M365 Changelog: Setting to turn off/on comments for a list

MC255695 – This new feature will enable users to soon be able to turn off/on comments for individual lists. Any user with manage list permission on the list will be able to access this setting in Advanced settings under List settings.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 70706.

When this will happen

Targeted release (entire org ): will begin rolling this out in mid-May and expect to complete rollout late May.

Standard release: will begin rolling this out in late May and expect to complete rollout mid-June.

How this will affect your organization

Admins can already turn off or turn on comments for their entire organization in the admin center. This new setting allows a finer-grained control for organizations that want to disallow commenting on specific lists. If an admin had previously turned off commenting for the entire organization, they can now turn on commenting for the organization and then turn off commenting for specific lists. The experience when comments are turned off for a list is similar to when comments are turned off for the organization in the admin center. The experience when a user turns off comments is as follows:

• All comments already present on list items remain as is.
• Comments pane is collapsed by default when an item is opened.
• Comments textbox is disabled.
• Entry points to comments from the All Items view are hidden.
• Users can delete comments, but not add new comments.

When a user chooses to turn the comments back on, the feature will work the same way as before it was turned off. To turn off comments for a list: Select List settings 
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> then Advanced settings > under Allow comments on list items, select No. Then scroll to the bottom of the Advanced settings page and select OK to save changes.

The comment entry points will be hidden, and the comments textbox will be disabled.

What you need to do to prepare

You might want to notify your users about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate.

Learn more:

To aid collaboration within and across teams, see Add and reply to comments in list items.