Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Getting Audible Feedback.

Getting Audible Feedback

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 27, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you are using a multimedia computer (you know—the type that has more bells and whistles than your home stereo system), then you can configure Excel so it make noises. Granted, every version of Excel makes an obnoxious ding whenever you press the wrong key or try to do something it doesn't like, but now you can expand the auditory experience to an even wider array of obnoxious noises. To set up Excel to use audible feedback, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Select the General tab. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The General tab of the Options dialog box.

  3. Make sure the Provide Feedback with Sound check box is selected.
  4. Click on OK.

You have now enabled the use of sounds. If you want to change which sounds Excel uses, then do your tweaking in the Sounds applet of the Control Panel. (This is within Windows, not in Excel itself.)

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2934) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Getting Audible Feedback.

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. ...

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