thanks for the reply - I found that I was making it way too complicated... :laugh: Condango had the solution: to highlight from database to multiselect where SelectedDisplayValue is the value from database(eg SelectedDisplayValue= 3,4,10) For i = 0 To (objListbox.Items.Count - 1) If InStr(SelectedDisplayValue, objListbox.Items(i).Value) Then objListbox.Items(i).Selected = True End If Next ublend