Sharing and comments

Mention people and get comment emails

Use @ to mention someone in a comment, and learn who gets emailed about comments and how to turn those emails off.

Type @ in a comment or reply, then pick a name from the list. The person you mention gets an email straight away with a link to the comment.

Mention someone

Start a comment or reply. On a shared paper, the box says Add a comment or @mention or Reply or @mention.
Type @ and the first letters of the person’s name.
Pick them from the list. It shows up to six matching people.
Post the comment.

You can mention the owner of the paper and anyone who has opened it as a commenter or editor. Viewers can’t see comments, so they aren’t listed. People who haven’t opened their invite yet aren’t listed either.

If you own the paper and the person isn’t there, click Add people in Share under the list to invite them. See Share a paper.

On a paper shared with anyone who has the link, people who only have the link see the owner and people who have already commented.

Who gets an email about comments

Writing Studio emails people about comments in three cases:

What happens	Who gets an email	Subject line
Someone mentions you	You, right away	[Name] mentioned you in “[paper]”
Someone replies in a thread you’re in	You	[Name] replied in “[paper]”
Someone comments on your paper	You, as the owner	[Name] commented on “[paper]”

As the owner, you get at most one email an hour for each person commenting on each paper, so a busy reviewer doesn’t fill your inbox. Writing Studio also limits how many comment emails it sends in a day.

Each email links to the comment. If you’re asked to sign in, use the email address the message was sent to.

Turn comment emails off or on

Click your name at the top of the sidebar and choose Settings.
Go to Notifications.
Turn off Email me about comments.

It’s on by default. Turn it back on the same way. See Choose which emails you get for the emails you always get.

You can also click Turn off comment emails at the bottom of any comment email. A page asks “Stop emails about comments?”. Click Turn off comment emails to confirm. You don’t need to sign in for this.

If the page says the link isn’t valid, open the latest comment email and try its link again.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I find someone in the mention list?

The list only shows people who can comment: the owner and commenters or editors who have opened the paper. Viewers and people who haven't accepted their invite yet aren't listed. The owner can add people in Share.

Can I stop comment emails without turning off invites?

Yes. The comment emails switch only covers comments. Invitations to papers and emails about your account are always sent.

Do I need to sign in to unsubscribe?

No. The Turn off comment emails link at the bottom of each comment email works without signing in.

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