VBA Control Naming Conventions

It is always helpful to use thoughtful naming conventions for controls when working on a VBA project. This is especially true for when you need to open an old project to see what is going on, or when someone else needs to work on your project in the future.

Everybody does this differently, but I follow naming conventions that I learned back when I learned VB 6.

Basically every control name is named with camelcase and starts with a prefix. Here are some examples:

Form (frm)

Use the prefix frm for naming forms. Example for a ‘main’ form: frmMain

Button (cmd)

Called command buttons, use the prefix cmd for naming buttons. Example for an ‘ok’ button: cmdOk

Labels (lbl)

Use the prefix lbl for naming labels. Example for ‘name’ label: lblName

TextBox (txt)

Use the prefix txt for naming Text Boxes. Example for naming a ‘name’ Text Box: txtName

ListBox (lst)

Use the prefix lst for naming List Boxes. Example for naming a ‘name:’ List Box: lstName

Frame (fra)

Use the prefix fra for naming Framesets. Example for naming a ‘main’ Frameset: fraMain

Checkbox (chk)

Use the prefix chk for naming Check Boxes. Example for naming an ‘option 1’ Check Box: chkOne

Radio Button (opt)

Use the prefix opt for naming Radio(Option) Buttons. Example for naming a ‘first’ Radio(Option) Button: optOne

Combo Box (cbo)

Use the prefix cbo for naming Combo Boxes. Example for naming a ‘Item List’ Combo Box: cboItemList

Progress Bar (prog)

Use the prefix prog for naming Progress Bars. Example for naming ‘main progress’ Progress Bar: progMain

I thought that this would be a good list to get anyone interested started. Comment with more examples if you have them.