Playing a Sound Based on a Cell's Value
Some people like audio feedback. For example, you might want to hear a sound when the value in a particular cell exceeds a certain value. Excel does not support this feature, but it's fairly easy to implement with a custom worksheet function that uses a Windows API function.
For general information about playing a sound file from Excel, click here.
The Alarm function
Copy the code below to a VBA module in your workbook.
'Windows API function declaration
Private Declare Function PlaySound Lib "winmm.dll" _
Alias "PlaySoundA" (ByVal lpszName As String, _
ByVal hModule As Long, ByVal dwFlags As Long) As Long
Function Alarm(Cell, Condition)
Dim WAVFile As String
Const SND_ASYNC = &H1
Const SND_FILENAME = &H20000
On Error GoTo ErrHandler
If Evaluate(Cell.Value & Condition) Then
WAVFile = ThisWorkbook.Path & "\sound.wav" 'Edit this statement
Call PlaySound(WAVFile, 0&, SND_ASYNC Or SND_FILENAME)
Alarm = True
Exit Function
End If
ErrHandler:
Alarm = False
End Function
NOTE: The Alarm function expects a WAV file (named sound.wav) in the same path as the workbook. You will need to change this statement to match the name (and path) of your actual sound file. If the sound file is not found, the default system sound will be used.
Using the Alarm function in a formula
The Alarm function monitors a cell for a specified condition. If the condition is met, the sound file is played and the function returns TRUE. If the condition is not met, the sound file is not played and the function returns FALSE. The Alarm function takes two arguments:
- Cell: A reference to a single cell (the cell that you are monitoring). Normally, this will be a cell that contains a formula (but that is not required).
- Condition: A text string that describes the condition
Following are examples of formulas that use this function:
=Alarm(A1,">=1000")
The sound will play when the value in cell A1 is greater than or equal to 1,000.
=Alarm(C12,"<0")
The sound will play when the value in cell C12 is negative.
Tips
- The function is evaluated whenever any cell that depends on the reference cell is changed. The sound can get annoying!
- Normally, you will want to use this function in only one cell. If you use it in more than one cell, you will not be able to tell which instance of the function triggered the sound.