VBA MsgBox Examples with Code

VBA MsgBox examples for every kind of pop-up message box you can build in Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint and VBScript. Each example below is copy-and-run, with the constant, its value, and what the user sees.

The MsgBox function displays a message with an optional icon and a chosen set of buttons, waits for the user to click one, and returns an integer telling you which. That return value is what makes it useful — it lets a macro branch on a decision the user just made.

VBA MsgBox syntax

The syntax is identical in Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint and VBScript. Only prompt is required.

MsgBox(prompt [, buttons] [, title] [, helpfile, context])

A message box with all three common arguments:

MsgBox "Hello World!", vbYesNo + vbInformation, "Hello World Example"

That shows Yes and No buttons with an information icon and a custom title. The + is how you combine a button constant with an icon constant.

VBA MsgBox constants: the complete reference

Everything you can pass in the buttons argument. Pick one from the button group, optionally add one icon, and optionally add a default-button constant.

Button constants

Icon constants

Default button constants

Modality and display constants

VBA MsgBox return values

Whichever button the user clicks, MsgBox returns a number. Test against the named constant rather than the number — vbYes is clearer than 6 and cannot be mistyped.

VBA MsgBox Yes No

The most common use of a message box is asking a yes-or-no question and branching on the answer.

Sub MsgBox_YesNo()

    If MsgBox("Do you want to see the current time?", vbYesNo) = vbYes Then
        MsgBox Format(Now(), "HH:MM:SS AMPM"), vbInformation, "Current Time"
    End If

End Sub

MsgBox Yes No with If Then Else

Store the result in a variable when you need more than two branches, or when you want to use the answer later in the procedure.

Sub MsgBox_YesNo_IfThen()

    Dim userChoice As Integer

    userChoice = MsgBox("Press Yes or No", vbYesNo, "Your choice")

    If userChoice = vbYes Then
        MsgBox "You pressed Yes"
    ElseIf userChoice = vbNo Then
        MsgBox "You pressed No"
    End If

End Sub

MsgBox Yes No Cancel

Three buttons give you three branches. Cancel is the natural place to abandon whatever the macro was about to do.

Sub MsgBox_YesNoCancel()

    Dim answer As Integer

    answer = MsgBox("File already exists. Replace it?", _
                    vbYesNoCancel + vbQuestion, "Confirm replace")

    If answer = vbYes Then
        MsgBox "Replacing the file", vbInformation
    ElseIf answer = vbNo Then
        MsgBox "Keeping the existing file", vbInformation
    Else
        MsgBox "Cancelled", vbInformation
    End If

End Sub

MsgBox Yes No with Exit Sub

A confirmation prompt that stops the macro when the user declines. Note the <> vbYes test — it treats Cancel and the window’s close button the same as No, which is usually what you want.

Sub MsgBox_ConfirmOrExit()

    If MsgBox("Would you like to continue?", vbQuestion + vbYesNo) <> vbYes Then
        Exit Sub
    End If

    ' Everything below runs only if the user pressed Yes
    MsgBox "Continuing...", vbInformation

End Sub

VBA MsgBox new line, carriage return and multiple lines

Use vbCr — or vbNewLine, which does the same thing — joined with & to split a message across lines.

MsgBox "This is line one" & vbCr & "This is line two"

For a longer message, break the VBA statement itself with a line-continuation underscore so the code stays readable:

Sub MsgBox_MultipleLines()

    Dim answer As Integer

    answer = MsgBox("Are you a graduate?" _
        & vbCr & vbCr _
        & "Yes    - I am a graduate" _
        & vbCr & "No     - I am not a graduate" _
        & vbCr & "Cancel - I would rather not say" _
        , vbYesNoCancel + vbQuestion, "Eligibility")

    If answer = vbYes Then
        MsgBox "You are eligible to apply"
    ElseIf answer = vbNo Then
        MsgBox "You are not eligible to apply"
    Else
        MsgBox "No problem — we will find something suitable"
    End If

End Sub

VBA MsgBox button examples

vbOKOnly

A single OK button. This is the default, so MsgBox "Text" and MsgBox "Text", vbOKOnly are identical. Returns 1.

Sub MessageBox_vbOKOnly()

    Dim result As Integer
    result = MsgBox("Thanks for visiting Analysistabs!", vbOKOnly, "Example of vbOKOnly")

End Sub

vbOKCancel

OK and Cancel. Returns 1 for OK, 2 for Cancel.

Sub MessageBox_vbOKCancel()

    Dim result As Integer
    result = MsgBox("Are you a VBA expert?", vbOKCancel, "Example of vbOKCancel")

    If result = vbOK Then
        MsgBox "Great! Try the advanced tutorials.", , "OK - 1"
    Else
        MsgBox "Start learning from the basics.", , "Cancel - 2"
    End If

End Sub

vbAbortRetryIgnore

Abort, Retry and Ignore. Returns 3, 4 or 5. Useful when an operation can be retried, such as a failed connection.

Sub MessageBox_vbAbortRetryIgnore()

    Dim result As Integer
    result = MsgBox("The connection failed. Continue?", _
                    vbAbortRetryIgnore, "Example of vbAbortRetryIgnore")

    If result = vbAbort Then
        MsgBox "Abort", , "Abort - 3"
    ElseIf result = vbRetry Then
        MsgBox "Retry", , "Retry - 4"
    Else
        MsgBox "Ignore", , "Ignore - 5"
    End If

End Sub

vbYesNoCancel

Yes, No and Cancel. Returns 6, 7 or 2.

Sub MessageBox_vbYesNoCancel()

    Dim result As Integer
    result = MsgBox("File already exists. Replace it?", _
                    vbYesNoCancel, "Example of vbYesNoCancel")

    If result = vbYes Then
        MsgBox "Yes", vbInformation, "Yes - 6"
    ElseIf result = vbNo Then
        MsgBox "No", vbInformation, "No - 7"
    Else
        MsgBox "Cancel", vbInformation, "Cancel - 2"
    End If

End Sub

vbYesNo

Yes and No. Returns 6 or 7. Note there is no Cancel, so the user cannot dismiss it with the close button — the X is disabled.

Sub MessageBox_vbYesNo()

    Dim result As Integer
    result = MsgBox("Replace the existing file?", vbYesNo, "Example of vbYesNo")

    If result = vbYes Then
        MsgBox "Yes — replacing the file", vbInformation, "Yes - 6"
    Else
        MsgBox "No — keeping the file", , "No - 7"
    End If

End Sub

vbRetryCancel

Retry and Cancel. Returns 4 or 2.

Sub MessageBox_vbRetryCancel()

    Dim result As Integer
    result = MsgBox("Close the file and try again?", _
                    vbRetryCancel + vbDefaultButton2, "Example of vbRetryCancel")

    If result = vbRetry Then
        MsgBox "Retry", , "Retry - 4"
    Else
        MsgBox "Cancel", , "Cancel - 2"
    End If

End Sub

VBA MsgBox icon examples

vbCritical

Value 16. Shows the critical-error icon, a white cross on red. Use it when something has actually failed, not for warnings.

Sub MessageBox_vbCritical()

    MsgBox "Please enter a valid number.", vbCritical, "Example of vbCritical"

End Sub

vbQuestion

Value 32. Shows a question mark. Pair it with vbYesNo when you are genuinely asking something.

Sub MessageBox_vbQuestion()

    MsgBox "Are you new to VBA?", vbQuestion, "Example of vbQuestion"

End Sub

vbExclamation

Value 48. Shows a warning triangle. The right choice when the user can still proceed but should think first.

Sub MessageBox_vbExclamation()

    MsgBox "The input data is not valid.", vbExclamation, "Example of vbExclamation"

End Sub

vbInformation

Value 64. Shows a blue information icon. The default choice for confirming that something finished successfully.

Sub MessageBox_vbInformation()

    MsgBox "Task completed successfully.", vbInformation, "Example of vbInformation"

End Sub

VBA MsgBox default button

The default button is the one that already has focus, so pressing Enter selects it. Use it to make the safe choice the easy one.

vbDefaultButton1

Value 0. Focus on the first button — the default behaviour.

MsgBox "Close the file and try again?", vbRetryCancel + vbDefaultButton1, "vbDefaultButton1"

vbDefaultButton2

Value 256. Focus on the second button.

MsgBox "Close the file and try again?", vbRetryCancel + vbDefaultButton2, "vbDefaultButton2"

vbDefaultButton3

Value 512. Focus on the third button.

MsgBox "Close the file and try again?", vbYesNoCancel + vbDefaultButton3, "vbDefaultButton3"

vbDefaultButton4

Value 768. Focus on the fourth button. In practice this only applies when a Help button is present, since no standard button set has four buttons.

MsgBox "Need help with this step?", vbYesNoCancel + vbMsgBoxHelpButton + vbDefaultButton4, "vbDefaultButton4"

VBA MsgBox modality and display options

vbApplicationModal

Value 0, the default. The user must respond before continuing in the current application, but other applications stay usable.

MsgBox "Thanks for visiting Analysistabs!", vbApplicationModal, "vbApplicationModal"

vbSystemModal

Value 4096. Every application is suspended until the user responds. Use sparingly — it is intrusive.

MsgBox "Thanks for visiting Analysistabs!", vbSystemModal, "vbSystemModal"

vbMsgBoxHelpButton

Value 16384. Adds a Help button. Supply helpfile and context arguments for it to do anything.

MsgBox "Thanks for visiting Analysistabs!", vbMsgBoxHelpButton, "vbMsgBoxHelpButton"

VbMsgBoxSetForeground

Value 65536. Forces the message box to the front. Useful when a long macro has run in the background and the window might otherwise appear behind another application.

MsgBox "Thanks for visiting Analysistabs!", vbMsgBoxSetForeground, "VbMsgBoxSetForeground"

vbMsgBoxRight

Value 524288. Right-aligns the message text.

MsgBox "The input data is not valid!", vbMsgBoxRight, "vbMsgBoxRight"

vbMsgBoxRtlReading

Value 1048576. Sets right-to-left reading order on Hebrew and Arabic systems.

MsgBox "Thanks for visiting Analysistabs!", vbMsgBoxRtlReading, "vbMsgBoxRtlReading"

VBA MsgBox for error handling

A message box is the simplest way to surface a runtime error while you are still developing. Jump to a label with On Error GoTo and report the error number and description.

Sub ShowErrorMessageBox()

    On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

    ' Your code goes here

    Exit Sub

ErrorHandler:
    MsgBox "Error " & Err.Number & vbCr & Err.Description, _
           vbCritical, "Something went wrong"

End Sub

Custom message box in Excel VBA

If none of the standard combinations fit — you need three custom button captions, a checkbox, an input field, or formatted text — build a UserForm instead. A UserForm gives you full control over layout, fonts and colours, and can return whatever you like.

The MsgBox function cannot change button captions, remove buttons entirely, or set font size and colour. Those all require a UserForm.

How to run these examples

1. Open the VBA editorPress Alt + F11 in Excel, or Fn + Option + F11 on Mac.
2. Insert a moduleInsert → Module from the menu. Do not paste into ThisWorkbook unless the example says so.
3. Paste the codeCopy any example above and paste it into the module window.
4. Run itClick inside the procedure and press F5.

Related VBA guides

• VBA InputBox — when you need the user to type something rather than pick a button.
• VBA Open File dialog box — let the user browse for a file.
• VBA If Then Else — the branching that makes a message box useful.
• VBA On Error — full error handling beyond a message box.
• 100+ Excel VBA macro examples — the full library.

UserForm controls

• VBA ComboBox
• VBA ListBox
• VBA CheckBox
• VBA CommandButton
• VBA TextBox
• VBA UserForm Label
• VBA UserForm OptionButton
• VBA UserForm Image