How to Create Alerts in Excel (4 Easy Ways)

You definitely have a lot of stuff in your life to keep track of if you’re like most people. It can be challenging to remain on top of everything, from upcoming bills, payments, and meetings to crucial deadlines at work. Fortunately, Excel’s built-in functions & features can assist you to create alerts for maintaining your organization and staying on top of things. With this in mind, we will start from scratch and show you 4 easy ways to create alerts in Excel.

Create Alerts in Excel: 4 Suitable Ways

In Excel, there are several different ways to set up alerts to notify us when a deadline is about to pass. For instance, we can request a pop-up message that appears on our screen, an email, a text message, or highlighted cells on our datasets. Therefore, in this article, we will learn to effectively build an alert in Excel. Moreover, we will also learn to use Excel formulas and access various features and functions to create alerts. To demonstrate, we take a dataset that represents a client meeting schedule book.

1. Using IF Function to Create Alerts Automatically in Excel

We use Excel IF function for complicated data with logical conditions. The IF function returns a value determining whether the condition is TRUE or FALSE. Therefore, in this article, we will implement this function to determine the date representations. In this way, we can display the specific dates. Follow the steps to do so.

Steps:

• Firstly, in D5, type the following formula,

• Afterward, press Enter key to see the result in D5, and the return is TODAY.

• Next, use the Fill Handle tool to AutoFill the rest of the cells in column D.
• Thus, we obtain the result in our dataset.

2. Combine IF, TODAY & AND Functions to Show Alerts in Excel

We have already used the IF function in our previous method. In this method, we will also learn to use Excel AND & TODAY functions and combine them. The TODAY function returns the formatted date as the current date. Alternatively, the AND function returns the TRUE statements, checking the conditions are TRUE. Similarly, let’s create a formula using the combination of these functions to get the alarm.

Steps:

• Firstly, write the following formula in cell D5,

• Next, tap the Enter key.

• Later, AutoFill the range by dragging the formula cell down.
• Hence, the alerts pop up in the dataset.

3. Utilize Conditional Formatting Feature to Display Alerts Notifications in Excel

In this method, we will utilize Excel’s Conditional Formatting tool and functions to create notifications or reminders in our dataset. Previously, we combined 3 Excel functions and created a formula. Again, we use the same functions to implement this and deliver the formula to formatting to get a highlighted alert. To do so, follow the procedures.

Steps:

• To begin with, write the formula in D5,

• Later, press Enter key and get the result in the same cell.

• Next, drag the AutoFill Handle up to cell D9.
• As a result, we obtain the alert texts in the range.

• Further, select the range C5:C9.
• Go to the Home tab and click the Conditional Formatting option.

• Consequently, a drop-down box appears.
• Here, tap the New Rule option.

• Furthermore, the New Formatting Rule pops up.
• Choose the option Use a formula to determine which cells to format.
• Then, in the Edit the Rule Description box, type = and paste the formula.
• After that, hit Format.

• Subsequently, the Format Cells menu option opens.
• To illustrate, we select Green color and press OK.

• Lastly, we get our meeting date highlighted.

4. Run an Excel VBA Code to Get Pop-up Alerts

In our last method, we will try to get a pop-up reminder through Excel VBA. We will obtain the message box whenever will open our workbook and get an automatic alert. However, to get so, we need a VBA code to execute. We will include the code in Project Explorer and save it in macro-enabled format. Follow the steps carefully.

Steps:

• First, go to the Developer tab and click Visual Basic.

• Eventually, the Visual Basic window pops up.
• There, tab View > Project Explorer > This Workbook to open a workbook.

• Next, type the VBA code given below.

Private Sub Workbook_Open()
Dim Create_Alerts As Range
Dim Alerts As Range
Dim A_Notify As String
Set Create_Alerts = Range("D5:D9")
For Each Alerts In Create_Alerts
    If Alerts <> "" And Date = DateDue Then
        A_Notify = A_Notify & " " & Alerts.Offset(0, -2)
    End If
Next Alerts
If A_Notify = "" Then
    MsgBox "You have a meeting today."
Else: MsgBox "You do not have a meeting today." & A_Notify
End If
End Sub

• Further, press the green Run button.

• Thus, we get the desired pop-up alert message.

Download Practice Workbook

Download this practice workbook to exercise while you are reading this article. It contains all the datasets in different spreadsheets for a clear understanding. Try it yourself while you go through the steps.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have discussed some easy steps to create alerts in Excel. Please leave any further queries or recommendations in the comment box below.

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