Adding comments to your Google Slides presentations allows you to provide feedback or notes without editing the actual slides. This can be extremely useful when collaborating with others. You can take it a step further by creating links to specific comments so you can easily jump to important conversations later.
Why Link to a Comment?
Linking directly to a comment enables you to:
- Quickly navigate to an important discussion thread later
- Direct others to focus on a particular comment thread
- Create an index or table of contents linking key points
Without links, you’d have to manually scroll through potentially hundreds of comments trying to find the one you want. Adding links makes accessing important feedback conversations a breeze.
How to Get a Link to a Comment
Getting a link to a specific comment is easy but not obvious at first glance. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Add a Comment
- Open your Google Slides presentation
- Select the slide where you want to add a comment
- Click the Comment button in the toolbar (it looks like a chat bubble icon)
- Type your comment and click Comment when finished
Step 2: Open the Comment Thread
- Make sure the slide with the target comment is displayed
- Click the number icon in the upper-right corner showing how many comments are on that slide
- This opens the comment thread panel on the right side
- Locate the specific comment you want to link to
Step 3: Right Click the Comment
- Hover over the comment text
- Right click with your mouse
- A menu will appear – select Get a link to this comment
Step 4: Copy the Link
- A window will appear showing the direct URL to that comment
- Click the Copy link button to save it to your clipboard
You now have a direct link to that specific comment in your Google Slides presentation!
Inserting Comment Links in Your Presentation
Now that you’ve copied a link to a comment, you can paste it anywhere in your presentation:
- Insert a text hyperlink – paste the link into a text box and apply hyperlink formatting
- Link an image/shape – assign the comment URL to an image or shape using the hyperlink tool
- Add to slide notes – paste it in presenter notes so you remember which comments to discuss
I recommend creating a table of contents slide linking to key comment threads relevant to your audience. This allows everyone to quickly access the most important conversations.
Here’s an example TOC slide with comment links:
Table of Contents Example
Comment Link Best Practices
When including comment links:
- Use descriptive text – don’t just say “See comment 7”
- Keep them up to date if comments are deleted/moved around
- Test links after presenting to ensure they still work
I also suggest giving each comment a title to make the discussion easily identifiable.
Real-World Use Cases
Linking to Google Slides comments unlocks some incredibly useful applications:
- Client Feedback – Share a presentation and use links to quickly navigate client feedback during follow-up.
- Internal Reviews – Link reviewers to specific points of debate/discussion.
- External Audits – Enable auditors and regulators to access key conversations.
- Community Feedback – If publishing a public slide deck, link to crowdsourced user comments.
- Product Roadmaps – Link to user feedback guiding priority feature improvements.
Example: Client Feedback Presentation
Sharing an initial draft with a client can generate hundreds of comments. Emailing a presentation back and forth loses all that context.
Instead, create a separate presentation just for addressing their feedback:
- Insert their original slides
- Paste links to each of the client’s comments
- Respond to each linked comment with your follow-up actions
Now you have a simple way to walk clients through your response to every single comment without losing context!
Wrap Up
Linking directly to Google Slides comments keeps important conversations accessible in a rapidly growing stack of feedback. Whether you’re collaborating internally or sharing with external stakeholders, linking comments creates an invaluable index into the discussions that matter most.
