MsgBox Parameters

Here are the parameters for the MsgBox function.

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

Only prompt is required.

Parameter	Description
prompt	Required. The text to display in the message box.
buttons	Optional. The button and icon combination to display – see buttons table below.
title	Optional. The text to display in the title bar.
Helpfile & Context	Optional. The helpfile and content relating to the message box

Button and Message Box Icon Combination

Use the following combinations of buttons, default button and icon settings when designing your message box.  For example…

vbYesNo + vbDefaultButton2 + vbExclamation

Constant	Value	Description
vbOKOnly	0	Display OK button only.
vbOKCancel	1	Display OK and Cancel buttons.
vbAbortRetryIgnore	2	Display Abort, Retry, and Ignore buttons.
vbYesNoCancel	3	Display Yes, No, and Cancel buttons.
vbYesNo	4	Display Yes and No buttons.
vbRetryCancel	5	Display Retry and Cancel buttons.
vbCritical	16	Display Critical Message icon.
vbQuestion	32	Display Warning Query icon.
vbExclamation	48	Display Warning Message icon.
vbInformation	64	Display Information Message icon.
vbDefaultButton1	0	First button is default.
vbDefaultButton2	256	Second button is default.
vbDefaultButton3	512	Third button is default.
vbDefaultButton4	768	Fourth button is default.
vbApplicationModal	0	Application modal; the user must respond to the message box before continuing work in the current application.
vbSystemModal	4096	System modal; all applications are suspended until the user responds to the message box.
vbMsgBoxHelpButton	16384	Adds Help button to the message box.
VbMsgBoxSetForeground	65536	Specifies the message box window as the foreground window.

MsgBox Example

The following code would create the message box shown below.

MsgBox "This action can't be undone. Do you wish to Continue?", _
vbYesNo + vbDefaultButton2 + vbExclamation, _
"Salary Increase"

Return Values

To do anything with the user’s response to a message box (which button they press) you can assign the return value to a variable.  See the table of return values below.

Constant	Value	Description
vbOK	1	OK
vbCancel	2	Cancel
vbAbort	3	Abort
vbRetry	4	Retry
vbIgnore	5	Ignore
vbYes	6	Yes
vbNo	7	No

In this example the same message box as shown above is assigned to the variable MsgBoxResult. You need to place brackets around the MsgBox parameters in this context.  Only if the user clicks the Yes button is the code executed.

Sub SalaryIncrease()

Dim SalaryCell As Range, SalaryField As Range
Dim MsgBoxResult As Integer
Const SalaryIncrease As Single = 1.05
Set SalaryField = Range("B2", Range("B2").End(xlDown))

MsgBoxResult = MsgBox( _
"This action can't be undone. Do you wish to Continue?", _
vbYesNo + vbDefaultButton2 + vbExclamation, "Salary Increase")

If MsgBoxResult = vbYes Then
    For Each SalaryCell In SalaryField
        SalaryCell = SalaryCell * SalaryIncrease
    Next SalaryCell
End If

End Sub

The code above relates to the data shown below.

You don’t have to assign the MsgBox to a variable – see an alternative version of the code below.

Sub SalaryIncreaseWithoutVariable()

Dim SalaryCell As Range, SalaryField As Range
Const SalaryIncrease As Single = 1.05
Set SalaryField = Range("B2", Range("B2").End(xlDown))

If MsgBox("This action can't be undone. Do you wish to Continue?", _
vbYesNo + vbDefaultButton2 + vbExclamation, "Salary Increase") = vbYes Then
    For Each SalaryCell In SalaryField
        SalaryCell = SalaryCell * SalaryIncrease
    Next SalaryCell
End If

End Sub