F8. In the Macro dialog, select ExportCommentsToCSV and click Run. A message box confirms the export path.
5. Open the CSV file
   Navigate to the folder that contains the original document. You will see a new file named DocumentName_Comments.csv. Double-click it to open in Excel. Each row shows one comment with Author, Date, Page, and Comment columns.

What to Do If the Macro Fails

If you see a security warning about macros when you open the document, enable macros temporarily. Go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Macro Settings. Select Enable all macros and click OK. Run the macro, then restore the default Disable all macros with notification setting.

If the macro runs but creates an empty CSV file, the document contains no comments. Add at least one comment before running the macro again.

Method 2: Export Comments to CSV Using Plain Text and Excel

This method does not require VBA. It uses Word’s Save As Plain Text feature and Excel’s Text to Columns wizard.

1. Save the document as Plain Text
   Go to File > Save As. Choose Plain Text (txt) from the Save as type dropdown. Click Save. In the File Conversion dialog, accept the default settings and click OK. Word creates a .txt file that contains all comments in a block at the end of the document, preceded by the heading “Comments:”.
2. Open the .txt file in Excel
   Open Excel. Go to Data > From Text/CSV. Select the .txt file you just created. In the import preview, you will see that all comments appear in a single column.
3. Use Text to Columns to split the data
   Select the column that contains the comment block. Go to Data > Text to Columns. Choose Delimited and click Next. Check the box for Other and type a colon (:) in the box. Click Finish. Excel splits each comment into Author, Date, and Comment Text columns. The page number is not included in the plain-text export, so you must add it manually if needed.
4. Save the workbook as CSV
   Go to File > Save As. Choose CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (csv) from the Save as type dropdown. Click Save.

Method 3: Export Comments Using an Online Tool

If you cannot run macros and do not want to use Excel, a free online tool can extract comments directly. These tools read the .docx XML structure and output a CSV file.

1. Go to comment-export.com
   Open your browser and navigate to comment-export.com. This site processes files locally in your browser and does not upload them to a server.
2. Upload the .docx file
   Click the Choose File button and select the Word document that contains comments. The tool parses the file and displays a preview of all comments.
3. Download the CSV
   Click the Download CSV button. The file is saved to your default Downloads folder. Open it in Excel to verify the columns.

Common Issues When Exporting Comments to CSV

Comments Appear in the Wrong Order in the CSV

Word stores comments in the order they were created, not in page order. The macro in Method 1 exports comments in creation order. To sort by page in Excel, select the Page column and use Data > Sort Smallest to Largest.

The CSV File Contains Extra Quote Characters

If a comment body contains a double-quote character, the macro wraps it with an extra quote. When Excel opens the CSV, it treats the extra quote as a literal character. To remove extra quotes, use Excel’s Find and Replace (Ctrl + H). Find “” and replace with ” (a single quote).

Online Tool Does Not Detect All Comments

Some online tools only extract comments attached to text, not comments attached to images, tables, or shapes. If your document contains comments on non-text objects, use the VBA macro method instead.

Item	VBA Macro	Plain Text + Excel
Requires VBA knowledge	Yes, but code is provided	No
Includes page number	Yes	No
Works with comments on images	Yes	Yes, but page number missing
Works on Mac	No	Yes
Requires Excel	No	Yes
File size limit	None	None

You can now export Word comments to a CSV file using a VBA macro, Excel’s Text to Columns feature, or an online tool. The macro method is the most complete because it preserves the page number and handles all comment types. Next, try using Excel’s PivotTable feature to summarize comments by author and date. A practical advanced tip: modify the macro to add a fifth column for the commented text snippet by using comm.Scope.Text instead of comm.Scope.Information(wdActiveEndPageNumber).