Automatically Placing Text in a Comment

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 10, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016


Grant has a cell in a worksheet that when someone starts typing in the cell, he would like whatever they type to end up in a comment attached to the cell. The cell itself should remain blank, but the comment should contain whatever was typed.

The only way to accomplish this task is through the use of a macro. Using the event handler capabilities of Excel, you can create a macro that is triggered whenever a cell is changed. If the changed cell happens to be the cell that you want the comment associated with, then you can transfer the cell contents to the comment and remove them from the cell itself. The following short macro will do that:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
    Dim rCell As Range
    Dim sTemp As String

    Set rCell = Range("B4")
    If Not Intersect(Target, rCell) Is Nothing Then
        sTemp = rCell.Value
        rCell.ClearComments
        If Len(sTemp) > 0 Then
            Application.EnableEvents = False
            On Error Resume Next
            rCell.AddComment
            rCell.Comment.Text Text:=sTemp
            On Error GoTo 0
            rCell.ClearContents
            Application.EnableEvents = True
        End If
    End If
End Sub

Note that since this is an event handler, it needs to be added to the code module for the worksheet you want affected. In this case, the move-to-comment code is triggered only when a change is made in cell B4; this address can be changed in the code, if desired.

It should also be noted that this macro is only triggered once the user finishes entering something into cell B4. It isn't triggered as the user starts to type. So, actual data entry still occurs in cell B4, not in the comment itself. Further, if someone types something into cell B4, then any existing comment is lost because the macro deletes it before moving the cell contents into the comment.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (13511) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Saving Changes when Closing

If your macro closes workbooks, you'll want to make sure that it will save any changes you made to the workbook. Here's ...

Discover More

Problems Pasting Large Pictures

If you insert a large picture in your document and your text jumps all around and the picture seems to disappear, don't ...

Discover More

Finding Punctuation-Free Paragraphs

Punctuation is a vital part of the syntax of grammar. If you have paragraphs of text that contain no punctuation, ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2013 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Inserting Workbook Comments Into a Cell

One of the pieces of information that Excel can maintain relative to a workbook is a set of comments of your choice. ...

Discover More

Editing Comments and Notes

Comments and notes can be very helpful in a worksheet. After they are added, you may want to change what they contain. ...

Discover More

Managing Comments

If you frequently add comments to cells in a worksheet, Excel provides a variety of tools you can use to manage those ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is one less than 9?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.