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: Finding and Replacing Text in Notes and Comments.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 14, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
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: 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:
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 (3534) 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: Finding and Replacing Text in Notes and Comments.
Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros today!
Want to make your worksheet comments appear a certain way? It's easy to do using techniques you already are familiar with.
Discover MoreHave you ever chosen to edit a comment, only to find that the comment is quite a ways from the cell with which it is ...
Discover MoreIn Excel, single comments are associated with single cells. If you want to have a comment be linked to multiple cells, ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2022-03-27 19:51:18
Jen
This is great, thanks Allen!
Just wondering if it is possible to include wildcards in the 'find' part of the macro?
Eg. I've saved a Google Sheets doc as .xlsx and all the comments that transposed over now starts with 3 lines of junk (see below). I'd like to automatically remove these 3 lines from comments that have them. (However there are comments added since that don't so I can't just delete first 3 lines of all comments.) So if this was Find/Replace in Word, could use wildcards to:
1. replace the "===" AND the line break (^p or ^l) that follows it
2. use the equivalent of * wildcard to search for everything that starts with "ID" and finishes with a line break, and similarly replace "Jenni Downes" and the date content inside parentheses ( ).
Is there a way to do this via your macro? (Or any other way?)
Google Sheets comments start with 3 lines that look like this:
===========
ID#AAAAUtGJikI
Jenni Downes (2022-02-14 21:30:05)
...actual comment starts here on 4th line...
Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments