Skip to main content

Add comments in your policy

This article explains when you can comment or edit a policy, how comments work, and how Policy Owners manage edits during reviews.

⚠️ Select your experience

The steps depend on your interface version. Select a link to skip to the instructions for your version.

Customers who joined Drata on or after Feb 24, 2026 are automatically on the New Experience.


Instructions for the New Experience ⬇️

When comments and edits are allowed

Whether you can comment or edit depends on the policy's current status.

Policy status

Comments

Edits

Draft

Allowed

Allowed

Needs approval

Not allowed

Not allowed

Approved

Not allowed

Not allowed

Published

Not allowed

Not allowed

Add comments to a policy

  1. Open Governance → Policies.

  2. Open the policy you want to review.

  3. Select the Policy tab.

  4. Highlight the text you want to comment on.

  5. Select the Comment icon.

  6. Enter your comment and submit.

Displays policy that is being commented on.

Comments are disabled in all other statuses.


How comments are retained

  • Comments remain attached to the policy when its status changes.

  • Moving a policy back to Draft does not remove existing comments.

  • Comments are visible only within the Policy Center and are not visible to personnel in My Drata.

This helps maintain feedback history during revisions.


Instructions for the Classic Experience ⬇️

You can comment on and edit policies in Drata when the policy is in Draft or New status. Once a policy enters a review or approval stage—such as Needs Approval or Approved—commenting and editing actions are restricted to maintain policy integrity. This guide outlines when actions are allowed, how to manage comments, and how to edit policies using ownership controls.

Prerequisites

To comment on or edit a policy:

  • The policy must be in Draft or New status.

  • You can't add comments or make edits when a policy is in Needs Approval, Approved, or other restricted statuses.

  • Only the Policy Owner can move a policy back to Draft or reassign ownership to another user for collaboration.

Add a Comment to a Policy

You can only add comments in Draft or New status.

  1. Open the policy in the Policy Center page.

  2. Confirm the policy is in Draft or New status.

  3. Highlight the relevant text.

  4. Select the comment icon.

  5. Enter your comment and submit.

Comments are disabled in all other statuses to preserve the integrity of in-review or approved policies.

Comment Retention

  • Comments are preserved when a policy changes status.

  • Moving a policy from Approved or Needs Approval back to Draft does not delete existing comments.

    • Note: Comments are not visible to users in My Drata.

  • This helps maintain a complete feedback history during updates and revisions.

Edit a Policy

Policies can only be edited in Draft or New status.

If the policy is locked (for example, in Needs Approval or Approved), follow these steps:

  1. The Policy Owner moves the policy back to Draft.

  2. Make the required edits.

  3. Republish the policy when complete.

The Policy Owner can temporarily assign ownership to another user to complete edits, then reassign it afterward.

Did this answer your question?