VBA Comment Block

Excel VBA Comment Block of Code

Comments in VBA programming are statements that are not executed or compiled but are only there to provide a brief description of any function, variable, statement, etc. These comments are not mandatory but are used so as to make the blocks of vba code more informative, readable, organized and easy to understand. Also, if we do not wish to delete certain lines of code, and neither want them to be executed, then we can comment on them.

How to Comment on Block of VBA Code?

Example #1 – Comment using Apostrophe

Let us say we wish to comment on a single line/statement/block in a VBA code. To do this, the Visual Basic Editor (VBE) has to be configured.

The Visual Basic Editor can be accessed as follows:

Go to Excel Developer tab, and then click on Visual Basic Editor, or press Alt+F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor window.

On doing this, a window opens as follows:

Right-click on the workbook name in the ‘Project-VBAProject’ pane and then click on ‘Insert’-> ‘Module’ as follows.

Now we can write our code or procedure in this module:

Code:

Sub macro()

 'This is a Comment

End Sub

So we can see in the above screenshot that on writing this code in the module, we see that when we simply put or insert an apostrophe before a statement/line, then that statement turns into green text and is considered as a  comment. So, we see that when we wish to comment on a single line, it can simply be preceded with an apostrophe.

This method can also be used to comment on multiple lines by putting an apostrophe before each line as follows:

Example #2 – Using Toolbar

Now, let’s say we wish to skip over and comment on an entire block of code, or multiple statements of the code. In such a case, using an apostrophe before each statement would be quite tedious and time-taking when we have so many statements to comment on. So to do this, there is a built-in option of ‘Comment/Uncomment Block’ in VBE that is initially hidden in the toolbar and can be used as follows:

Step 1: Select the Statements from code

Select the statements in the macro/procedure that are required to be commented on below.

Step 2: Click on View -> Toolbars -> Customize

Step 3: From Customize Window Click on Commands -> Edit, then select Comment Block

This will generate or open a ‘Customize’ pop-up window. Now click on ‘Commands’ -> ‘Edit’, and then click on ‘Comment Block’ and drag it to the toolbar as follows.

With this, we now have the ‘Comment Block’ icon on the Toolbar for its easy access.

Now click on the ‘Comment Block’ from the toolbar as follows:

In doing so, the highlighted statements/lines would now be commented and turn out to be green in colour as below:

Code:

Sub CommentLines()

 'MsgBox "First Comment Line"
 'MsgBox "Second Comment Line"
 'MsgBox "Third Comment Line"

End Sub

So we can see in the above screenshot that the green statements will not be executed by the macro and will only be treated as comments block.

Example #3 – Using REM Keyword

Another method that can be used to make a statement/line as a comment is to add the keyword ‘REM’ before it.

Let us see below how this works:

We can see in the below screenshot that when the keyword ‘REM’ is added before the statement: ‘This is a comment’, then it turns out to be green and hence a comment.

Now let us see how this keyword can be used to comment multiple lines in the below screenshot.

Code:

Sub CommentUsingRem()

 Rem This is a Comment
 Rem This is a Comment
 Rem This is a Comment

End Sub

So, we can see that apart from using apostrophe and ‘Comment Block’, the keyword ‘REM” can also be used to comment statements of code or procedure. However, using the keyword ‘REM’ has some limitations:

• Space is mandatory between the keyword ‘REM’ and the start of the statement
• It always has to be the first word to start with and cannot be used somewhere in the middle of a line/statement so as to comment rest of the line.

Example #4 – UnComment the Commented lines using Toolbar

Just the way we can comment a block of lines at one go, we can also uncomment the commented lines using the VBE built-in ‘Uncomment Block’ option in the same way as follows:

Select the commented statements in the macro/procedure that are required to be uncommented as below:

Now select ‘View -> ‘Toolbars’ -> ‘Customize’.

This will generate or open a ‘Customize’ pop-up window. Now click on ‘Commands’ -> ‘Edit’, and then click on ‘Uncomment Block’ and drag it to the toolbar as follows:

With this, we now have the ‘Uncomment Block’ icon on the Toolbar for its easy access.

Now click on the ‘Uncomment Block’ from the toolbar as follows:

In doing so, the highlighted statements that commented would now turn into executable statements of the code or procedure and change in colour from green to black again as below:

Code:

Sub UncommentedLines()

 MsgBox "First Comment Line"
 MsgBox "Second Comment Line"
 MsgBox "Third Comment Line"

End Sub

So these statements are no longer now comments.

Things to Remember

• Comments are brief explanatory statements that can be used to describe the procedures.
• Commenting can be useful in debugging the codes.
• Any statement in the VBA code that follows an apostrophe is considered a comment.
• As a good programming practice, comments can be used before each section of the code or before variable declarations and functions to describe their purpose.
• The VBA Editor makes the statement’s font color as green to indicate that it is a comment.
• Unless the apostrophe is present in a string, the compiler ignores the statement following an apostrophe until the end of the line.
• An apostrophe can even be present somewhere in the middle of a line. Text after the apostrophe will be treated as a comment in that case.

Following screenshot illustrates this:

• The comments do not affect code performance.
• The comment symbol: Apostrophe’, or “REM” has to be used on each line if the comments require more than one line.
• By default, the comments appear as green color in the code window.
• The advantage of using apostrophe and ‘Comment Block’ over the keyword ‘REM’ is that they need less memory and space and are also easier to use.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to VBA Comment Block. Here we learn 3 ways to comment blocks of VBA codes using 1) Apostrophe, 2) Toolbar, 3) REM Keyword along with practical examples, and downloadable excel template. Below you can find some useful excel VBA articles –

• VBA Workbook Open
• VBA RegEx
• VBA Workbook Object