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Comments/Notes

You can add/edit/delete Comments (in later Excel versions called Notes) either via the ExcelRange class or via the Comments Property on the ExcelWorksheet class.
EPPlus supports Comments/Notes with plain as well as richtext, see examples below.

Classes

ExcelComment

When adding/editing comments you will be working with the OfficeOpenXml.ExcelComment class. Here are the most important properties of this class:

Property Datatype Description
Author string Author of the comment
Text string Plain text of the comment
RichText ExcelRichTextCollection Richtext (set Font, Font size/style, Color, etc on the whole text or different parts of it) of the comment, see the Richtext section below
From ExcelVmlDrawingPosition From position. For comments only when Visible=true
To ExcelVmlDrawingPosition To position. For comments only when Visible=true
Autofit bool Autofits the comment
BackgroundColor System.Drawing.Color Background color of the comment
LineStyle eLineStyleVml Border style
LineColor System.Drawing.Color Border color
LineWidth float Border width

ExcelRichTextCollection

Available via the ExcelComment.RichText property, which is of the type OfficeOpenXml.Style.ExcelRichTextCollection.

Properties

Property Datatype Description
Text string The plain text
HtmlText string Returns the rich text as html
Count int Number of items in the collection

Methods

Method Return type Description
Add(string text, bool NewParagraph=false) ExcelRichText Adds a rich text string to the collection
Clear() void Removes all items from the collection
Remove(ExcelRichText item) void Removes an item from the collection
RemoveAt(int index) void Removes an item from the collection by its index
Insert(int index, string text) ExcelRichText Inserts an item into the collection
this[int index] ExcelRichText Returns an item by its index

ExcelRichText

Namespace: OfficeOpenXml.Style

Properties

Property Datatype Description
Text string The plain text
HtmlText string Returns the rich text as html
Color System.Drawing.Color Color of the text
Size float Size of the font
Bold bool If true the text is bold
Italic bool If true the text is italic
Underline bool If true the text will be underlined
Strike bool If true the text will be striked out
FontName string Name of the font
PreserveSpace bool Preserves whitespace. Default is true

Examples

Add new comments

using(var package = new ExcelPackage(@"c:\temp\commentstest.xlsx"))
{
    var ws = package.Workbook.Worksheets.Add("comments");
    //Adds comments using the range class
    var comment = ws.Cells["A3"].AddComment("Jan Källman:\r\n", "JK");
    comment.Font.Bold = true;
    var rt = comment.RichText.Add("Here is some text that isn't bold...");
    rt.Bold = false;
    rt.FontName = "Helvetica";
    rt.Color = Color.Purple;
    comment.AutoFit = true;

    //Adds a comment using the worksheet's Comments collection
    var comment2 = ws.Comments.Add(ws.Cells["B3"],"Jan Källman:", "JK");

    //This sets the size and position. (The position is used when the comment is visible and AutoFit isn't set to true)
    comment2.From.Column = 7;
    comment2.From.Row = 3;
    comment2.To.Column = 16;
    comment2.To.Row = 8;
    comment2.BackgroundColor = Color.White;
    comment2.RichText.Add("\r\nThis comment has white background and size/position set...\r\n");
}

Using package As New ExcelPackage("c:\temp\commentstest.xlsx")
    Dim ws = package.Workbook.Worksheets.Add("comments")
    'Adds comments using the range class
    Dim comment = ws.Cells("A3").AddComment("Jan Källman:" & vbCrLf, "JK")
    comment.Font.Bold = True
    Dim rt = comment.RichText.Add("Here is some text that isn't bold...")
    rt.Bold = False
    rt.FontName = "Helvetica"
    rt.Color = Color.Purple
    comment.AutoFit = True

    'Adds a comment using the worksheet's Comments collection
    Dim comment2 = ws.Comments.Add(ws.Cells("B3"), "Jan Källman:", "JK")

    'This sets the size and position. (The position is used when the comment is visible and AutoFit isn't set to true)
    comment2.From.Column = 7
    comment2.From.Row = 3
    comment2.To.Column = 16
    comment2.To.Row = 8
    comment2.BackgroundColor = Color.White
    comment2.RichText.Add(vbCrLf & "This comment has white background and size/position set..." & vbCrLf)
End Using

Comment 1

Comment 1

Editing a comment

The code below is using the workbook that was created in the Add new comments section above.

using (var package = new ExcelPackage(@"c:\temp\commentstest.xlsx"))
{
    var ws = package.Workbook.Worksheets["comments"];
    // Edit Comment using the range class
    var comment = ws.Cells["A3"].Comment;
    comment.RichText[0].Color = Color.DarkGreen;
    comment.RichText[1].Color = Color.Blue;
    package.Save();
}

Using package As New ExcelPackage("c:\temp\commentstest.xlsx")
    Dim ws = package.Workbook.Worksheets("comments")
    ' Edit Comment using the range class
    Dim comment = ws.Cells("A3").Comment
    comment.RichText(0).Color = Color.DarkGreen
    comment.RichText(1).Color = Color.Blue
    package.Save()
End Using

Comment 1

You can also edit comments via the Comments collection on the worksheet.

using (var package = new ExcelPackage(@"c:\temp\commentstest.xlsx"))
{
    var ws = package.Workbook.Worksheets["comments"];
    // Edit Comment using the Comments collection on the worksheet
    var comment = ws.Comments["A3"];
    comment.RichText[0].Color = Color.DarkRed;
    comment.RichText[1].Color = Color.Orange;
    package.Save();
}

Using package As New ExcelPackage("c:\temp\commentstest.xlsx")
    Dim ws = package.Workbook.Worksheets("comments")
    ' Edit Comment using the Comments collection on the worksheet
    Dim comment = ws.Comments("A3")
    comment.RichText(0).Color = Color.DarkRed
    comment.RichText(1).Color = Color.Orange
    package.Save()
End Using

Comment 1

Deleting a comment

The code below is using the workbook that was created in the Add new comments section above.

using (var package = new ExcelPackage(@"c:\temp\commentstest.xlsx"))
{
    var ws = package.Workbook.Worksheets["comments"];
    // Remove comment in cell B3 using the Comments collection on worksheet.
    ws.Comments.Remove(ws.Comments["B3"]);
    package.Save();
}

Using package As New ExcelPackage("c:\temp\commentstest.xlsx")
    Dim ws = package.Workbook.Worksheets("comments")
    ' Remove comment in cell B3 using the Comments collection on worksheet.
    ws.Comments.Remove(ws.Comments("B3"))
    package.Save()
End Using

See also