Sometimes when writing code you use the same text string in multiple places in your code. To make things easier you should capture that text string in a variable.
Category Archives: Macros
Navigation in the VBA Window
An Excel shortcut
I recently found a useful keyboard shortcut for the VBA code window. I tried an Excel shortcut that helped in the VBA window.
First and Last Cell Address in a Range
Following on from my last two VBA posts here is how you can identify the cell addresses of the first and last cells in a range.
VBA to Find the Row and Column Number Limits of a Range
First and last row and column numbers
In my last blog post I found the last used row and column numbers on the active sheet. This post lets us find the row and column extremities of a specific range.
Excel VBA to Find the Last Used Row or Column
UsedRange used wisely
When writing VBA code it is common to need to know the last used row and/or the last used column. These values provide the edges of the sheet contents.
Excel VBA to Remove Filters
Its a one liner
When creating macros that work with filters it is a good idea to remove filters at the beginning of the macro code. Here is how you do that.
Range Names and Macros
Range names rule
When you record a macro that refers to a particular cell or range on a particular sheet in Excel the range reference is hard coded into VBA (macro) code. Unfortunately this means if rows or columns are inserted or deleted in the reference range the code is not updated. There is an easy way to get around this.
Creating a Book Index in Excel
A macro to simplify and speed up the process
My book was published just over four years ago and part of the writing process was creating an Index. To make the task easier I wrote a macro to assist me. Adding an Index to a large document can improve its usefulness. I am sharing the file I used in this blog post.
Fixing too many different cell formats
A VBA solution or two
In a recent webinar I was asked about the “Too many different cell formats” error. This tends to be an error in Excel 2010 and earlier versions. In many cases this error is caused by having too many custom Styles.
Stopping the Clipboard from being cleared in Excel VBA
How to check if the clipboard is empty
It is common knowledge (or it should be) that running a macro clears the undo list. In general you can’t undo a macro. However some macros also clear the clipboard which can stop you copying and pasting. I have found a workaround for the clipboard problem.
Thank You Matthew Harris
Recently I learned about the passing of Chip Pearson an Excel legend.
He was so generous with his content and I had thanked him for his contributions years back, but it got me thinking about thanking others who had helped me along the way.
My third thank you goes out to Matthew Harris. Here is a link to his website
Back in the 90’s I taught myself VBA using his book – Teach Yourself Visual Basic For Applications in 21 Days. It has pride of place on my bookshelf.
The book really made a difference to the way I used Excel and opened my eyes to so many possibilities.I found I really enjoyed programming when working in VBA and Excel.
I have learned a lot since, but his book gave me a great grounding in VBA.
Thank you so much Matthew for your book, it has made a huge difference in my life.
Name Box and Macros
I have found out yet another feature of the Name Box.
The Name Box is on the left of the Formula Bar and above the column letters – see image below.
During a recent macro webinar I tried to create a new range name called Test using the Name Box.
But I also has already created a macro called Test as part of the training.
As soon as I pressed Enter after typing Test into the Name Box to create the Test range name, I was magically transported to the VBA window to the Test macro – Wow!
This means you can’t create a range name in the Name Box that is the same as a macro name.
You have to use the Define name icon on the Formulas tab to do that.
Entering Headings via a Macro in Excel
Handle a range in one go
Let’s say you are creating a new table in a new sheet using a macro and you need to create the headings in row 1. There is a reasonably easy way to do it.
Free Excel Webinar – recording Macros Tips Tricks and Traps
Getting started with macros
It is easy to create a recorded macro. It is not so easy to create a flexible and re-usable recorded macro. Click the materials Button below to download the pdf manual and example file.
Learn the techniques that can allow you to record effective macros that can handle different ranges and changes to sheet names.
Macros can speed up your work and reduce the time taken for tedious tasks, as well as adding functionality to Excel.
This is the first in a series of webinars dedicated to macros. Future paid sessions this month will expand on the techniques taught in this session.
VBA If statement tip
When creating long VBA code it is common that the start of an If statement and the matching End If statement may not be visible on the same screen.
When scrolling around trying to understand your code it can be useful to include the If statement itself as a comment following on the same line as the End If command – see examples below.
If x=0 Then 'lots of code If y =1 Then 'lots of code End If 'If y =1 then End If 'If x=0 Then |
The apostrophe is used to specify the start of a comment – you can have a comment following a line of code.
This structure can assist when trying to identify which End If statement relates to which If statement.
Expand to Fit to One Page in Excel
Macro solution
Excel will automatically decrease the print zoom % to fit to one page, but it won’t increase the zoom % to fit to one page. E.g. if you want to print on A3 instead of A4. I had a request to do this, so I wrote a macro to do it.
Excel VBA to Clear Manual Page Breaks
Be careful how you do it
When clearing page breaks in Excel VBA you need to be careful. There is one command that will clear page breaks but it will also affect other print settings.
Declaring Variables in Excel VBA
Using the Dim statement
In a Linkedin Excel Group recently there was a discussion about whether or not you should use the Dim statement to declare your variables. The argument was that you don’t have to and someone had managed to successfully create some code without declaring variables.
Replace Merged Cells with Center Across Selection
Let the macro do the work
Unfortunately lots of people use the Merge & Center format in their spreadsheets. When working with other people’s files that contain Merged cells I will often remove the Merged cells format and apply Center Across Selection which is the preferred format to use. The macro below will convert Merged cells to Center Across Selection.
Make Excel VBA Pause
Sometimes when running a macro you need to make sure Excel has had time to do something before progressing.
This is typically in large models were it can take time (a few seconds) to do a specific task eg removing a filter or updating an external data source.
You can pause a macro to allow Excel to do something by using the Wait command.
Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("0:00:02"))
The above code will pause the macro for 2 seconds.