Getting started with VBA in Office

You should consider using VBA if you need to:

Introduction

This is a tutorial about writing code in Excel spreadsheets using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).

Excel is one of Microsoft’s most popular products. In 2016, the CEO of Microsoft said “Think about a world without Excel. That’s just impossible for me.” Well, maybe the world can’t think without Excel.

• In 1996, there were over 30 million users of Microsoft Excel (source).
• Today, there are an estimated 750 million users of Microsoft Excel. That’s a little more than the population of Europe and 25x more users than there were in 1996.

We’re one big happy family!

In this tutorial, you’ll learn about VBA and how to write code in an Excel spreadsheet using Visual Basic.

Prerequisites

You don’t need any prior programming experience to understand this tutorial. However, you will need:

• Basic to intermediate familiarity with Microsoft Excel
• If you want to follow along with the VBA examples in this article, you will need access to Microsoft Excel, preferably the latest version (2019) but Excel 2016 and Excel 2013 will work just fine.
• A willingness to try new things

Learning Objectives

Over the course of this article, you will learn:

1. What VBA is
2. Why you would use VBA
3. How to get set up in Excel to write VBA
4. How to solve some real-world problems with VBA

Important Concepts

Here are some important concepts that you should be familiar with to fully understand this tutorial.

Objects: Excel is object-oriented, which means everything is an object – the Excel window, the workbook, a sheet, a chart, a cell. VBA allows users to manipulate and perform actions with objects in Excel.

If you don’t have any experience with object-oriented programming and this is a brand new concept, take a second to let that sink in!

Procedures: a procedure is a chunk of VBA code, written in the Visual Basic Editor, that accomplishes a task. Sometimes, this is also referred to as a macro (more on macros below). There are two types of procedures:

• Subroutines: a group of VBA statements that performs one or more actions
• Functions: a group of VBA statements that performs one or more actions and returns one or more values

Note: you can have functions operating inside of subroutines. You’ll see later.

Macros: If you’ve spent any time learning more advanced Excel functionality, you’ve probably encountered the concept of a “macro.” Excel users can record macros, consisting of user commands/keystrokes/clicks, and play them back at lightning speed to accomplish repetitive tasks. Recorded macros generate VBA code, which you can then examine. It’s actually quite fun to record a simple macro and then look at the VBA code.

Please keep in mind that sometimes it may be easier and faster to record a macro rather than hand-code a VBA procedure.

For example, maybe you work in project management. Once a week, you have to turn a raw exported report from your project management system into a beautifully formatted, clean report for leadership. You need to format the names of the over-budget projects in bold red text. You could record the formatting changes as a macro and run that whenever you need to make the change.

What is VBA?

Visual Basic for Applications is a programming language developed by Microsoft. Each software program in the Microsoft Office suite is bundled with the VBA language at no extra cost. VBA allows Microsoft Office users to create small programs that operate within Microsoft Office software programs.

Think of VBA like a pizza oven within a restaurant. Excel is the restaurant. The kitchen comes with standard commercial appliances, like large refrigerators, stoves, and regular ole’ ovens – those are all of Excel’s standard features.

But what if you want to make wood-fired pizza? Can’t do that in a standard commercial baking oven. VBA is the pizza oven.

Why use VBA in Excel?

Because wood-fired pizza is the best!

A lot of people spend a lot of time in Excel as a part of their jobs. Time in Excel moves differently, too. Depending on the circumstances, 10 minutes in Excel can feel like eternity if you’re not able to do what you need, or 10 hours can go by very quickly if everything is going great. Which is when you should ask yourself, why on earth am I spending 10 hours in Excel?

Sometimes, those days are inevitable. But if you’re spending 8-10 hours everyday in Excel doing repetitive tasks, repeating a lot of the same processes, trying to clean up after other users of the file, or even updating other files after changes are made to the Excel file, a VBA procedure just might be the solution for you.

You should consider using VBA if you need to:

• Automate repetitive tasks
• Create easy ways for users to interact with your spreadsheets
• Manipulate large amounts of data

Getting Set Up to Write VBA in Excel

Developer Tab

To write VBA, you’ll need to add the Developer tab to the ribbon, so you’ll see the ribbon like this.

To add the Developer tab to the ribbon:

1. On the File tab, go to Options > Customize Ribbon.
2. Under Customize the Ribbon and under Main Tabs, select the Developer check box.

After you show the tab, the Developer tab stays visible, unless you clear the check box or have to reinstall Excel. For more information, see Microsoft help documentation.

VBA Editor

Navigate to the Developer Tab, and click the Visual Basic button. A new window will pop up – this is the Visual Basic Editor. For the purposes of this tutorial, you just need to be familiar with the Project Explorer pane and the Property Properties pane.

Excel VBA Examples

First, let’s create a file for us to play around in.

1. Open a new Excel file
2. Save it as a macro-enabled workbook (. xlsm)
3. Select the Developer tab
4. Open the VBA Editor

Let’s rock and roll with some easy examples to get you writing code in a spreadsheet using Visual Basic.

Example #1: Display a Message when Users Open the Excel Workbook

In the VBA Editor, select Insert -> New Module

Write this code in the Module window (don’t paste!):

Sub Auto_Open()
MsgBox (“Welcome to the XYZ Workbook.”)
End Sub

Save, close the workbook, and reopen the workbook. This dialog should display.

How is it doing that?

Depending on your familiarity with programming, you may have some guesses. It’s not particularly complex, but there’s quite a lot going on:

• Sub (short for “Subroutine): remember from the beginning, “a group of VBA statements that performs one or more actions.”
• Auto_Open: this is the specific subroutine. It automatically runs your code when the Excel file opens – this is the event that triggers the procedure. Auto_Open will only run when the workbook is opened manually; it will not run if the workbook is opened via code from another workbook (Workbook_Open will do that, learn more about the difference between the two).
• By default, a subroutine’s access is public. This means any other module can use this subroutine. All examples in this tutorial will be public subroutines. If needed, you can declare subroutines as private. This may be needed in some situations. Learn more about subroutine access modifiers.
• msgBox: this is a function – a group of VBA statements that performs one or more actions and returns a value. The returned value is the message “Welcome to the XYZ Workbook.”

In short, this is a simple subroutine that contains a function.

When could I use this?

Maybe you have a very important file that is accessed infrequently (say, once a quarter), but automatically updated daily by another VBA procedure. When it is accessed, it’s by many people in multiple departments, all across the company.

• Problem: Most of the time when users access the file, they are confused about the purpose of this file (why it exists), how it is updated so often, who maintains it, and how they should interact with it. New hires always have tons of questions, and you have to field these questions over and over and over again.
• Solution: create a user message that contains a concise answer to each of these frequently answered questions.

Real World Examples

• Use the MsgBox function to display a message when there is any event: user closes an Excel workbook, user prints, a new sheet is added to the workbook, etc.
• Use the MsgBox function to display a message when a user needs to fulfill a condition before closing an Excel workbook
• Use the InputBox function to get information from the user

Example #2: Allow User to Execute another Procedure

In the VBA Editor, select Insert -> New Module

Write this code in the Module window (don’t paste!):

Sub UserReportQuery()
Dim UserInput As Long
Dim Answer As Integer
UserInput = vbYesNo
Answer = MsgBox(“Process the XYZ Report?”, UserInput)
If Answer = vbYes Then ProcessReport
End Sub

Sub ProcessReport()
MsgBox (“Thanks for processing the XYZ Report.”)
End Sub

Save and navigate back to the Developer tab of Excel and select the “Button” option. Click on a cell and assign the UserReportQuery macro to the button.

Now click the button. This message should display:

Click “yes” or hit Enter.

Once again, tada!

Please note that the secondary subroutine, ProcessReport, could be anything. I’ll demonstrate more possibilities in example #3. But first.

How is it doing that?

This example builds on the previous example and has quite a few new elements. Let’s go over the new stuff:

• Dim UserInput As Long: Dim is short for “dimension” and allows you to declare variable names. In this case, UserInput is the variable name and Long is the data type. In plain English, this line means “Here’s a variable called “UserInput”, and it’s a Long variable type.”
• Dim Answer As Integer: declares another variable called “Answer,” with a data type of Integer. Learn more about data types here.
• UserInput = vbYesNo: assigns a value to the variable. In this case, vbYesNo, which displays Yes and No buttons. There are many button types, learn more here.
• Answer = MsgBox(“Process the XYZ Report?”, UserInput): assigns the value of the variable Answer to be a MsgBox function and the UserInput variable. Yes, a variable within a variable.
• If Answer = vbYes Then ProcessReport: this is an “If statement,” a conditional statement, which allows us to say if x is true, then do y. In this case, if the user has selected “Yes,” then execute the ProcessReport subroutine.

When could I use this?

This could be used in many, many ways. The value and versatility of this functionality is more so defined by what the secondary subroutine does.

For example, maybe you have a file that is used to generate 3 different weekly reports. These reports are formatted in dramatically different ways.

• Problem: Each time one of these reports needs to be generated, a user opens the file and changes formatting and charts; so on and so forth. This file is being edited extensively at least 3 times per week, and it takes at least 30 minutes each time it’s edited.
• Solution: create 1 button per report type, which automatically reformats the necessary components of the reports and generates the necessary charts.

Real World Examples

• Create a dialog box for user to automatically populate certain information across multiple sheets
• Use the InputBox function to get information from the user, which is then populated across multiple sheets

Example #3: Add Numbers to a Range with a For-Next Loop

For loops are very useful if you need to perform repetitive tasks on a specific range of values – arrays or cell ranges. In plain English, a loop says “for each x, do y.”

In the VBA Editor, select Insert -> New Module

Write this code in the Module window (don’t paste!):

Sub LoopExample()
Dim X As Integer
For X = 1 To 100
Range(“A” & X).Value = X
Next X
End Sub

Save and navigate back to the Developer tab of Excel and select the Macros button. Run the LoopExample macro.

This should happen:

Etc, until the 100th row.

How is it doing that?

• Dim X As Integer: declares the variable X as a data type of Integer.
• For X = 1 To 100: this is the start of the For loop. Simply put, it tells the loop to keep repeating until X = 100. X is the counter. The loop will keep executing until X = 100, execute one last time, and then stop.
• Range(“A” & X).Value = X: this declares the range of the loop and what to put in that range. Since X = 1 initially, the first cell will be A1, at which point the loop will put X into that cell.
• Next X: this tells the loop to run again

When could I use this?

The For-Next loop is one of the most powerful functionalities of VBA; there are numerous potential use cases. This is a more complex example that would require multiple layers of logic, but it communicates the world of possibilities in For-Next loops.

Maybe you have a list of all products sold at your bakery in Column A, the type of product in Column B (cakes, donuts, or muffins), the cost of ingredients in Column C, and the market average cost of each product type in another sheet.

You need to figure out what should be the retail price of each product. You’re thinking it should be the cost of ingredients plus 20%, but also 1.2% under market average if possible. A For-Next loop would allow you to do this type of calculation.

Real World Examples

• Use a loop with a nested if statement to add specific values to a separate array only if they meet certain conditions
• Perform mathematical calculations on each value in a range, e.g. calculate additional charges and add them to the value
• Loop through each character in a string and extract all numbers
• Randomly select a number of values from an array

Conclusion

Now that we’ve talked about pizza and muffins and oh-yeah, how to write VBA code in Excel spreadsheets, let’s do a learning check. See if you can answer these questions.

• What is VBA?
• How do I get set up to start using VBA in Excel?
• Why and when would you use VBA?
• What are some problems I could solve with VBA?

If you have a fair idea of how to you could answer these questions, then this was successful.

Whether you’re an occasional user or a power user, I hope this tutorial provided useful information about what can be accomplished with just a bit of code in your Excel spreadsheets.

Learning Resources

• Excel VBA Programming for Dummies, John Walkenbach
• Get Started with VBA, Microsoft Documentation
• Learning VBA in Excel, Lynda

A bit about me

I’m Chloe Tucker, an artist and developer in Portland, Oregon. As a former educator, I’m continuously searching for the intersection of learning and teaching, or technology and art. Reach out to me on Twitter @_chloetucker and check out my website at chloe.dev.

Getting started with VBA in Office

Are you facing a repetitive clean up of fifty tables in Word? Do you want a particular document to prompt the user for input when it opens? Are you having difficulty figuring out how to get your contacts from Microsoft Outlook into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet efficiently?

You can perform these tasks and accomplish a great deal more by using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for Office—a simple, but powerful programming language that you can use to extend Office applications.

This article is for experienced Office users who want to learn about VBA and who want some insight into how programming can help them to customize Office.

The Office suite of applications has a rich set of features. There are many different ways to author, format, and manipulate documents, email, databases, forms, spreadsheets, and presentations. The great power of VBA programming in Office is that nearly every operation that you can perform with a mouse, keyboard, or a dialog box can also be done by using VBA. Further, if it can be done once with VBA, it can be done just as easily a hundred times. (In fact, the automation of repetitive tasks is one of the most common uses of VBA in Office.)

Beyond the power of scripting VBA to accelerate every-day tasks, you can use VBA to add new functionality to Office applications or to prompt and interact with the user of your documents in ways that are specific to your business needs. For example, you could write some VBA code that displays a pop up message that reminds users to save a document to a particular network drive the first time they try to save it.

This article explores some of the primary reasons to leverage the power of VBA programming. It explores the VBA language and the out-of-the-box tools that you can use to work with your solutions. Finally, it includes some tips and ways to avoid some common programming frustrations and missteps.

Interested in developing solutions that extend the Office experience across multiple platforms? Check out the new Office Add-ins model. Office Add-ins have a small footprint compared to VSTO Add-ins and solutions, and you can build them by using almost any web programming technology, such as HTML5, JavaScript, CSS3, and XML.

When to use VBA and why

There are several principal reasons to consider VBA programming in Office.

Automation and repetition

VBA is effective and efficient when it comes to repetitive solutions to formatting or correction problems. For example, have you ever changed the style of the paragraph at the top of each page in Word? Have you ever had to reformat multiple tables that were pasted from Excel into a Word document or an Outlook email? Have you ever had to make the same change in multiple Outlook contacts?

If you have a change that you have to make more than ten or twenty times, it may be worth automating it with VBA. If it is a change that you have to do hundreds of times, it certainly is worth considering. Almost any formatting or editing change that you can do by hand, can be done in VBA.

Extensions to user interaction

There are times when you want to encourage or compel users to interact with the Office application or document in a particular way that is not part of the standard application. For example, you might want to prompt users to take some particular action when they open, save, or print a document.

Interaction between Office applications

Do you need to copy all of your contacts from Outlook to Word and then format them in some particular way? Or, do you need to move data from Excel to a set of PowerPoint slides? Sometimes simple copy and paste does not do what you want it to do, or it is too slow. Use VBA programming to interact with the details of two or more Office applications at the same time and then modify the content in one application based on the content in another.

Doing things another way

VBA programming is a powerful solution, but it is not always the optimal approach. Sometimes it makes sense to use other ways to achieve your aims.

The critical question to ask is whether there is an easier way. Before you begin a VBA project, consider the built-in tools and standard functionalities. For example, if you have a time-consuming editing or layout task, consider using styles or accelerator keys to solve the problem. Can you perform the task once and then use CTRL+Y (Redo) to repeat it? Can you create a new document with the correct format or template, and then copy the content into that new document?

Office applications are powerful; the solution that you need may already be there. Take some time to learn more about Office before you jump into programming.

Before you begin a VBA project, ensure that you have the time to work with VBA. Programming requires focus and can be unpredictable. Especially as a beginner, never turn to programming unless you have time to work carefully. Trying to write a “quick script” to solve a problem when a deadline looms can result in a very stressful situation. If you are in a rush, you might want to use conventional methods, even if they are monotonous and repetitive.

VBA Programming 101

Using code to make applications do things

You might think that writing code is mysterious or difficult, but the basic principles use every-day reasoning and are quite accessible. Microsoft Office applications are created in such a way that they expose things called objects that can receive instructions, in much the same way that a phone is designed with buttons that you use to interact with the phone. When you press a button, the phone recognizes the instruction and includes the corresponding number in the sequence that you are dialing. In programming, you interact with the application by sending instructions to various objects in the application. These objects are expansive, but they have their limits. They can only do what they are designed to do, and they will only do what you instruct them to do.

For example, consider the user who opens a document in Word, makes a few changes, saves the document, and then closes it. In the world of VBA programming, Word exposes a Document object. By using VBA code, you can instruct the Document object to do things such as Open, Save, or Close.

The following section discusses how objects are organized and described.

The Object Model

Developers organize programming objects in a hierarchy, and that hierarchy is called the object model of the application. Word, for example, has a top-level Application object that contains a Document object. The Document object contains Paragraph objects and so on. Object models roughly mirror what you see in the user interface. They are a conceptual map of the application and its capabilities.

The definition of an object is called a class, so you might see these two terms used interchangeably. Technically, a class is the description or template that is used to create, or instantiate, an object.

Once an object exists, you can manipulate it by setting its properties and calling its methods. If you think of the object as a noun, the properties are the adjectives that describe the noun and the methods are the verbs that animate the noun. Changing a property changes some quality of appearance or behavior of the object. Calling one of the object methods causes the object to perform some action.

The VBA code in this article runs against an open Office application where many of the objects that the code manipulates are already up and running; for example, the Application itself, the Worksheet in Excel, the Document in Word, the Presentation in PowerPoint, the Explorer and Folder objects in Outlook. Once you know the basic layout of the object model and some key properties of the Application that give access to its current state, you can start to extend and manipulate that Office application with VBA in Office.

Methods

In Word, for example, you can change the properties and invoke the methods of the current Word document by using the ActiveDocument property of the Application object. This ActiveDocument property returns a reference to the Document object that is currently active in the Word application. “Returns a reference to” means “gives you access to.”

The following code does exactly what it says; that is, it saves the active document in the application.

Application.ActiveDocument.Save 

Read the code from left to right, “In this Application, with the Document referenced by ActiveDocument, invoke the Save method.” Be aware that Save is the simplest form of method; it does not require any detailed instructions from you. You instruct a Document object to Save and it does not require any more input from you.

If a method requires more information, those details are called parameters. The following code runs the SaveAs method, which requires a new name for the file.

Application.ActiveDocument.SaveAs ("New Document Name.docx") 

Values listed in parentheses after a method name are the parameters. Here, the new name for the file is a parameter for the SaveAs method.

Properties

You use the same syntax to set a property that you use to read a property. The following code executes a method to select cell A1 in Excel and then to set a property to put something in that cell.

 Application.ActiveSheet.Range("A1").Select Application.Selection.Value = "Hello World" 

The first challenge in VBA programming is to get a feeling for the object model of each Office application and to read the object, method, and property syntax. The object models are similar in all Office applications, but each is specific to the kind of documents and objects that it manipulates.

In the first line of the code snippet, there is the Application object, Excel this time, and then the ActiveSheet, which provides access to the active worksheet. After that is a term not as familiar, Range, which means “define a range of cells in this way.” The code instructs Range to create itself with just A1 as its defined set of cells. In other words, the first line of code defines an object, the Range, and runs a method against it to select it. The result is automatically stored in another property of the Application called Selection.

The second line of code sets the Value property of Selection to the text “Hello World”, and that value appears in cell A1.

The simplest VBA code that you write might simply gain access to objects in the Office application that you are working with and set properties. For example, you could get access to the rows in a table in Word and change their formatting in your VBA script.

That sounds simple, but it can be incredibly useful; once you can write that code, you can harness all of the power of programming to make those same changes in several tables or documents, or make them according to some logic or condition. For a computer, making 1000 changes is no different from making 10, so there is an economy of scale here with larger documents and problems, and that is where VBA can really shine and save you time.

Macros and the Visual Basic Editor

Now that you know something about how Office applications expose their object models, you are probably eager to try calling object methods, setting object properties, and responding to object events. To do so, you must write your code in a place and in a way that Office can understand; typically, by using the Visual Basic Editor. Although it is installed by default, many users don’t know that it is even available until it is enabled on the ribbon.

All Office applications use the ribbon. One tab on the ribbon is the Developer tab, where you access the Visual Basic Editor and other developer tools. Because Office does not display the Developer tab by default, you must enable it by using the following procedure:

To enable the Developer tab

1. On the File tab, choose Options to open the Options dialog box.
2. Choose Customize Ribbon on the left side of the dialog box.
3. Under Choose commands from on the left side of the dialog box, select Popular Commands.
4. Under Customize the Ribbon on the right side of the dialog box, select Main Tabs in the drop down list box, and then select the Developer checkbox.
5. Choose OK.

In Office 2007, you displayed the Developer tab by choosing the Office button, choosing Options, and then selecting the Show Developer tab in Ribbon check box in the Popular category of the Options dialog box.

After you enable the Developer tab, it is easy to find the Visual Basic and Macros buttons.

Figure 1. Buttons on the Developer tab

Security issues

To protect Office users against viruses and dangerous macro code, you cannot save macro code in a standard Office document that uses a standard file extension. Instead, you must save the code in a file with a special extension. For example you cannot save macros in a standard Word document with a .docx extension; instead, you must use a special Word Macro-Enabled Document with a .docm extension.

When you open a .docm file, Office security might still prevent the macros in the document from running, with or without telling you. Examine the settings and options in the Trust Center on all Office applications. The default setting disables macro from running, but warns you that macros have been disabled and gives you the option to turn them back on for that document.

You can designate specific folders where macros can run by creating Trusted Locations, Trusted Documents, or Trusted Publishers. The most portable option is to use Trusted Publishers, which works with digitally signed documents that you distribute. For more information about the security settings in a particular Office application, open the Options dialog box, choose Trust Center, and then choose Trust Center Settings.

Some Office applications, like Outlook, save macros by default in a master template on your local computer. Although that strategy reduces the local security issues on your own computer when you run your own macros, it requires a deployment strategy if you want to distribute your macro.

Recording a macro

When you choose the Macro button on the Developer tab, it opens the Macros dialog box, which gives you access to VBA subroutines or macros that you can access from a particular document or application. The Visual Basic button opens the Visual Basic Editor, where you create and edit VBA code.

Another button on the Developer tab in Word and Excel is the Record Macro button, which automatically generates VBA code that can reproduce the actions that you perform in the application. Record Macro is a terrific tool that you can use to learn more about VBA. Reading the generated code can give you insight into VBA and provide a stable bridge between your knowledge of Office as a user and your knowledge as a programmer. The only caveat is that the generated code can be confusing because the Macro editor must make some assumptions about your intentions, and those assumptions are not necessarily accurate.

To record a macro

1. Open Excel to a new Workbook and choose the Developer tab in the ribbon. Choose Record Macro and accept all of the default settings in the Record Macro dialog box, including Macro1 as the name of the macro and This Workbook as the location.
2. Choose OK to begin recording the macro. Note how the button text changes to Stop Recording. Choose that button the instant you complete the actions that you want to record.
3. Choose cell B1 and type the programmer’s classic first string: Hello World. Stop typing and look at the Stop Recording button; it is grayed out because Excel is waiting for you to finish typing the value in the cell.
4. Choose cell B2 to complete the action in cell B1, and then choose Stop Recording.
5. Choose Macros on the Developer tab, select Macro1 if it is not selected, and then choose Edit to view the code from Macro1 in the Visual Basic Editor.

Figure 2. Macro code in Visual Basic Editor

Looking at the code

The macro that you created should look similar to the following code.

Sub Macro1() ' ' Macro1 Macro ' ' Range("B1").Select ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "Hello World" Range("B2").Select End Sub 

Be aware of the similarities to the earlier code snippet that selected text in cell A1, and the differences. In this code, cell B1 is selected, and then the string “Hello World” is applied to the cell that has been made active. The quotes around the text specify a string value as opposed to a numeric value.

Remember how you chose cell B2 to display the Stop Recording button again? That action shows up as a line of code as well. The macro recorder records every keystroke.

The lines of code that start with an apostrophe and colored green by the editor are comments that explain the code or remind you and other programmers the purpose of the code. VBA ignores any line, or portion of a line, that begins with a single quote. Writing clear and appropriate comments in your code is an important topic, but that discussion is out of the scope of this article. Subsequent references to this code in the article don’t include those four comment lines.

When the macro recorder generates the code, it uses a complex algorithm to determine the methods and the properties that you intended. If you don’t recognize a given property, there are many resources available to help you. For example, in the macro that you recorded, the macro recorder generated code that refers to the FormulaR1C1 property. Not sure what that means?

Be aware that Application object is implied in all VBA macros. The code that you recorded works with Application. at the beginning of each line.

Using Developer Help

Select FormulaR1C1 in the recorded macro and press F1. The Help system runs a quick search, determines that the appropriate subjects are in the Excel Developer section of the Excel Help, and lists the FormulaR1C1 property. You can choose the link to read more about the property, but before you do, be aware of the Excel Object Model Reference link near the bottom of the window. Choose the link to view a long list of objects that Excel uses in its object model to describe the Worksheets and their components.

Choose any one of those to see the properties and methods that apply to that particular object, along with cross references to different related options. Many Help entries also have brief code examples that can help you. For example, you can follow the links in the Borders object to see how to set a border in VBA.

Worksheets(1).Range("A1").Borders.LineStyle = xlDouble 

Editing the code

The Borders code looks different from the recorded macro. One thing that can be confusing with an object model is that there is more than one way to address any given object, cell A1 in this example.

Sometimes the best way to learn programming is to make minor changes to some working code and see what happens as a result. Try it now. Open Macro1 in the Visual Basic Editor and change the code to the following.

Sub Macro1() Worksheets(1).Range("A1").Value = "Wow!" Worksheets(1).Range("A1").Borders.LineStyle = xlDouble End Sub 

Use Copy and Paste as much as possible when working with code to avoid typing errors.

You don’t need to save the code to try it out, so return to the Excel document, choose Macros on the Developer tab, choose Macro1, and then choose Run. Cell A1 now contains the text Wow! and has a double-line border around it.

Figure 3. Results of your first macro

You just combined macro recording, reading the object model documentation, and simple programming to make a VBA program that does something. Congratulations!

Did not work? Read on for debugging suggestions in VBA.

Programming tips and tricks

Start with examples

The VBA community is very large; a search on the Web can almost always yield an example of VBA code that does something similar to what you want to do. If you cannot find a good example, try to break the task down into smaller units and search on each of those, or try to think of a more common, but similar problem. Starting with an example can save you hours of time.

That does not mean that free and well-thought-out code is on the Web waiting for you to come along. In fact, some of the code that you find might have bugs or mistakes. The idea is that the examples you find online or in VBA documentation give you a head start. Remember that learning programming requires time and thought. Before you get in a big rush to use another solution to solve your problem, ask yourself whether VBA is the right choice for this problem.

Make a simpler problem

Programming can get complex quickly. It’s critical, especially as a beginner, that you break the problem down to the smallest possible logical units, then write and test each piece in isolation. If you have too much code in front of you and you get confused or muddled, stop and set the problem aside. When you come back to the problem, copy out a small piece of the problem into a new module, solve that piece, get the code working, and test it to ensure that it works. Then move on to the next part.

Bugs and debugging

There are two main types of programming errors: syntax errors, which violate the grammatical rules of the programming language, and run-time errors, which look syntactically correct, but fail when VBA attempts to execute the code.

Although they can be frustrating to fix, syntax errors are easy to catch; the Visual Basic Editor beeps and flashes at you if you type a syntax error in your code.

For example, string values must be surrounded by double quotes in VBA. To find out what happens when you use single quotes instead, return to the Visual Basic Editor and replace the “Wow!” string in the code example with ‘Wow!’ (that is, the word Wow enclosed in single quotes). If you choose the next line, the Visual Basic Editor reacts. The error “Compile error: Expected: expression” is not that helpful, but the line that generates the error turns red to tell you that you have a syntax error in that line and as a result, this program will not run.

Choose OK and change the text back to”Wow!”.

Runtime errors are harder to catch because the programming syntax looks correct, but the code fails when VBA tries to execute it.

For example, open the Visual Basic Editor and change the Value property name to ValueX in your Macro, deliberately introducing a runtime error since the Range object does not have a property called ValueX. Go back to the Excel document, open the Macros dialog box and run Macro1 again. You should see a Visual Basic message box that explains the run-time error with the text, “Object doesn’t support this property of method.” Although that text is clear, choose Debug to find out more.

When you return to the Visual Basic Editor, it is in a special debug mode that uses a yellow highlight to show you the line of code that failed. As expected, the line that includes the ValueX property is highlighted.

You can make changes to VBA code that is running, so change ValueX back to Value and choose the little green play button underneath the Debug menu. The program should run normally again.

It’s a good idea to learn how to use the debugger more deliberately for longer, more complex programs. At a minimum, learn a how to set break-points to stop execution at a point where you want to take a look at the code, how to add watches to see the values of different variables and properties as the code runs, and how to step through the code line by line. These options are all available in the Debug menu and serious debugger users typically memorize the accompanying keyboard shortcuts.

Using reference materials well

To open the Developer Reference that is built into Office Help, open the Help reference from any Office application by choosing the question mark in the ribbon or by pressing F1. Then, to the right of the Search button, choose the dropdown arrow to filter the contents. Choose Developer Reference. If you don’t see the table of contents in the left panel, choose the little book icon to open it, and then expand the Object Model Reference from there.

Figure 5. Filtering on developer Help applies to all Office applications

Time spent browsing the Object Model reference pays off. After you understand the basics of VBA syntax and the object model for the Office application that you are working with, you advance from guesswork to methodical programming.

Of course the Microsoft Office Developer Center is an excellent portal for articles, tips, and community information.

Searching forums and groups

All programmers get stuck sometimes, even after reading every reference article they can find and losing sleep at night thinking about different ways to solve a problem. Fortunately, the Internet has fostered a community of developers who help each other solve programming problems.

Any search on the Web for “office developer forum” reveals several discussion groups. You can search on “office development” or a description of your problem to discover forums, blog posts, and articles as well.

If you have done everything that you can to solve a problem, don’t be afraid to post your question to a developers forum. These forums welcome posts from newer programmers and many of the experienced developers are glad to help.

The following are a few points of etiquette to follow when you post to a developer forum:

• Before you post, look on the site for an FAQ or for guidelines that members want you to follow. Ensure that you post content that is consistent with those guidelines and in the correct section of the forum.
• Include a clear and complete code sample, and consider editing your code to clarify it for others if it is part of a longer section of code.
• Describe your problem clearly and concisely, and summarize any steps that you have taken to solve the problem. Take the time to write your post as well as you can, especially if you are flustered or in a hurry. Present the situation in a way that will make sense to readers the first time that they read the problem statement.
• Be polite and express your appreciation.

Going further with programming

Although this article is short and only scratches the surface of VBA and programming, it is hopefully enough to get you started.

This section briefly discusses a few more key topics.

Variables

In the simple examples in this article you manipulated objects that the application had already created. You might want to create your own objects to store values or references to other objects for temporary use in your application. These are called variables.

To use a variable in VBA, must tell VBA which type of object the variable represents by using the Dim statement. You then set its value and use it to set other variables or properties.

 Dim MyStringVariable As String MyStringVariable = "Wow!" Worksheets(1).Range("A1").Value = MyStringVariable 

Branching and looping

The simple programs in this article execute one line at a time, from the top down. The real power in programming comes from the options that you have to determine which lines of code to execute, based on one or more conditions that you specify. You can extend those capabilities even further when you can repeat an operation many times. For example, the following code extends Macro1.

Sub Macro1() If Worksheets(1).Range("A1").Value = "Yes!" Then Dim i As Integer For i = 2 To 10 Worksheets(1).Range("A" & i).Value = "OK! " & i Next i Else MsgBox "Put Yes! in cell A1" End If End Sub 

Type or paste the code into the Visual Basic Editor and then run it. Follow the directions in the message box that appears and change the text in cell A1 from Wow! to Yes! and run it again to see the power of looping. This code snippet demonstrates variables, branching and looping. Read it carefully after you see it in action and try to determine what happens as each line executes.

All of my Office applications: example code

Here are a few scripts to try; each solves a real-world Office problem.

Create an email in Outlook

Sub MakeMessage() Dim OutlookMessage As Outlook.MailItem Set OutlookMessage = Application.CreateItem(olMailItem) OutlookMessage.Subject = "Hello World!" OutlookMessage.Display Set OutlookMessage = Nothing End Sub 

Be aware that there are situations in which you might want to automate email in Outlook; you can use templates as well.

Delete empty rows in an Excel worksheet

Sub DeleteEmptyRows() SelectedRange = Selection.Rows.Count ActiveCell.Offset(0, 0).Select For i = 1 To SelectedRange If ActiveCell.Value = "" Then Selection.EntireRow.Delete Else ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0).Select End If Next i End Sub 

Be aware that you can select a column of cells and run this macro to delete all rows in the selected column that have a blank cell.

Delete empty text boxes in PowerPoint

Sub RemoveEmptyTextBoxes() Dim SlideObj As Slide Dim ShapeObj As Shape Dim ShapeIndex As Integer For Each SlideObj In ActivePresentation.Slides For ShapeIndex = SlideObj.Shapes.Count To 1 Step -1 Set ShapeObj = SlideObj.Shapes(ShapeIndex) If ShapeObj.Type = msoTextBox Then If Trim(ShapeObj.TextFrame.TextRange.Text) = "" Then ShapeObj.Delete End If End If Next ShapeIndex Next SlideObj End Sub 

Be aware that this code loops through all of the slides and deletes all text boxes that don’t have any text. The count variable decrements instead of increments because each time the code deletes an object, it removes that object from the collection, which reduces the count.

Copy a contact from Outlook to Word

Sub CopyCurrentContact() Dim OutlookObj As Object Dim InspectorObj As Object Dim ItemObj As Object Set OutlookObj = CreateObject("Outlook.Application") Set InspectorObj = OutlookObj.ActiveInspector Set ItemObj = InspectorObj.CurrentItem Application.ActiveDocument.Range.InsertAfter (ItemObj.FullName & " from " & ItemObj.CompanyName) End Sub 

Be aware that this code copies the currently open contact in Outlook into the open Word document. This code only works if there is a contact currently open for inspection in Outlook.

Support and feedback

Have questions or feedback about Office VBA or this documentation? Please see Office VBA support and feedback for guidance about the ways you can receive support and provide feedback.

18 ready-to-use VBA Codes that will save your day

In this article, I am going to show you some of the most amazing VBA Excel codes that you can use to optimize your work. VBA is a programming language, which can be used to extend the capabilities of MS Excel and other MS Office applications. It is extremely helpful for MS Excel users, because it can be used to automate your work and significantly improve your efficiency. This article will introduce you to VBA and show you some of the most useful, ready to use VBA codes out there. You can use these macro examples to create your own scripts that fit your own needs.

You do not need programming experience to take advantage of the information in this article, but you are expected to have basic knowledge of Excel. If you are a beginner user, I would recommend you to read the article 20 Excel Formulas You Should Start Using Now to learn more about Excel’s core functionalities.

I have prepared for you a number of ready to use VBA Excel Macro examples with great functionality that you can use to optimize your work. In order to use them, you need to “install” them in your Excel file. The next paragraph deals with Excel macro installation. Skip this part if you are already familiar with this.

Table of Contents

How to install a macro

In Excel, press the key combination alt + F11. This will take you to the VBA editor in MS Excel. Then, right-click on the Microsoft Excel Objects folder on the left and select Insert => Module. This is the place where the macros are stored. To make use of the macro, you need to save the Excel document as macro-enabled. From the tab file => save as, choose save as macro-enabled workbook (the .xlsm extension) Now, it’s time to write your first macro!

1. Copy data from one file to another.

Very useful macro, as it shows how to copy a range of data from inside vba and how to create and name a new workbook. You can easily upgrade it to fit your own requirements:

Sub CopyFiletoAnotherWorkbook() 'Copy the data Sheets("Example 1").Range("B4:C15").Copy 'Create a new workbook Workbooks.Add 'Paste the data ActiveSheet.Paste 'Turn off application alerts Application.DisplayAlerts = False 'Save the newly file. Change the name of the directory. ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs Filename:="C:\Temp\MyNewBook.xlsx" 'Turn application alerts back on Application.DisplayAlerts = True End Sub

2. Show hidden rows

Occasionally, large Excel files contain hidden lines for better clarity. Here’s a macro that will unhide all rows from an active worksheet:

Sub ShowHiddenRows() Columns.EntireColumn.Hidden = False Rows.EntireRow.Hidden = False End Sub

3. Delete empty rows and columns

Blank rows in Excel are a problem with data processing. Here is how to get rid of them:

Sub DeleteEmptyRowsAndColumns() 'Declare your variables. Dim MyRange As Range Dim iCounter As Long 'Define the target Range. Set MyRange = ActiveSheet.UsedRange 'Start reverse looping through the range of Rows. For iCounter = MyRange.Rows.Count To 1 Step -1 'If entire row is empty then delete it. If Application.CountA(Rows(iCounter).EntireRow) = 0 Then Rows(iCounter).Delete 'Remove comment to See which are the empty rows 'MsgBox "row " & iCounter & " is empty" End If 'Increment the counter down Next iCounter 'Step 6: Start reverse looping through the range of Columns. For iCounter = MyRange.Columns.Count To 1 Step -1 'Step 7: If entire column is empty then delete it. If Application.CountA(Columns(iCounter).EntireColumn) = 0 Then Columns(iCounter).Delete End If 'Step 8: Increment the counter down Next iCounter End Sub

4. Find a blank cell

Sub FindEmptyCell() ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0).Select Do While Not IsEmpty(ActiveCell) ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0).Select Loop End Sub

5. Replace empty cells with a value.

As previously mentioned, blank cells interfere with data processing and the creation of pivot tables. Here is a code which replaces all blank cells with 0. This macro has a very large application because you can use it to find and replace N/A results, as well as other characters such as dots, commas or duplicate values:

Sub FindAndReplace() 'Declare your variables Dim MyRange As Range Dim MyCell As Range 'Save the Workbook before changing cells? Select Case MsgBox("Can't Undo this action. " & _ "Save Workbook First?", vbYesNoCancel) Case Is = vbYes ThisWorkbook.Save Case Is = vbCancel Exit Sub End Select 'Define the target Range. Set MyRange = Selection 'Start looping through the range. For Each MyCell In MyRange 'Check for zero length then add 0. If Len(MyCell.Value) = 0 Then MyCell = 0 End If 'Get the next cell in the range Next MyCell End Sub

6. Sort numbers

The following macro sorts in ascending order all numbers from the active cell’s column. Just double click any cell from a column you would like to sort. NB: You need to put the code in Sheet 1 and not in a module to work:

Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeDoubleClick (ByVal Target as Range, Cancel As Boolean) 'Declare your Variables Dim LastRow As Long 'Find last row LastRow = Cells (Rows.Count, 1) .End (xlUp) .Row 'Sort ascending on double-clicked column Rows ("6:" & LastRow) .Sort _ Key1: = Cells (6, ActiveCell.Column), _ Order1: = xlAscending End Sub

7. Remove empty spaces

Occasionally, data in the workbook contains additional spaces (spaces) that can interfere with data analysis and to corrupt of formulas. Here’s a macro that will remove all the spaces from a preselected range of cells:

Sub TrimTheSpaces() 'Declare your variables Dim MyRange As Range Dim MyCell As Range 'Save the Workbook before changing cells Select Case MsgBox("Can't Undo this action. " & _ "Save Workbook First?", vbYesNoCancel) Case Is = vbYes ThisWorkbook.Save Case Is = vbCancel Exit Sub End Select 'Define the target Range. Set MyRange = Selection 'Start looping through the range. For Each MyCell In MyRange 'Trim the Spaces. If Not IsEmpty(MyCell) Then MyCell = Trim(MyCell) End If 'Get the next cell in the range Next MyCell End Sub

8. Highlight dublicated values

Sometimes there are duplicate values in the several columns we would like to illuminate. Here’s a macro that does just that:

Sub HighlightDuplicates() 'Declare your variables Dim MyRange As Range Dim MyCell As Range 'Define the target Range. Set MyRange = Selection 'Start looping through the range. For Each MyCell In MyRange 'Ensure the cell has Text formatting. If WorksheetFunction.CountIf(MyRange, MyCell.Value) > 1 Then MyCell.Interior.ColorIndex = 36 End If 'Get the next cell in the range Next MyCell End Sub

9. Highlight top ten values

This code will highlight the top ten values from a selection of cells:

Sub TopTen() Selection.FormatConditions.AddTop10 Selection.FormatConditions(Selection.FormatConditions.Count).SetFirstPriority With Selection.FormatConditions(1) .TopBottom = xlTop10Top 'Change the rank here to highlight a different number of values .Rank = 10 .Percent = False End With With Selection.FormatConditions(1).Font .Color = -16752384 .TintAndShade = 0 End With With Selection.FormatConditions(1).Interior .PatternColorIndex = xlAutomatic .Color = 13561798 .TintAndShade = 0 End With Selection.FormatConditions(1).StopIfTrue = False End Sub

You can easily tweak the code to highlight different number of values.

10. Highlight greater than values

When you run this code, a window will prompt. It will ask you the value you want to compare the cells you have selected.

Sub HighlightGreaterThanValues() Dim i As Integer i = InputBox("Enter Greater Than Value", "Enter Value") Selection.FormatConditions.Delete 'Change the Operator to xlLower to highlight lower than values Selection.FormatConditions.Add Type:=xlCellValue, Operator:=xlGreater, Formula1:=i Selection.FormatConditions(Selection.FormatConditions.Count).SetFirstPriority With Selection.FormatConditions(1) .Font.Color = RGB(0, 0, 0) .Interior.Color = RGB(31, 218, 154) End With End Sub

You can tweak this code to highlight lower values as well.

11. Highlight cells with comments

A simple macro that highlights all the cells that contain comments:

Sub HighlightCommentCells() Selection.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeComments).Select Selection.Style= "Note" End Sub

12. Highlight Cells with Misspelled words

This is extremely useful when you work with functions that take strings, however, someone entered the string with a mistake and your formulas are not working. Here is how to fix this issue:

Sub ColorMispelledCells() For Each cl In ActiveSheet.UsedRange If Not Application.CheckSpelling(Word:=cl.Text) Then _ cl.Interior.ColorIndex = 28 Next cl End Sub

13. Create a pivot table

Here is how to create a pivot table from MS Excel (2007 version). Especially useful, when you are making a custom report every day. You can optimize the pivot table creation in the following way:

Sub PivotTableForExcel2007() Dim SourceRange As Range Set SourceRange = Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A3:N86") ActiveWorkbook.PivotCaches.Create( _ SourceType:=xlDatabase, _ SourceData:=SourceRange, _ Version:=xlPivotTableVersion12).CreatePivotTable _ TableDestination:="", _ TableName:="", _ DefaultVersion:=xlPivotTableVersion12 End Sub

14. Attach active workbook in an Email

My favorite VBA code. It lets you attach and send the file you’re working on with a predefined email address, message title, and message body! You first need to set reference to Microsoft Outlook (in your VBA editior, click on tools => references and choose Microsoft Outlook).

Sub SendFIleAsAttachment() 'Declare your variables 'Set reference to Microsoft Outlook Object library Dim OLApp As Outlook.Application Dim OLMail As Object 'Open Outlook start a new mail item Set OLApp = New Outlook.Application Set OLMail = OLApp.CreateItem(0) OLApp.Session.Logon 'Build your mail item and send With OLMail .To = "admin@datapigtechnologies.com; mike@datapigtechnologies.com" .CC = "" .BCC = "" .Subject = "This is the Subject line" .Body = "Hi there" .Attachments.Add ActiveWorkbook.FullName .Display 'Change to .Send to send without reviewing End With 'Memory cleanup Set OLMail = Nothing Set OLApp = Nothing End Sub

15. Send all Excel charts to a PowerPoint presentation

A very handy macro that lets you add all your Excel charts in your Powerpoint presentation just with a single click:

Sub SendExcelFiguresToPowerPoint() 'Set reference to Microsoft Powerpoint Object Library 'Declare your variables Dim PP As PowerPoint.Application Dim PPPres As PowerPoint.Presentation Dim PPSlide As PowerPoint.Slide Dim i As Integer 'Check for charts; exit if no charts exist Sheets("Slide Data").Select If ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Count < 1 Then MsgBox "No charts existing the active sheet" Exit Sub End If 'Open PowerPoint and create new presentation Set PP = New PowerPoint.Application Set PPPres = PP.Presentations.Add PP.Visible = True 'Start the loop based on chart count For i = 1 To ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Count 'Copy the chart as a picture ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(i).Chart.CopyPicture _ Size:=xlScreen, Format:=xlPicture Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("0:00:1")) 'Count slides and add new slide as next available slide number ppSlideCount = PPPres.Slides.Count Set PPSlide = PPPres.Slides.Add(SlideCount + 1, ppLayoutBlank) PPSlide.Select 'Paste the picture and adjust its position; Go to next chart PPSlide.Shapes.Paste.Select PP.ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Align msoAlignCenters, True PP.ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Align msoAlignMiddles, True Next i 'Memory Cleanup Set PPSlide = Nothing Set PPPres = Nothing Set PP = Nothing End Sub

16. Send Excel table in MS Word

Excel tables are usually put inside text documents. Here is an automated way of exporting your Excel table to MS Word:

Sub ExcelTableInWord() 'Set reference to Microsoft Word Object library 'Declare your variables Dim MyRange As Excel.Range Dim wd As Word.Application Dim wdDoc As Word.Document Dim WdRange As Word.Range 'Copy the defined range Sheets("Revenue Table").Range("B4:F10").Cop 'Open the target Word document Set wd = New Word.Application Set wdDoc = wd.Documents.Open _ (ThisWorkbook.Path & "\" & "PasteTable.docx") wd.Visible = True 'Set focus on the target bookmark Set WdRange = wdDoc.Bookmarks("DataTableHere").Rangе 'Delete the old table and paste new On Error Resume Next WdRange.Tables(1).Delete WdRange.Paste 'paste in the table 'Adjust column widths WdRange.Tables(1).Columns.SetWidth _ (MyRange.Width / MyRange.Columns.Count), wdAdjustSameWidth 'Reinsert the bookmark wdDoc.Bookmarks.Add "DataTableHere", WdRange 'Memory cleanup Set wd = Nothing Set wdDoc = Nothing Set WdRange = Nothing End Sub

17. Extract a specific word from a cell

We can use formulas if we want to extract certain number of symbols. But what if we want to extract only the second word from a sentence or a range of words in a cell? To do this, we can create a custom Excel function with VBA. This is one of the most iportant VBA functionalities, because it lets you create your own functions that are non-existent in MS Excel. Let’s go on and create two functions: findword() and findwordrev(). Here’s the vba code for this:

Function FindWord(Source As String, Position As Integer) As String On Error Resume Next FindWord = Split(WorksheetFunction.Trim(Source), " ")(Position - 1) On Error GoTo 0 End Function Function FindWordRev(Source As String, Position As Integer) As String Dim Arr() As String Arr = VBA.Split(WorksheetFunction.Trim(Source), " ") On Error Resume Next FindWordRev = Arr(UBound(Arr) - Position + 1) On Error GoTo 0 End Function

Very nice, we have created two cstom Excel functions. Now, try to use them in Excel. The function = FindWordRev (A1,1) takes the last word from cell A1. The function = FindWord (A1,3) takes the third word from cell A1, etc.

18. Protect your Workbook

Sometimes we want to protect the data in our file so that only we can change it. Here’s how to do this with VBA:

Sub ProtectSheets() 'Declare your variables Dim ws As Worksheet 'Start looping through all worksheets For Each ws In ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets 'Protect and loop to next worksheet ws.Protect Password:="1234" Next ws End Sub

Congratulations! Since you are still reading this, you are really keen on learning VBA. As you have already seen for yourself, the VBA programming language is extremely useful and can save us a lot of time. I hope you found this information helpful and use it to become a master in MS Excel, VBA and computer software in general.