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: Specifying Location for a Message Box.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 7, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Leonard wonders if, when displaying a message box in a macro, there is a way to force the box to appear at a specific location on the screen.
There is no way to do this, as the MsgBox function doesn't include any way to specify a location. Instead, Excel displays the message box centered on the screen. If you need the capability to position the box, then the easiest solution is to rely upon the InputBox function:
sName = InputBox(Prompt:="Enter your name", XPos:=2880, YPos:=1440)
Note that you can specify both an X position and a Y position for the upper-left corner of the box. The values assigned to these parameters are measured from the top-left corner of the screen, and are specified in twips. (There are 1440 twips to an inch.)
An input box does, of course, expect the user to provide input, whereas a message box does not. If you don't want to potentially confuse your users by soliciting input when none is really needed, then you'll need to create a UserForm to simulate a message box.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10028) 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: Specifying Location for a Message Box.
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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:
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