Export comments to a text file (PowerPoint 2000 and previous, Mac PowerPoint)
Problem
You want to get a list of just the comments in a PowerPoint file.
Make the file you want to export comments from the active presentation then run the ExportComments subroutine below.
When asked, supply a full VALID path and filename.
Solution
This macro will export the text of your comments to a text file. If you use a PC, it'll open the file in Notepad so you can view it.
If you're on Mac, you'll need to delete the code where indicated in comments below and then open the text file the macro exports in any text editor or word processor you like.
Option Explicit Sub ExportComments() Dim oSl As Slide Dim oSlides As Slides Dim oSh As Shape Dim sText As String Dim sFilename As String Set oSlides = ActivePresentation.Slides For Each oSl In oSlides sText = sText & "Slide: " & oSl.SlideIndex & vbCrLf sText = sText & "======================================" & vbCrLf For Each oSh In oSl.Shapes If oSh.Type = msoComment Then sText = sText & oSh.TextFrame.TextRange.Text ' sText = sText & oCom.Author & vbCrLf ' sText = sText & oCom.DateTime & vbCrLf ' sText = sText & oCom.Text & vbCrLf sText = sText & "--------------" & vbCrLf End If Next ' shape sText = sText & vbCrLf Next ' slide sFilename = InputBox("Full path to output file:", "Output file") If Len(sFilename) > 0 Then WriteStringToFile sFilename, sText ' if on Mac, comment this out and delete the SendFileToNotepad subroutine SendFileToNotePad sFilename End If End Sub Sub WriteStringToFile(pFileName As String, pString As String) ' this writes the text out to a file Dim intFileNum As Integer intFileNum = FreeFile Open pFileName For Output As intFileNum Print #intFileNum, pString Close intFileNum End Sub Sub SendFileToNotePad(pFileName As String) ' This opens the file in notepad Dim lngReturn As Long lngReturn = Shell("NOTEPAD.EXE " & pFileName, vbNormalFocus) End Sub