Google Sheets adds a dedicated sidebar for reviewing and replying to comments

A new icon found at the top-right of a Google Sheet will now pull up a dedicated sidebar where you can review comments and conversation threads. It also has a filter section where you can find the most relevant comments for getting your work done when there is a lot going on in a document with many collaborators.

Use the new comments sidebar to see all the conversations happening in a spreadsheet. Quickly reply, resolve, or create new conversations in collaboration with your colleagues.

These filters will show you all comments that exist in the Sheet, and those that mention you specifically, as well as those that are either open or resolved. Previously, all comments and actions related to them appeared to the right of the page contents strewn into an open area with no visual style or way to manage them in bulk.

Each comment will also feature a set of navigational arrows near the bottom which will allow you to thumb through related comments in the conversation thread. All of this should make collaborating, the most important aspect of Sheets, easier than ever. By making it simpler to review, respond to, and resolve comments, you can get a better understanding of the data and analyze it properly.

You can either click on the aforementioned comment icon to pull up the sidebar, or you can click ‘Open all comments’ in the tab sheet. Additionally, you can click ‘open’ from any comment anchored to a cell, or click a new button in the comment overlay that allows you to page between comment threads in a Sheet.

There’s nothing for admins or their users to do in order to see this awesome new feature. The rollout is beginning and will take up to two weeks for it to appear for Rapid Release domains. For Scheduled Release domains, rollout begins on June 16th and will take two weeks from then. All Google Workspace tiers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business folks can expect the new comment sidebar – enjoy!