---
title: Annotations
description: >-
  Learn how to add, customize, and manage annotations on timeseries widgets in
  dashboards and notebooks to highlight important events.
breadcrumbs: Docs > Dashboards > Annotations
---

# Annotations

## Overview{% #overview %}

Annotations let you manually place markers with descriptions on timeseries widgets to highlight key events like deploys, incidents, or outages. Two annotation types are available:

- **Point annotation**: Marks a single moment in time with a vertical line.
- **Timerange annotation**: Highlights a span of time across the widget.

You can also attach a link to any annotation to reference related resources, such as a runbook or incident ticket.

{% image
   source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/dashboards/annotations-12-2025.fa3b3874e9a8fd2229ffcf794a146fc7.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/dashboards/annotations-12-2025.fa3b3874e9a8fd2229ffcf794a146fc7.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x"
   alt="Timeseries showing a drop-off in availability with a vertical annotation line at the end of the drop-off and a comment that says 'Rollback completed — service availability restored.'" /%}

Annotations are available in both dashboards and notebooks. If you export a widget from a dashboard to a notebook, any annotations you've added to the widget persist.

## Adding an annotation{% #adding-an-annotation %}

1. Create an annotation by:
   - Left-clicking anywhere on a timeseries widget and selecting Add annotation from the context menu that appears, or
   - Clicking the x-axis on a timeseries graph
1. Type your comment. To add a hyperlink, select text in your comment and enter a URL.
1. (Optional) Click the timestamp field to adjust the time. To annotate a span of time, set both a start and end time.
1. (Optional) Change the color of the annotation from the dropdown in the bottom left.
1. Click Save.

## Adding multiple annotations{% #adding-multiple-annotations %}

To apply an annotation to multiple timeseries at once:

1. Follow steps 1-4 in Adding an annotation to create an annotation.
1. From the Applying to dropdown, choose All widgets or Selected widgets.If you choose Selected widgets, you see a list of all the widgets in the dashboard or notebook and can check or uncheck the widgets you want to apply the annotation to.
1. Click Save.

## Editing an annotation{% #editing-an-annotation %}

To edit an annotation, hover over the annotation line, click the three dots menu, and choose Edit or Edit for all widgets.

## Deleting an annotation{% #deleting-an-annotation %}

To delete an annotation you've created, hover over the annotation line, click the three dots menu, and choose Delete or Delete from all widgets.