VBA MsgBox Function

Syntax of MsgBox in VBA

For creating a dialog, the general syntax is:

These arguments for MsgBox are explained below:

An example of simple MsgBox VBA

The first example simply displays the message in a dialog box with ‘Ok’ button. For that, just enclose the message without specifying a button, so the default is taken. Have a look at the code:

Function MsgBox_exmample()

   'A simple message in dialog

   MsgBox ("Welcome to the VBA World!")

End Function

As no button value is specified, it took the 0 value which is just the ‘OK’ button.

A demo of message box with Yes/No buttons

The button value = 4 displays the button with Yes and No options in the message box.

See the example and code below with a Yes/No alert with a simple message. No other action is performed in this example as you click Yes or No.

Function MsgBox_exmample()

   'A Demo of Yes and No

   a = MsgBox("Dialog with Yes/No!", 4)

End Function

The example of Yes/No/Cancel buttons with title

See the following example where this value is used along with the title option. As mentioned earlier, the title will appear in the title bar of the message box:

Function MsgBox_exmample()
   'buttn value = 3 with Yes/No/Cancel
   numa = MsgBox("Yes/No and Cancel options!", 3, "Yes, No and Cancel Demo")

   If numa = 6 Then
      MsgBox "Yes option pressed!"
   ElseIf numa = 7 Then
      MsgBox "No option pressed!"
   Else
      MsgBox "Cancel pressed!"
   End If

End Function

In the demo, you can see another simple dialog appear with the message that which button was pressed. This is done by accessing the returned value of the button. Pressing the button returns the following values:

• If Yes is pressed, it returns 6.
• If Cancel is pressed, it returns 7.
• For Cancel, it returns 2.
• See the complete list in the bottom section.

The VBA If..ElseIf..Else statement is used to get the value and display the respective dialog box.

A demo of a multi-line VBA message box

For this demo, a multiline message box is created by using vbNewLine. Apart from that, button constant vbQuestion is used rather than a numeric value.

Have a look at the code and output:

Function MsgBox_exmample()

   'buttn value = vbQuestion

   x = MsgBox("Demo of multiline" & vbNewLine & "message box" & vbNewLine & "Three Lines", vbQuestion, "Multi-Line Box")

  

End Function

Using a combination of two buttons – changing the default button

In the Yes/No/Cancel example, you might notice there is a default button. The default button is pressed as you close the dialog using the space bar or escape key etc. If you try that example again, you will see the ‘Yes’ button is the default.

For changing this to some other button like No or Cancel, you may use the combination of two buttons by using a ‘+’ sign.

Have a look at the code below and run this example, press the spacebar or escape key to close the dialog and see what the next dialog displays:

Function MsgBox_exmample()

   'button value = 3 + vbDefaultButton3
   numa = MsgBox("Press escape or space bar!", 3 + vbDefaultButton3, "Two buttons demo")

   If numa = 6 Then
      MsgBox "Yes pressed!"
   ElseIf numa = 7 Then
      MsgBox "No pressed!"
   Else
      MsgBox "Cancel pressed!"
   End If

End Function

You saw the Cancel button became the default. This is done by using the following combination:

The vbDefaultButton3 button is used to make the third button default. Similarly, the vbDefaultButton1, vbDefaultButton2, and vbDefaultButton4 make the 1, 2, and 4 buttons default, respectively.

Adding a Help button with a critical icon

This dialog is the combination of three buttons.

• The vbYesNo displays two options: Yes and No.
• The vbCritical is added for the critical sign with Windows sound.
• The third button is a Help button by using the constant: vbMsgBoxHelpButton.

Function MsgBox_exmample()

   'A demo of showing help button with critcal icon

   numa = MsgBox("Are you sure deleting this account permanently?", vbYesNo + vbCritical + vbMsgBoxHelpButton, "Help button demo")

End Function

List of buttons with constants, values, and description

Following is the button list that you may specify in the MsgBox with the value and a little description:

Table of returned values for different buttons