Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Finding and Replacing Text in Comments.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 8, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013
Gerry has a workbook containing 22 worksheets. Each worksheet has about 20 comments. Some of the comments make reference to a company division. He would like to do a mass search and replace of the comments to find each reference (for example, "ABC Division") and replace it with something else (for example, "XYZ subsidiary").
There is no way to do this without using a macro. The regular Find and Replace capabilities in Excel don't allow you to find text within comments, but you can use macro commands. The following is a simple macro to do the replacing:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here:
Sub ReplaceComments()
Dim cmt As Comment
Dim wks As Worksheet
Dim sFind As String
Dim sReplace As String
Dim sCmt As String
sFind = "ABC Division"
sReplace = "XYZ subidiary"
For Each wks In ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets
For Each cmt In wks.Comments
sCmt = cmt.Text
If InStr(sCmt, sFind) <> 0 Then
sCmt = Application.WorksheetFunction. _
Substitute(sCmt, sFind, sReplace)
cmt.Text Text:=sCmt
End If
Next
Next
Set wks = Nothing
Set cmt = Nothing
End Sub
The key lines here are those that set the sFind and sReplace variables. You should set those to reflect what you are searching for and what you want it replaced with, respectively. The macro steps through each comment in each worksheet of the current workbook and makes the changes anywhere they are located.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11149) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Finding and Replacing Text in Comments.
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2021-04-09 10:55:29
Is there a way to do this for a certain selection instead of the entire sheet?
2018-01-27 10:48:35
Peter Atherton
Bill
Try this, a mashup of Allen's macro.
Option Explicit
Sub ListComments()
Dim cmt As Comment
Dim wks As Worksheet, cmtsList As Worksheet
Dim sCmt As String, i As Integer
Dim c As range, NextRow As Long
With Application
.ScreenUpdating = False
.DisplayAlerts = False
End With
For Each wks In ActiveWorkbook.Sheets
If wks.Name = "List Comments" Then
wks.Delete
Exit For
End If
Next wks
Set cmtsList = Worksheets.Add
With cmtsList
.Name = "List Comments"
[A1] = "Sheet Name"
[B1] = "Cell Ref"
[C1] = "Comment Text"
[A1:C1].Font.Bold = True
End With
NextRow = 2
For Each wks In ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets
For Each cmt In wks.Comments
sCmt = cmt.Text
Cells(NextRow, 1) = wks.Name
Cells(NextRow, 2) = cmt.Parent.Address
Cells(NextRow, 3) = sCmt
NextRow = NextRow + 1
Next
Next
cmtsList.range("A1:C1").EntireColumn.AutoFit
With Application
.ScreenUpdating = True
.DisplayAlerts = True
End With
Set wks = Nothing
Set cmt = Nothing
End Sub
2018-01-26 15:02:41
Bill
is there a way to find all comments in a workbook and list them on a new worksheet by worksheet and cell reference?
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