I am sure you would have worked with the text boxes in Word or PowerPoint or even Excel but the trick I am going to share with you will make the text boxes dynamic.. in simple terms the text can change as per the situation
To add text to a chart that is separate from the text in chart titles or labels, you can insert a text box on the chart. You can then enter the text that you want. Tip: Instead of entering text in the text box, you can link the text box to data in a worksheet cell. Go to the Developer tab in the Excel Ribbon - click Insert - click on “Combo Box” under “Form Controls”. Click on the Excel Sheet at a location where you want to place the “Combo Box”. You may select the “Combo Box” and drag any of the small squares in the middle of the boundaries or circles in the corners to change the. Here is a standard Text Box in Excel. You’ll find the option to insert the text box in the Insert Tab; Just draw the text box and start typing; But the problem is: If you write anything into it, it is a static text! Here is how you can make it Dynamic. Step 1: Insert a Data Validation Drop Down. Step 2: Create a Text box and write. First, let’s start with how to insert a text box in excel. How to Insert a Textbox in Excel? You can use a shape, textbox, or word art to insert texts and all of them acts similarly. #1 Inserting Text in a Textbox. From the Insert ribbon go to the Text tools and select Textbox. Then drag your left click to create a Textbox as per your. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators.
The applications of this technique in Dashboards, Charts and Visualizations is pretty helpful
Here is a standard Text Box in Excel..
- You’ll find the option to insert the text box in the Insert Tab
- Just draw the text box and start typing
But the problem is : If you write anything into it, it is a static text !
Here is how you can make it Dynamic..
Step 1 : Insert a Data Validation Drop Down
Step 2 : Create a Text box and write anything into it
--> Wrote my name in the textbox
Step 3 : Link the text box to the cell value
- Select the text box
- Go to the formulas tab
- Write “=” and the cell address to which you want to link the cell, then press Enter
- Now when the value in the cell changes the text box will dynamically change
There are 2 things that you must remember about dynamic text boxes
- After typing the cell address in the formula bar you must press Enter key to enable the link
- Once the text box has been linked to the cell, you can no more type inside the text box. You have to either
- Break the linking to type anything or
- Continue working with the linked cell
Now let’s take a look at a few applications of Text Boxes
Application 1 : Create Dynamic Comments
Sometime ago I created a Dashboard on Company Cost Structure. I had put in a comment section in the dashboard with updated automatically as one would change the options in the Dashboard.
I have used formulas to generate dynamic comments and then linked them to the text boxes
Application 2 : Create Dynamic Chart Titles
All that I have done is linked the chart title (textbox) to a cell which is displaying dynamic headlines
Application 3 : Create Dynamic Data Labels
- There is just one pain point – Linking each data labels (text boxes) to the cells values one by one (unfortunately there is no shortcut for that)
- Now when values in the cells will change the data labels will also automatically update
Excel 2013 offers customizing the data labels, which can be picked up from a cell address.
- Select the data labels
- Press Ctrl 1 to open Format Data Labels Box
- Click on Value from Cells
- Pick the values from the spreadsheet
- Click on Ok
Have you created a dynamic text box before ?
How do you use dynamic text boxes in work? If this is new to you share how do you think you’ll use it to make your report more dynamic?
More Resources on Creating Dynamic Objects
Excel Insert Text Box With Scrollbar
- Learn How Camera Tool Works in Excel – To make Pictures Dynamic
- How to Lookup Pictures – Picture VLOOKUP
A Text box is also called as a text field. It is a rectangular container for the text that is used on the pages (such as web browsers, portals, word processors, log-in or registration pages, Gmail, and many more) to enter information (text).
Types of the text box
There are mainly the following two types of text boxes available with different formatting -
1. One line text box
One line text box is a simple/small box that is used to enter the single line information such as a person's name, number, email address, or other short information.
2. Multiple line text box
Multiple line text box is used to enter the large information (multiple line information) such as education details, about yourself, working experience, and many more.
Advantages of the text box
- text box helps us to store typed text in the linked cell.
- It helps you to create a large data entry spot without changing the column widths.
Add text box in Excel
Microsoft Excel provides simple and easy ways to add text boxes in the document to increase the functionality of the worksheet. In Excel, you can create a textbox according to your needs.
There are the following easiest methods to add text box in Microsoft Excel document -
Note: The below methods are used to add text boxes in Microsoft Excel 2007, Excel 2010, Excel 2013, Excel 2016, Excel 2019, as well as Microsoft Office 365.
Method 1: Add a text box Manually using the Developers tab
The developer's tab is one of the easiest and quickest methods to add the text box in a Microsoft Excel document.
Steps to add text box in Excel
A list of steps to add text box in Microsoft Excel document is given below -
Step 1: In the Desktop, double click on the Microsoft Excel icon to open the Excel document.
Step 2: Go to the File -> New -> Blank document -> Create to open a new Microsoft Excel document. Click on the File -> Open -> Browse your file location -> Open button to open an existing Microsoft Excel document. (We are going to open a new Microsoft Excel document.)
Step 3: Click the Developer tab on the ribbon. If the Developer tab does not appear on the ribbon, then first enable the developer tab to the ribbon.
Note: To enable Developer tab go to the File -> Options -> Customize Ribbon -> Main tabs -> Tick Developer tab checkbox -> OK.
Step 4: Click on the Insert drop-down icon under the Controls section. A list of options will appear. Under the ActiveX Controls, click on the TextBox tool (ActiveX Control), as shown in the screenshot given below.
Step 5: Place the cursor on the document location where you want to add the text box. Drag the text box in your spreadsheet/ worksheet based on your need.
Excel Insert Text Box In Chart
Now, the below-given screenshot shows that a text box is added to the Microsoft Excel document.
Note: Right-click on the text box and then click the Format Control tab to specify the control properties.
Method 2: Add a text box using the Insert tab
Microsoft Excel also allows you to add your desired text inside a text box using the text box option under the Insert tab on the ribbon.
Steps to insert a text box
A list of steps to insert a text box in Microsoft Excel document is discussed below -
Step 1: Go to the Search box at the bottom of the desktop. Type Microsoft Excel and press the Enter key to open a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
Step 2: Click on the File -> New -> Blank document -> Create to open a New Microsoft Excel document. Click on the File -> Open -> Browse document location -> Open button to open an Esxisting Microsoft Excel document.
Note: In our case, we are going to open an Existing Microsoft Excel document.
Step 3: On the Ribbon, click the Insert tab and then click the Text Box option under the Text section.
Note: In Microsoft Excel 2013 and above versions, go to the Format tab and click on the Text Box icon in the Insert Shapes section.
Step 4: Using the mouse pointer, drag the text box on your worksheet. Adjust the height and width of the text box according to your requirement.
Step 5: Place the cursor inside the text box and start writing the text that you want to add to the textbox. See the screenshot given below.
Step 6: After completing the text inside the text box, press Esc to cancel editing mode or click anywhere outside the text box. Now, the below screenshot shows that text is added to the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
Method 3: Add a text box with VBA
In the Microsoft Excel document, you can also use the programming concept to add a text box. In this method, you can use the UserForm option inside the Insert tab to add the text box. UserForm is the most commonly used tool that contains various different control options such as Text Box, Msg Box, Input Box, and more.
Steps to add a text box
Follow the below given easiest steps to add a text box with VBA -
Step 1: Open a New or an Existing Microsoft Excel document to add a text box.
Step 2: Press or strike the Alt + F11 keys together from the keyboard to open/navigate to the VBA pane.
Step 3: Go to the Insert tab, a list of options will appear on the screen. Click on the UserForm option to insert UserForm in VBA.
Step 4: A small Toolbox dialog box will appear with the UserForm window. Select TextBox form the Toolbox dialog box, as shown in the below screenshot.
Excel Insert Text Box In Cell
Step 5: Drag the Text box to the UserForm window.
Note: Press the F4 key form the keyboard to view all properties of UserForm. Using these properties, you can easily make necessary changes like changing the name of UserForm, Font, Caption, Height, and many more.
Step 6: Type your desired text (My First VBA textbox) in the TextBox.