“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data”- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
This post covers everything you need to know about using Cells and Ranges in VBA. You can read it from start to finish as it is laid out in a logical order. If you prefer you can use the table of contents below to go to a section of your choice.
Topics covered include Offset property, reading values between cells, reading values to arrays and formatting cells.
A Quick Guide to Ranges and Cells
Function | Takes | Returns | Example | Gives |
---|---|---|---|---|
Range |
cell address | multiple cells | .Range(«A1:A4») | $A$1:$A$4 |
Cells | row, column | one cell | .Cells(1,5) | $E$1 |
Offset | row, column | multiple cells | Range(«A1:A2») .Offset(1,2) |
$C$2:$C$3 |
Rows | row(s) | one or more rows | .Rows(4) .Rows(«2:4») |
$4:$4 $2:$4 |
Columns | column(s) | one or more columns | .Columns(4) .Columns(«B:D») |
$D:$D $B:$D |
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Introduction
This is the third post dealing with the three main elements of VBA. These three elements are the Workbooks, Worksheets and Ranges/Cells. Cells are by far the most important part of Excel. Almost everything you do in Excel starts and ends with Cells.
Generally speaking, you do three main things with Cells
- Read from a cell.
- Write to a cell.
- Change the format of a cell.
Excel has a number of methods for accessing cells such as Range, Cells and Offset.These can cause confusion as they do similar things and can lead to confusion
In this post I will tackle each one, explain why you need it and when you should use it.
Let’s start with the simplest method of accessing cells – using the Range property of the worksheet.
Important Notes
I have recently updated this article so that is uses Value2.
You may be wondering what is the difference between Value, Value2 and the default:
' Value2 Range("A1").Value2 = 56 ' Value Range("A1").Value = 56 ' Default uses value Range("A1") = 56
Using Value may truncate number if the cell is formatted as currency. If you don’t use any property then the default is Value.
It is better to use Value2 as it will always return the actual cell value(see this article from Charle Williams.)
The Range Property
The worksheet has a Range property which you can use to access cells in VBA. The Range property takes the same argument that most Excel Worksheet functions take e.g. “A1”, “A3:C6” etc.
The following example shows you how to place a value in a cell using the Range property.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub WriteToCell() ' Write number to cell A1 in sheet1 of this workbook ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A1").Value2 = 67 ' Write text to cell A2 in sheet1 of this workbook ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A2").Value2 = "John Smith" ' Write date to cell A3 in sheet1 of this workbook ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A3").Value2 = #11/21/2017# End Sub
As you can see Range is a member of the worksheet which in turn is a member of the Workbook. This follows the same hierarchy as in Excel so should be easy to understand. To do something with Range you must first specify the workbook and worksheet it belongs to.
For the rest of this post I will use the code name to reference the worksheet.
The following code shows the above example using the code name of the worksheet i.e. Sheet1 instead of ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(“Sheet1”).
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub UsingCodeName() ' Write number to cell A1 in sheet1 of this workbook Sheet1.Range("A1").Value2 = 67 ' Write text to cell A2 in sheet1 of this workbook Sheet1.Range("A2").Value2 = "John Smith" ' Write date to cell A3 in sheet1 of this workbook Sheet1.Range("A3").Value2 = #11/21/2017# End Sub
You can also write to multiple cells using the Range property
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub WriteToMulti() ' Write number to a range of cells Sheet1.Range("A1:A10").Value2 = 67 ' Write text to multiple ranges of cells Sheet1.Range("B2:B5,B7:B9").Value2 = "John Smith" End Sub
You can download working examples of all the code from this post from the top of this article.
The Cells Property of the Worksheet
The worksheet object has another property called Cells which is very similar to range. There are two differences
- Cells returns a range of one cell only.
- Cells takes row and column as arguments.
The example below shows you how to write values to cells using both the Range and Cells property
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub UsingCells() ' Write to A1 Sheet1.Range("A1").Value2 = 10 Sheet1.Cells(1, 1).Value2 = 10 ' Write to A10 Sheet1.Range("A10").Value2 = 10 Sheet1.Cells(10, 1).Value2 = 10 ' Write to E1 Sheet1.Range("E1").Value2 = 10 Sheet1.Cells(1, 5).Value2 = 10 End Sub
You may be wondering when you should use Cells and when you should use Range. Using Range is useful for accessing the same cells each time the Macro runs.
For example, if you were using a Macro to calculate a total and write it to cell A10 every time then Range would be suitable for this task.
Using the Cells property is useful if you are accessing a cell based on a number that may vary. It is easier to explain this with an example.
In the following code, we ask the user to specify the column number. Using Cells gives us the flexibility to use a variable number for the column.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub WriteToColumn() Dim UserCol As Integer ' Get the column number from the user UserCol = Application.InputBox(" Please enter the column...", Type:=1) ' Write text to user selected column Sheet1.Cells(1, UserCol).Value2 = "John Smith" End Sub
In the above example, we are using a number for the column rather than a letter.
To use Range here would require us to convert these values to the letter/number cell reference e.g. “C1”. Using the Cells property allows us to provide a row and a column number to access a cell.
Sometimes you may want to return more than one cell using row and column numbers. The next section shows you how to do this.
Using Cells and Range together
As you have seen you can only access one cell using the Cells property. If you want to return a range of cells then you can use Cells with Ranges as follows
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub UsingCellsWithRange() With Sheet1 ' Write 5 to Range A1:A10 using Cells property .Range(.Cells(1, 1), .Cells(10, 1)).Value2 = 5 ' Format Range B1:Z1 to be bold .Range(.Cells(1, 2), .Cells(1, 26)).Font.Bold = True End With End Sub
As you can see, you provide the start and end cell of the Range. Sometimes it can be tricky to see which range you are dealing with when the value are all numbers. Range has a property called Address which displays the letter/ number cell reference of any range. This can come in very handy when you are debugging or writing code for the first time.
In the following example we print out the address of the ranges we are using:
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub ShowRangeAddress() ' Note: Using underscore allows you to split up lines of code With Sheet1 ' Write 5 to Range A1:A10 using Cells property .Range(.Cells(1, 1), .Cells(10, 1)).Value2 = 5 Debug.Print "First address is : " _ + .Range(.Cells(1, 1), .Cells(10, 1)).Address ' Format Range B1:Z1 to be bold .Range(.Cells(1, 2), .Cells(1, 26)).Font.Bold = True Debug.Print "Second address is : " _ + .Range(.Cells(1, 2), .Cells(1, 26)).Address End With End Sub
In the example I used Debug.Print to print to the Immediate Window. To view this window select View->Immediate Window(or Ctrl G)
You can download all the code for this post from the top of this article.
The Offset Property of Range
Range has a property called Offset. The term Offset refers to a count from the original position. It is used a lot in certain areas of programming. With the Offset property you can get a Range of cells the same size and a certain distance from the current range. The reason this is useful is that sometimes you may want to select a Range based on a certain condition. For example in the screenshot below there is a column for each day of the week. Given the day number(i.e. Monday=1, Tuesday=2 etc.) we need to write the value to the correct column.
We will first attempt to do this without using Offset.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ ' This sub tests with different values Public Sub TestSelect() ' Monday SetValueSelect 1, 111.21 ' Wednesday SetValueSelect 3, 456.99 ' Friday SetValueSelect 5, 432.25 ' Sunday SetValueSelect 7, 710.17 End Sub ' Writes the value to a column based on the day Public Sub SetValueSelect(lDay As Long, lValue As Currency) Select Case lDay Case 1: Sheet1.Range("H3").Value2 = lValue Case 2: Sheet1.Range("I3").Value2 = lValue Case 3: Sheet1.Range("J3").Value2 = lValue Case 4: Sheet1.Range("K3").Value2 = lValue Case 5: Sheet1.Range("L3").Value2 = lValue Case 6: Sheet1.Range("M3").Value2 = lValue Case 7: Sheet1.Range("N3").Value2 = lValue End Select End Sub
As you can see in the example, we need to add a line for each possible option. This is not an ideal situation. Using the Offset Property provides a much cleaner solution
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ ' This sub tests with different values Public Sub TestOffset() DayOffSet 1, 111.01 DayOffSet 3, 456.99 DayOffSet 5, 432.25 DayOffSet 7, 710.17 End Sub Public Sub DayOffSet(lDay As Long, lValue As Currency) ' We use the day value with offset specify the correct column Sheet1.Range("G3").Offset(, lDay).Value2 = lValue End Sub
As you can see this solution is much better. If the number of days in increased then we do not need to add any more code. For Offset to be useful there needs to be some kind of relationship between the positions of the cells. If the Day columns in the above example were random then we could not use Offset. We would have to use the first solution.
One thing to keep in mind is that Offset retains the size of the range. So .Range(“A1:A3”).Offset(1,1) returns the range B2:B4. Below are some more examples of using Offset
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub UsingOffset() ' Write to B2 - no offset Sheet1.Range("B2").Offset().Value2 = "Cell B2" ' Write to C2 - 1 column to the right Sheet1.Range("B2").Offset(, 1).Value2 = "Cell C2" ' Write to B3 - 1 row down Sheet1.Range("B2").Offset(1).Value2 = "Cell B3" ' Write to C3 - 1 column right and 1 row down Sheet1.Range("B2").Offset(1, 1).Value2 = "Cell C3" ' Write to A1 - 1 column left and 1 row up Sheet1.Range("B2").Offset(-1, -1).Value2 = "Cell A1" ' Write to range E3:G13 - 1 column right and 1 row down Sheet1.Range("D2:F12").Offset(1, 1).Value2 = "Cells E3:G13" End Sub
Using the Range CurrentRegion
CurrentRegion returns a range of all the adjacent cells to the given range.
In the screenshot below you can see the two current regions. I have added borders to make the current regions clear.
A row or column of blank cells signifies the end of a current region.
You can manually check the CurrentRegion in Excel by selecting a range and pressing Ctrl + Shift + *.
If we take any range of cells within the border and apply CurrentRegion, we will get back the range of cells in the entire area.
For example
Range(“B3”).CurrentRegion will return the range B3:D14
Range(“D14”).CurrentRegion will return the range B3:D14
Range(“C8:C9”).CurrentRegion will return the range B3:D14
and so on
How to Use
We get the CurrentRegion as follows
' Current region will return B3:D14 from above example Dim rg As Range Set rg = Sheet1.Range("B3").CurrentRegion
Read Data Rows Only
Read through the range from the second row i.e.skipping the header row
' Current region will return B3:D14 from above example Dim rg As Range Set rg = Sheet1.Range("B3").CurrentRegion ' Start at row 2 - row after header Dim i As Long For i = 2 To rg.Rows.Count ' current row, column 1 of range Debug.Print rg.Cells(i, 1).Value2 Next i
Remove Header
Remove header row(i.e. first row) from the range. For example if range is A1:D4 this will return A2:D4
' Current region will return B3:D14 from above example Dim rg As Range Set rg = Sheet1.Range("B3").CurrentRegion ' Remove Header Set rg = rg.Resize(rg.Rows.Count - 1).Offset(1) ' Start at row 1 as no header row Dim i As Long For i = 1 To rg.Rows.Count ' current row, column 1 of range Debug.Print rg.Cells(i, 1).Value2 Next i
Using Rows and Columns as Ranges
If you want to do something with an entire Row or Column you can use the Rows or Columns property of the Worksheet. They both take one parameter which is the row or column number you wish to access
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub UseRowAndColumns() ' Set the font size of column B to 9 Sheet1.Columns(2).Font.Size = 9 ' Set the width of columns D to F Sheet1.Columns("D:F").ColumnWidth = 4 ' Set the font size of row 5 to 18 Sheet1.Rows(5).Font.Size = 18 End Sub
Using Range in place of Worksheet
You can also use Cells, Rows and Columns as part of a Range rather than part of a Worksheet. You may have a specific need to do this but otherwise I would avoid the practice. It makes the code more complex. Simple code is your friend. It reduces the possibility of errors.
The code below will set the second column of the range to bold. As the range has only two rows the entire column is considered B1:B2
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub UseColumnsInRange() ' This will set B1 and B2 to be bold Sheet1.Range("A1:C2").Columns(2).Font.Bold = True End Sub
You can download all the code for this post from the top of this article.
Reading Values from one Cell to another
In most of the examples so far we have written values to a cell. We do this by placing the range on the left of the equals sign and the value to place in the cell on the right. To write data from one cell to another we do the same. The destination range goes on the left and the source range goes on the right.
The following example shows you how to do this:
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub ReadValues() ' Place value from B1 in A1 Sheet1.Range("A1").Value2 = Sheet1.Range("B1").Value2 ' Place value from B3 in sheet2 to cell A1 Sheet1.Range("A1").Value2 = Sheet2.Range("B3").Value2 ' Place value from B1 in cells A1 to A5 Sheet1.Range("A1:A5").Value2 = Sheet1.Range("B1").Value2 ' You need to use the "Value" property to read multiple cells Sheet1.Range("A1:A5").Value2 = Sheet1.Range("B1:B5").Value2 End Sub
As you can see from this example it is not possible to read from multiple cells. If you want to do this you can use the Copy function of Range with the Destination parameter
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub CopyValues() ' Store the copy range in a variable Dim rgCopy As Range Set rgCopy = Sheet1.Range("B1:B5") ' Use this to copy from more than one cell rgCopy.Copy Destination:=Sheet1.Range("A1:A5") ' You can paste to multiple destinations rgCopy.Copy Destination:=Sheet1.Range("A1:A5,C2:C6") End Sub
The Copy function copies everything including the format of the cells. It is the same result as manually copying and pasting a selection. You can see more about it in the Copying and Pasting Cells section.
Using the Range.Resize Method
When copying from one range to another using assignment(i.e. the equals sign), the destination range must be the same size as the source range.
Using the Resize function allows us to resize a range to a given number of rows and columns.
For example:
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub ResizeExamples() ' Prints A1 Debug.Print Sheet1.Range("A1").Address ' Prints A1:A2 Debug.Print Sheet1.Range("A1").Resize(2, 1).Address ' Prints A1:A5 Debug.Print Sheet1.Range("A1").Resize(5, 1).Address ' Prints A1:D1 Debug.Print Sheet1.Range("A1").Resize(1, 4).Address ' Prints A1:C3 Debug.Print Sheet1.Range("A1").Resize(3, 3).Address End Sub
When we want to resize our destination range we can simply use the source range size.
In other words, we use the row and column count of the source range as the parameters for resizing:
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub Resize() Dim rgSrc As Range, rgDest As Range ' Get all the data in the current region Set rgSrc = Sheet1.Range("A1").CurrentRegion ' Get the range destination Set rgDest = Sheet2.Range("A1") Set rgDest = rgDest.Resize(rgSrc.Rows.Count, rgSrc.Columns.Count) rgDest.Value2 = rgSrc.Value2 End Sub
We can do the resize in one line if we prefer:
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub ResizeOneLine() Dim rgSrc As Range ' Get all the data in the current region Set rgSrc = Sheet1.Range("A1").CurrentRegion With rgSrc Sheet2.Range("A1").Resize(.Rows.Count, .Columns.Count).Value2 = .Value2 End With End Sub
Reading Values to variables
We looked at how to read from one cell to another. You can also read from a cell to a variable. A variable is used to store values while a Macro is running. You normally do this when you want to manipulate the data before writing it somewhere. The following is a simple example using a variable. As you can see the value of the item to the right of the equals is written to the item to the left of the equals.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub UseVariables() ' Create Dim number As Long ' Read number from cell number = Sheet1.Range("A1").Value2 ' Add 1 to value number = number + 1 ' Write new value to cell Sheet1.Range("A2").Value2 = number End Sub
To read text to a variable you use a variable of type String:
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub UseVariableText() ' Declare a variable of type string Dim text As String ' Read value from cell text = Sheet1.Range("A1").Value2 ' Write value to cell Sheet1.Range("A2").Value2 = text End Sub
You can write a variable to a range of cells. You just specify the range on the left and the value will be written to all cells in the range.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub VarToMulti() ' Read value from cell Sheet1.Range("A1:B10").Value2 = 66 End Sub
You cannot read from multiple cells to a variable. However you can read to an array which is a collection of variables. We will look at doing this in the next section.
How to Copy and Paste Cells
If you want to copy and paste a range of cells then you do not need to select them. This is a common error made by new VBA users.
Note: We normally use Range.Copy when we want to copy formats, formulas, validation. If we want to copy values it is not the most efficient method.
I have written a complete guide to copying data in Excel VBA here.
You can simply copy a range of cells like this:
Range("A1:B4").Copy Destination:=Range("C5")
Using this method copies everything – values, formats, formulas and so on. If you want to copy individual items you can use the PasteSpecial property of range.
It works like this
Range("A1:B4").Copy Range("F3").PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteValues Range("F3").PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteFormats Range("F3").PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteFormulas
The following table shows a full list of all the paste types
Paste Type |
---|
xlPasteAll |
xlPasteAllExceptBorders |
xlPasteAllMergingConditionalFormats |
xlPasteAllUsingSourceTheme |
xlPasteColumnWidths |
xlPasteComments |
xlPasteFormats |
xlPasteFormulas |
xlPasteFormulasAndNumberFormats |
xlPasteValidation |
xlPasteValues |
xlPasteValuesAndNumberFormats |
Reading a Range of Cells to an Array
You can also copy values by assigning the value of one range to another.
Range("A3:Z3").Value2 = Range("A1:Z1").Value2
The value of range in this example is considered to be a variant array. What this means is that you can easily read from a range of cells to an array. You can also write from an array to a range of cells. If you are not familiar with arrays you can check them out in this post.
The following code shows an example of using an array with a range:
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub ReadToArray() ' Create dynamic array Dim StudentMarks() As Variant ' Read 26 values into array from the first row StudentMarks = Range("A1:Z1").Value2 ' Do something with array here ' Write the 26 values to the third row Range("A3:Z3").Value2 = StudentMarks End Sub
Keep in mind that the array created by the read is a 2 dimensional array. This is because a spreadsheet stores values in two dimensions i.e. rows and columns
Going through all the cells in a Range
Sometimes you may want to go through each cell one at a time to check value.
You can do this using a For Each loop shown in the following code
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub TraversingCells() ' Go through each cells in the range Dim rg As Range For Each rg In Sheet1.Range("A1:A10,A20") ' Print address of cells that are negative If rg.Value < 0 Then Debug.Print rg.Address + " is negative." End If Next End Sub
You can also go through consecutive Cells using the Cells property and a standard For loop.
The standard loop is more flexible about the order you use but it is slower than a For Each loop.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub TraverseCells() ' Go through cells from A1 to A10 Dim i As Long For i = 1 To 10 ' Print address of cells that are negative If Range("A" & i).Value < 0 Then Debug.Print Range("A" & i).Address + " is negative." End If Next ' Go through cells in reverse i.e. from A10 to A1 For i = 10 To 1 Step -1 ' Print address of cells that are negative If Range("A" & i) < 0 Then Debug.Print Range("A" & i).Address + " is negative." End If Next End Sub
Formatting Cells
Sometimes you will need to format the cells the in spreadsheet. This is actually very straightforward. The following example shows you various formatting you can add to any range of cells
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Sub FormattingCells() With Sheet1 ' Format the font .Range("A1").Font.Bold = True .Range("A1").Font.Underline = True .Range("A1").Font.Color = rgbNavy ' Set the number format to 2 decimal places .Range("B2").NumberFormat = "0.00" ' Set the number format to a date .Range("C2").NumberFormat = "dd/mm/yyyy" ' Set the number format to general .Range("C3").NumberFormat = "General" ' Set the number format to text .Range("C4").NumberFormat = "Text" ' Set the fill color of the cell .Range("B3").Interior.Color = rgbSandyBrown ' Format the borders .Range("B4").Borders.LineStyle = xlDash .Range("B4").Borders.Color = rgbBlueViolet End With End Sub
Main Points
The following is a summary of the main points
- Range returns a range of cells
- Cells returns one cells only
- You can read from one cell to another
- You can read from a range of cells to another range of cells.
- You can read values from cells to variables and vice versa.
- You can read values from ranges to arrays and vice versa
- You can use a For Each or For loop to run through every cell in a range.
- The properties Rows and Columns allow you to access a range of cells of these types
What’s Next?
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In this Article
- Ranges and Cells in VBA
- Cell Address
- Range of Cells
- Writing to Cells
- Reading from Cells
- Non Contiguous Cells
- Intersection of Cells
- Offset from a Cell or Range
- Setting Reference to a Range
- Resize a Range
- OFFSET vs Resize
- All Cells in Sheet
- UsedRange
- CurrentRegion
- Range Properties
- Last Cell in Sheet
- Last Used Row Number in a Column
- Last Used Column Number in a Row
- Cell Properties
- Copy and Paste
- AutoFit Contents
- More Range Examples
- For Each
- Sort
- Find
- Range Address
- Range to Array
- Array to Range
- Sum Range
- Count Range
Ranges and Cells in VBA
Excel spreadsheets store data in Cells. Cells are arranged into Rows and Columns. Each cell can be identified by the intersection point of it’s row and column (Exs. B3 or R3C2).
An Excel Range refers to one or more cells (ex. A3:B4)
Cell Address
A1 Notation
In A1 notation, a cell is referred to by it’s column letter (from A to XFD) followed by it’s row number(from 1 to 1,048,576). This is called a cell address.
In VBA you can refer to any cell using the Range Object.
' Refer to cell B4 on the currently active sheet
MsgBox Range("B4")
' Refer to cell B4 on the sheet named 'Data'
MsgBox Worksheets("Data").Range("B4")
' Refer to cell B4 on the sheet named 'Data' in another OPEN workbook
' named 'My Data'
MsgBox Workbooks("My Data").Worksheets("Data").Range("B4")
R1C1 Notation
In R1C1 Notation a cell is referred by R followed by Row Number then letter ‘C’ followed by the Column Number. eg B4 in R1C1 notation will be referred by R4C2. In VBA you use the Cells Object to use R1C1 notation:
' Refer to cell R[6]C[4] i.e D6
Cells(6, 4) = "D6"
Range of Cells
A1 Notation
To refer to a more than one cell use a “:” between the starting cell address and last cell address. The following will refer to all the cells from A1 to D10:
Range("A1:D10")
R1C1 Notation
To refer to a more than one cell use a “,” between the starting cell address and last cell address. The following will refer to all the cells from A1 to D10:
Range(Cells(1, 1), Cells(10, 4))
Writing to Cells
To write values to a cell or contiguous group of cells, simple refer to the range, put an = sign and then write the value to be stored:
' Store F5 in cell with Address F6
Range("F6") = "F6"
' Store E6 in cell with Address R[6]C[5] i.e E6
Cells(6, 5) = "E6"
' Store A1:D10 in the range A1:D10
Range("A1:D10") = "A1:D10"
' or
Range(Cells(1, 1), Cells(10, 4)) = "A1:D10"
Reading from Cells
To read values from cells, simple refer to the variable to store the values, put an = sign and then refer to the range to be read:
Dim val1
Dim val2
' Read from cell F6
val1 = Range("F6")
' Read from cell E6
val2 = Cells(6, 5)
MsgBox val1
Msgbox val2
Note: To store values from a range of cells, you need to use an Array instead of a simple variable.
Non Contiguous Cells
To refer to non contiguous cells use a comma between the cell addresses:
' Store 10 in cells A1, A3, and A5
Range("A1,A3,A5") = 10
' Store 10 in cells A1:A3 and D1:D3)
Range("A1:A3, D1:D3") = 10
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Intersection of Cells
To refer to non contiguous cells use a space between the cell addresses:
' Store 'Col D' in D1:D10
' which is Common between A1:D10 and D1:F10
Range("A1:D10 D1:G10") = "Col D"
Offset from a Cell or Range
Using the Offset function, you can move the reference from a given Range (cell or group of cells) by the specified number_of_rows, and number_of_columns.
Offset Syntax
Range.Offset(number_of_rows, number_of_columns)
Offset from a cell
' OFFSET from a cell A1
' Refer to cell itself
' Move 0 rows and 0 columns
Range("A1").Offset(0, 0) = "A1"
' Move 1 rows and 0 columns
Range("A1").Offset(1, 0) = "A2"
' Move 0 rows and 1 columns
Range("A1").Offset(0, 1) = "B1"
' Move 1 rows and 1 columns
Range("A1").Offset(1, 1) = "B2"
' Move 10 rows and 5 columns
Range("A1").Offset(10, 5) = "F11"
Offset from a Range
' Move Reference to Range A1:D4 by 4 rows and 4 columns
' New Reference is E5:H8
Range("A1:D4").Offset(4,4) = "E5:H8"
Setting Reference to a Range
To assign a range to a range variable: declare a variable of type Range then use the Set command to set it to a range. Please note that you must use the SET command as RANGE is an object:
' Declare a Range variable
Dim myRange as Range
' Set the variable to the range A1:D4
Set myRange = Range("A1:D4")
' Prints $A$1:$D$4
MsgBox myRange.Address
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Resize a Range
Resize method of Range object changes the dimension of the reference range:
Dim myRange As Range
' Range to Resize
Set myRange = Range("A1:F4")
' Prints $A$1:$E$10
Debug.Print myRange.Resize(10, 5).Address
Top-left cell of the Resized range is same as the top-left cell of the original range
Resize Syntax
Range.Resize(number_of_rows, number_of_columns)
OFFSET vs Resize
Offset does not change the dimensions of the range but moves it by the specified number of rows and columns. Resize does not change the position of the original range but changes the dimensions to the specified number of rows and columns.
All Cells in Sheet
The Cells object refers to all the cells in the sheet (1048576 rows and 16384 columns).
' Clear All Cells in Worksheets
Cells.Clear
UsedRange
UsedRange property gives you the rectangular range from the top-left cell used cell to the right-bottom used cell of the active sheet.
Dim ws As Worksheet
Set ws = ActiveSheet
' $B$2:$L$14 if L2 is the first cell with any value
' and L14 is the last cell with any value on the
' active sheet
Debug.Print ws.UsedRange.Address
CurrentRegion
CurrentRegion property gives you the contiguous rectangular range from the top-left cell to the right-bottom used cell containing the referenced cell/range.
Dim myRange As Range
Set myRange = Range("D4:F6")
' Prints $B$2:$L$14
' If there is a filled path from D4:F16 to B2 AND L14
Debug.Print myRange.CurrentRegion.Address
' You can refer to a single starting cell also
Set myRange = Range("D4") ' Prints $B$2:$L$14
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Range Properties
You can get Address, row/column number of a cell, and number of rows/columns in a range as given below:
Dim myRange As Range
Set myRange = Range("A1:F10")
' Prints $A$1:$F$10
Debug.Print myRange.Address
Set myRange = Range("F10")
' Prints 10 for Row 10
Debug.Print myRange.Row
' Prints 6 for Column F
Debug.Print myRange.Column
Set myRange = Range("E1:F5")
' Prints 5 for number of Rows in range
Debug.Print myRange.Rows.Count
' Prints 2 for number of Columns in range
Debug.Print myRange.Columns.Count
Last Cell in Sheet
You can use Rows.Count and Columns.Count properties with Cells object to get the last cell on the sheet:
' Print the last row number
' Prints 1048576
Debug.Print "Rows in the sheet: " & Rows.Count
' Print the last column number
' Prints 16384
Debug.Print "Columns in the sheet: " & Columns.Count
' Print the address of the last cell
' Prints $XFD$1048576
Debug.Print "Address of Last Cell in the sheet: " & Cells(Rows.Count, Columns.Count)
Last Used Row Number in a Column
END property takes you the last cell in the range, and End(xlUp) takes you up to the first used cell from that cell.
Dim lastRow As Long
lastRow = Cells(Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row
Last Used Column Number in a Row
Dim lastCol As Long
lastCol = Cells(1, Columns.Count).End(xlToLeft).Column
END property takes you the last cell in the range, and End(xlToLeft) takes you left to the first used cell from that cell.
You can also use xlDown and xlToRight properties to navigate to the first bottom or right used cells of the current cell.
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Cell Properties
Common Properties
Here is code to display commonly used Cell Properties
Dim cell As Range
Set cell = Range("A1")
cell.Activate
Debug.Print cell.Address
' Print $A$1
Debug.Print cell.Value
' Prints 456
' Address
Debug.Print cell.Formula
' Prints =SUM(C2:C3)
' Comment
Debug.Print cell.Comment.Text
' Style
Debug.Print cell.Style
' Cell Format
Debug.Print cell.DisplayFormat.NumberFormat
Cell Font
Cell.Font object contains properties of the Cell Font:
Dim cell As Range
Set cell = Range("A1")
' Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic
cell.Font.FontStyle = "Bold Italic"
' Same as
cell.Font.Bold = True
cell.Font.Italic = True
' Set font to Courier
cell.Font.FontStyle = "Courier"
' Set Font Color
cell.Font.Color = vbBlue
' or
cell.Font.Color = RGB(255, 0, 0)
' Set Font Size
cell.Font.Size = 20
Copy and Paste
Paste All
Ranges/Cells can be copied and pasted from one location to another. The following code copies all the properties of source range to destination range (equivalent to CTRL-C and CTRL-V)
'Simple Copy
Range("A1:D20").Copy
Worksheets("Sheet2").Range("B10").Paste
'or
' Copy from Current Sheet to sheet named 'Sheet2'
Range("A1:D20").Copy destination:=Worksheets("Sheet2").Range("B10")
Paste Special
Selected properties of the source range can be copied to the destination by using PASTESPECIAL option:
' Paste the range as Values only
Range("A1:D20").Copy
Worksheets("Sheet2").Range("B10").PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteValues
Here are the possible options for the Paste option:
' Paste Special Types
xlPasteAll
xlPasteAllExceptBorders
xlPasteAllMergingConditionalFormats
xlPasteAllUsingSourceTheme
xlPasteColumnWidths
xlPasteComments
xlPasteFormats
xlPasteFormulas
xlPasteFormulasAndNumberFormats
xlPasteValidation
xlPasteValues
xlPasteValuesAndNumberFormats
AutoFit Contents
Size of rows and columns can be changed to fit the contents using AutoFit:
' Change size of rows 1 to 5 to fit contents
Rows("1:5").AutoFit
' Change size of Columns A to B to fit contents
Columns("A:B").AutoFit
More Range Examples
It is recommended that you use Macro Recorder while performing the required action through the GUI. It will help you understand the various options available and how to use them.
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For Each
It is easy to loop through a range using For Each construct as show below:
For Each cell In Range("A1:B100")
' Do something with the cell
Next cell
At each iteration of the loop one cell in the range is assigned to the variable cell and statements in the For loop are executed for that cell. Loop exits when all the cells are processed.
Sort
Sort is a method of Range object. You can sort a range by specifying options for sorting to Range.Sort. The code below will sort the columns A:C based on key in cell C2. Sort Order can be xlAscending or xlDescending. Header:= xlYes should be used if first row is the header row.
Columns("A:C").Sort key1:=Range("C2"), _
order1:=xlAscending, Header:=xlYes
Find
Find is also a method of Range Object. It find the first cell having content matching the search criteria and returns the cell as a Range object. It return Nothing if there is no match.
Use FindNext method (or FindPrevious) to find next(previous) occurrence.
Following code will change the font to “Arial Black” for all cells in the range which start with “John”:
For Each c In Range("A1:A100")
If c Like "John*" Then
c.Font.Name = "Arial Black"
End If
Next c
Following code will replace all occurrences of “To Test” to “Passed” in the range specified:
With Range("a1:a500")
Set c = .Find("To Test", LookIn:=xlValues)
If Not c Is Nothing Then
firstaddress = c.Address
Do
c.Value = "Passed"
Set c = .FindNext(c)
Loop While Not c Is Nothing And c.Address <> firstaddress
End If
End With
It is important to note that you must specify a range to use FindNext. Also you must provide a stopping condition otherwise the loop will execute forever. Normally address of the first cell which is found is stored in a variable and loop is stopped when you reach that cell again. You must also check for the case when nothing is found to stop the loop.
Range Address
Use Range.Address to get the address in A1 Style
MsgBox Range("A1:D10").Address
' or
Debug.Print Range("A1:D10").Address
Use xlReferenceStyle (default is xlA1) to get addres in R1C1 style
MsgBox Range("A1:D10").Address(ReferenceStyle:=xlR1C1)
' or
Debug.Print Range("A1:D10").Address(ReferenceStyle:=xlR1C1)
This is useful when you deal with ranges stored in variables and want to process for certain addresses only.
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Range to Array
It is faster and easier to transfer a range to an array and then process the values. You should declare the array as Variant to avoid calculating the size required to populate the range in the array. Array’s dimensions are set to match number of values in the range.
Dim DirArray As Variant
' Store the values in the range to the Array
DirArray = Range("a1:a5").Value
' Loop to process the values
For Each c In DirArray
Debug.Print c
Next
Array to Range
After processing you can write the Array back to a Range. To write the Array in the example above to a Range you must specify a Range whose size matches the number of elements in the Array.
Use the code below to write the Array to the range D1:D5:
Range("D1:D5").Value = DirArray
Range("D1:H1").Value = Application.Transpose(DirArray)
Please note that you must Transpose the Array if you write it to a row.
Sum Range
SumOfRange = Application.WorksheetFunction.Sum(Range("A1:A10"))
Debug.Print SumOfRange
You can use many functions available in Excel in your VBA code by specifying Application.WorkSheetFunction. before the Function Name as in the example above.
Count Range
' Count Number of Cells with Numbers in the Range
CountOfCells = Application.WorksheetFunction.Count(Range("A1:A10"))
Debug.Print CountOfCells
' Count Number of Non Blank Cells in the Range
CountOfNonBlankCells = Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(Range("A1:A10"))
Debug.Print CountOfNonBlankCells
Written by: Vinamra Chandra
The VBA Range Object
The Excel Range Object is an object in Excel VBA that represents a cell, row, column, a selection of cells or a 3 dimensional range. The Excel Range is also a Worksheet property that returns a subset of its cells.
Worksheet Range
The Range is a Worksheet property which allows you to select any subset of cells, rows, columns etc.
Dim r as Range 'Declared Range variable Set r = Range("A1") 'Range of A1 cell Set r = Range("A1:B2") 'Square Range of 4 cells - A1,A2,B1,B2 Set r= Range(Range("A1"), Range ("B1")) 'Range of 2 cells A1 and B1 Range("A1:B2").Select 'Select the Cells A1:B2 in your Excel Worksheet Range("A1:B2").Activate 'Activate the cells and show them on your screen (will switch to Worksheet and/or scroll to this range.
Select a cell or Range of cells using the Select method. It will be visibly marked in Excel:
Working with Range variables
The Range is a separate object variable and can be declared as other variables. As the VBA Range is an object you need to use the Set statement:
Dim myRange as Range '... Set myRange = Range("A1") 'Need to use Set to define myRange
The Range object defaults to your ActiveWorksheet. So beware as depending on your ActiveWorksheet the Range object will return values local to your worksheet:
Range("A1").Select '...is the same as... ActiveSheet.Range("A1").Select
You might want to define the Worksheet reference by Range if you want your reference values from a specifc Worksheet:
Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1").Select 'Will always select items from Worksheet named Sheet1
The ActiveWorkbook is not same to ThisWorkbook. Same goes for the ActiveSheet. This may reference a Worksheet from within a Workbook external to the Workbook in which the macro is executed as Active references simply the currently top-most worksheet. Read more here
Range properties
The Range object contains a variety of properties with the main one being it’s Value and an the second one being its Formula.
A Range Value is the evaluated property of a cell or a range of cells. For example a cell with the formula =10+20
has an evaluated value of 20
.
A Range Formula is the formula provided in the cell or range of cells. For example a cell with a formula of =10+20
will have the same Formula property.
'Let us assume A1 contains the formula "=10+20" Debug.Print Range("A1").Value 'Returns: 30 Debug.Print Range("A1").Formula 'Returns: =10+20
Other Range properties include:
Work in progress
Worksheet Cells
A Worksheet Cells property is similar to the Range property but allows you to obtain only a SINGLE CELL, based on its row and column index. Numbering starts at 1:
The Cells property is in fact a Range object not a separate data type.
Excel facilitates a Cells function that allows you to obtain a cell from within the ActiveSheet, current top-most worksheet.
Cells(2,2).Select 'Selects B2 '...is the same as... ActiveSheet.Cells(2,2).Select 'Select B2
Cells are Ranges which means they are not a separate data type:
Dim myRange as Range Set myRange = Cells(1,1) 'Cell A1
Range Rows and Columns
As we all know an Excel Worksheet is divided into Rows and Columns. The Excel VBA Range object allows you to select single or multiple rows as well as single or multiple columns. There are a couple of ways to obtain Worksheet rows in VBA:
Getting an entire row or column
To get and entire row of a specified Range you need to use the EntireRow property. Although, the function’s parameters suggest taking both a RowIndex and ColumnIndex it is enough just to provide the row number. Row indexing starts at 1.
To get and entire column of a specified Range you need to use the EntireColumn property. Although, the function’s parameters suggest taking both a RowIndex and ColumnIndex it is enough just to provide the column number. Column indexing starts at 1.
Range("B2").EntireRows(1).Hidden = True 'Gets and hides the entire row 2 Range("B2").EntireColumns(1).Hidden = True 'Gets and hides the entire column 2
The three properties EntireRow/EntireColumn, Rows/Columns and Row/Column are often misunderstood so read through to understand the differences.
Get a row/column of a specified range
If you want to get a certain row within a Range simply use the Rows property of the Worksheet. Although, the function’s parameters suggest taking both a RowIndex and ColumnIndex it is enough just to provide the row number. Row indexing starts at 1.
Similarly you can use the Columns function to obtain any single column within a Range. Although, the function’s parameters suggest taking both a RowIndex and ColumnIndex actually the first argument you provide will be the column index. Column indexing starts at 1.
Rows(1).Hidden = True 'Hides the first row in the ActiveSheet 'same as ActiveSheet.Rows(1).Hidden = True Columns(1).Hidden = True 'Hides the first column in the ActiveSheet 'same as ActiveSheet.Columns(1).Hidden = True
To get a range of rows/columns you need to use the Range function like so:
Range(Rows(1), Rows(3)).Hidden = True 'Hides rows 1:3 'same as Range("1:3").Hidden = True 'same as ActiveSheet.Range("1:3").Hidden = True Range(Columns(1), Columns(3)).Hidden = True 'Hides columns A:C 'same as Range("A:C").Hidden = True 'same as ActiveSheet.Range("A:C").Hidden = True
Get row/column of specified range
The above approach assumed you want to obtain only rows/columns from the ActiveSheet – the visible and top-most Worksheet. Usually however, you will want to obtain rows or columns of an existing Range. Similarly as with the Worksheet Range property, any Range facilitates the Rows and Columns property.
Dim myRange as Range Set myRange = Range("A1:C3") myRange.Rows.Hidden = True 'Hides rows 1:3 myRange.Columns.Hidden = True 'Hides columns A:C Set myRange = Range("C10:F20") myRange.Rows(2).Hidden = True 'Hides rows 11 myRange.Columns(3).Hidden = True 'Hides columns E
Getting a Ranges first row/column number
Aside from the Rows and Columns properties Ranges also facilitate a Row and Column property which provide you with the number of the Ranges first row and column.
Set myRange = Range("C10:F20") 'Get first row number Debug.Print myRange.Row 'Result: 10 'Get first column number Debug.Print myRange.Column 'Result: 3
Converting Column number to Excel Column
This is an often question that turns up – how to convert a column number to a string e.g. 100 to “CV”.
Function GetExcelColumn(columnNumber As Long) Dim div As Long, colName As String, modulo As Long div = columnNumber: colName = vbNullString Do While div > 0 modulo = (div - 1) Mod 26 colName = Chr(65 + modulo) & colName div = ((div - modulo) / 26) Loop GetExcelColumn = colName End Function
Range Cut/Copy/Paste
Cutting and pasting rows is generally a bad practice which I heavily discourage as this is a practice that is moments can be heavily cpu-intensive and often is unaccounted for.
Copy function
The Copy function works on a single cell, subset of cell or subset of rows/columns.
'Copy values and formatting from cell A1 to cell D1 Range("A1").Copy Range("D1") 'Copy 3x3 A1:C3 matrix to D1:F3 matrix - dimension must be same Range("A1:C3").Copy Range("D1:F3") 'Copy rows 1:3 to rows 4:6 Range("A1:A3").EntireRow.Copy Range("A4") 'Copy columns A:C to columns D:F Range("A1:C1").EntireColumn.Copy Range("D1")
The Copy function can also be executed without an argument. It then copies the Range to the Windows Clipboard for later Pasting.
Cut function
The Cut function, similarly as the Copy function, cuts single cells, ranges of cells or rows/columns.
'Cut A1 cell and paste it to D1 Range("A1").Cut Range("D1") 'Cut 3x3 A1:C3 matrix and paste it in D1:F3 matrix - dimension must be same Range("A1:C3").Cut Range("D1:F3") 'Cut rows 1:3 and paste to rows 4:6 Range("A1:A3").EntireRow.Cut Range("A4") 'Cut columns A:C and paste to columns D:F Range("A1:C1").EntireColumn.Cut Range("D1")
The Cut function can be executed without arguments. It will then cut the contents of the Range and copy it to the Windows Clipboard for pasting.
Cutting cells/rows/columns does not shift any remaining cells/rows/columns but simply leaves the cut out cells empty
PasteSpecial function
The Range PasteSpecial function works only when preceded with either the Copy or Cut Range functions. It pastes the Range (or other data) within the Clipboard to the Range on which it was executed.
Syntax
The PasteSpecial function has the following syntax:
PasteSpecial( Paste, Operation, SkipBlanks, Transpose)
The PasteSpecial function can only be used in tandem with the Copy function (not Cut)
Parameters
Paste
The part of the Range which is to be pasted. This parameter can have the following values:
Parameter | Constant | Description | |
---|---|---|---|
xlPasteSpecialOperationAdd | 2 | Copied data will be added with the value in the destination cell. | |
xlPasteSpecialOperationDivide | 5 | Copied data will be divided with the value in the destination cell. | |
xlPasteSpecialOperationMultiply | 4 | Copied data will be multiplied with the value in the destination cell. | |
xlPasteSpecialOperationNone | -4142 | No calculation will be done in the paste operation. | |
xlPasteSpecialOperationSubtract | 3 | Copied data will be subtracted with the value in the destination cell. |
Operation
The paste operation e.g. paste all, only formatting, only values, etc. This can have one of the following values:
Name | Constant | Description |
---|---|---|
xlPasteAll | -4104 | Everything will be pasted. |
xlPasteAllExceptBorders | 7 | Everything except borders will be pasted. |
xlPasteAllMergingConditionalFormats | 14 | Everything will be pasted and conditional formats will be merged. |
xlPasteAllUsingSourceTheme | 13 | Everything will be pasted using the source theme. |
xlPasteColumnWidths | 8 | Copied column width is pasted. |
xlPasteComments | -4144 | Comments are pasted. |
xlPasteFormats | -4122 | Copied source format is pasted. |
xlPasteFormulas | -4123 | Formulas are pasted. |
xlPasteFormulasAndNumberFormats | 11 | Formulas and Number formats are pasted. |
xlPasteValidation | 6 | Validations are pasted. |
xlPasteValues | -4163 | Values are pasted. |
xlPasteValuesAndNumberFormats | 12 | Values and Number formats are pasted. |
SkipBlanks
If True then blanks will not be pasted.
Transpose
Transpose the Range before paste (swap rows with columns).
PasteSpecial Examples
'Cut A1 cell and paste its values to D1 Range("A1").Copy Range("D1").PasteSpecial 'Copy 3x3 A1:C3 matrix and add all the values to E1:G3 matrix (dimension must be same) Range("A1:C3").Copy Range("E1:G3").PasteSpecial xlPasteValues, xlPasteSpecialOperationAdd
Below an example where the Excel Range A1:C3 values are copied an added to the E1:G3 Range. You can also multiply, divide and run other similar operations.
Paste
The Paste function allows you to paste data in the Clipboard to the actively selected Range. Cutting and Pasting can only be accomplished with the Paste function.
'Cut A1 cell and paste its values to D1 Range("A1").Cut Range("D1").Select ActiveSheet.Paste 'Cut 3x3 A1:C3 matrix and paste it in D1:F3 matrix - dimension must be same Range("A1:C3").Cut Range("D1:F3").Select ActiveSheet.Paste 'Cut rows 1:3 and paste to rows 4:6 Range("A1:A3").EntireRow.Cut Range("A4").Select ActiveSheet.Paste 'Cut columns A:C and paste to columns D:F Range("A1:C1").EntireColumn.Cut Range("D1").Select ActiveSheet.Paste
Range Clear/Delete
The Clear function
The Clear function clears the entire content and formatting from an Excel Range. It does not, however, shift (delete) the cleared cells.
Range("A1:C3").Clear
The Delete function
The Delete function deletes a Range of cells, removing them entirely from the Worksheet, and shifts the remaining Cells in a selected shift direction.
Although the manual Delete cell function provides 4 ways of shifting cells. The VBA Delete Shift values can only be either be xlShiftToLeft or xlShiftUp.
'If Shift omitted, Excel decides - shift up in this case Range("B2").Delete 'Delete and Shift remaining cells left Range("B2").Delete xlShiftToLeft 'Delete and Shift remaining cells up Range("B2").Delete xlShiftTop 'Delete entire row 2 and shift up Range("B2").EntireRow.Delete 'Delete entire column B and shift left Range("B2").EntireRow.Delete
Traversing Ranges
Traversing cells is really useful when you want to run an operation on each cell within an Excel Range. Fortunately this is easily achieved in VBA using the For Each or For loops.
Dim cellRange As Range For Each cellRange In Range("A1:C3") Debug.Print cellRange.Value Next cellRange
Although this may not be obvious, beware of iterating/traversing the Excel Range using a simple For loop. For loops are not efficient on Ranges. Use a For Each loop as shown above. This is because Ranges resemble more Collections than Arrays. Read more on For vs For Each loops here
Traversing the UsedRange
Every Worksheet has a UsedRange. This represents that smallest rectangle Range that contains all cells that have or had at some point values. In other words if the further out in the bottom, right-corner of the Worksheet there is a certain cell (e.g. E8) then the UsedRange will be as large as to include that cell starting at cell A1 (e.g. A1:E8). In Excel you can check the current UsedRange hitting CTRL+END. In VBA you get the UsedRange like this:
ActiveSheet.UsedRange 'same as UsedRange
You can traverse through the UsedRange like this:
Dim cellRange As Range For Each cellRange In UsedRange Debug.Print "Row: " & cellRange.Row & ", Column: " & cellRange.Column Next cellRange
The UsedRange is a useful construct responsible often for bloated Excel Workbooks. Often delete unused Rows and Columns that are considered to be within the UsedRange can result in significantly reducing your file size. Read also more on the XSLB file format here
Range Addresses
The Excel Range Address property provides a string value representing the Address of the Range.
Syntax
Below the syntax of the Excel Range Address property:
Address( [RowAbsolute], [ColumnAbsolute], [ReferenceStyle], [External], [RelativeTo] )
Parameters
RowAbsolute
Optional. If True returns the row part of the reference address as an absolute reference. By default this is True.
$D$10:$G$100 'RowAbsolute is set to True $D10:$G100 'RowAbsolute is set to False
ColumnAbsolute
Optional. If True returns the column part of the reference as an absolute reference. By default this is True.
$D$10:$G$100 'ColumnAbsolute is set to True D$10:G$100 'ColumnAbsolute is set to False
ReferenceStyle
Optional. The reference style. The default value is xlA1. Possible values:
Constant | Value | Description |
---|---|---|
xlA1 | 1 | Default. Use xlA1 to return an A1-style reference |
xlR1C1 | -4150 | Use xlR1C1 to return an R1C1-style reference |
External
Optional. If True then property will return an external reference address, otherwise a local reference address will be returned. By default this is False.
$A$1 'Local [Book1.xlsb]Sheet1!$A$1 'External
RelativeTo
Provided RowAbsolute and ColumnAbsolute are set to False, and the ReferenceStyle is set to xlR1C1, then you must include a starting point for the relative reference. This must be a Range variable to be set as the reference point.
Merged Ranges
Merged cells are Ranges that consist of 2 or more adjacent cells. To Merge a collection of adjacent cells run Merge function on that Range.
The Merge has only a single parameter – Across, a boolean which if True will merge cells in each row of the specified range as separate merged cells. Otherwise the whole Range will be merged. The default value is False.
Merge examples
To merge the entire Range:
'This will turn of any alerts warning that values may be lost Application.DisplayAlerts = False Range("B2:C3").Merge
This will result in the following:
To merge just the rows set Across to True.
'This will turn of any alerts warning that values may be lost Application.DisplayAlerts = False Range("B2:C3").Merge True
This will result in the following:
Remember that merged Ranges can only have a single value and formula. Hence, if you merge a group of cells with more than a single value/formula only the first value/formula will be set as the value/formula for your new merged Range
Checking if Range is merged
To check if a certain Range is merged simply use the Excel Range MergeCells property:
Range("B2:C3").Merge Debug.Print Range("B2").MergeCells 'Result: True
The MergeArea
The MergeArea is a property of an Excel Range that represent the whole merge Range associated with the current Range. Say that $B$2:$C$3 is a merged Range – each cell within that Range (e.g. B2, C3..) will have the exact same MergedArea. See example below:
Range("B2:C3").Merge Debug.Print Range("B2").MergeArea.Address 'Result: $B$2:$C$3
Named Ranges
Named Ranges are Ranges associated with a certain Name (string). In Excel you can find all your Named Ranges by going to Formulas->Name Manager. They are very useful when working on certain values that are used frequently through out your Workbook. Imagine that you are writing a Financial Analysis and want to use a common Discount Rate across all formulas. Just the address of the cell e.g. “A2”, won’t be self-explanatory. Why not use e.g. “DiscountRate” instead? Well you can do just that.
Creating a Named Range
Named Ranges can be created either within the scope of a Workbook or Worksheet:
Dim r as Range 'Within Workbook Set r = ActiveWorkbook.Names.Add("NewName", Range("A1")) 'Within Worksheet Set r = ActiveSheet.Names.Add("NewName", Range("A1"))
This gives you flexibility to use similar names across multiple Worksheets or use a single global name across the entire Workbook.
Listing all Named Ranges
You can list all Named Ranges using the Name Excel data type. Names are objects that represent a single NamedRange. See an example below of listing our two newly created NamedRanges:
Call ActiveWorkbook.Names.Add("NewName", Range("A1")) Call ActiveSheet.Names.Add("NewName", Range("A1")) Dim n As Name For Each n In ActiveWorkbook.Names Debug.Print "Name: " & n.Name & ", Address: " & _ n.RefersToRange.Address & ", Value: "; n.RefersToRange.Value Next n 'Result: 'Name: Sheet1!NewName, Address: $A$1, Value: 1 'Name: NewName, Address: $A$1, Value: 1
SpecialCells
SpecialCells are a very useful Excel Range property, that allows you to select a subset of cells/Ranges within a certain Range.
Syntax
The SpecialCells property has the following syntax:
SpecialCells( Type, [Value] )
Parameters
Type
The type of cells to be returned. Possible values:
Constant | Value | Description |
---|---|---|
xlCellTypeAllFormatConditions | -4172 | Cells of any format |
xlCellTypeAllValidation | -4174 | Cells having validation criteria |
xlCellTypeBlanks | 4 | Empty cells |
xlCellTypeComments | -4144 | Cells containing notes |
xlCellTypeConstants | 2 | Cells containing constants |
xlCellTypeFormulas | -4123 | Cells containing formulas |
xlCellTypeLastCell | 11 | The last cell in the used range |
xlCellTypeSameFormatConditions | -4173 | Cells having the same format |
xlCellTypeSameValidation | -4175 | Cells having the same validation criteria |
xlCellTypeVisible | 12 | All visible cells |
Value
If Type is equal to xlCellTypeConstants or xlCellTypeFormulas this determines the types of cells to return e.g. with errors.
Constant | Value |
---|---|
xlErrors | 16 |
xlLogical | 4 |
xlNumbers | 1 |
xlTextValues | 2 |
SpecialCells examples
Get Excel Range with Constants
This will return only cells with constant cells within the Range C1:C3:
For Each r In Range("A1:C3").SpecialCells(xlCellTypeConstants) Debug.Print r.Value Next r
Search for Excel Range with Errors
For Each r In ActiveSheet.UsedRange.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeFormulas, xlErrors) Debug.Print r.Address Next r
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- VBA Insert Cell or Range in a worksheet – Syntax
- VBA Insert Range in a Worksheet – xlDown
- VBA Insert Range in a Worksheet – xlToRight
- VBA Insert Range in a Worksheet – EntireRow
- VBA Insert Range in a Worksheet – EntireColumn
- VBA Insert Range in a Worksheet – Instructions
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Selection.SpecialCells(xlVisible).Offset(1, 0).EntireRow.Insert
You’re inserting a row in the worksheet — that’s like right-clicking the row heading and then selecting «insert».
If you have two tables on the same sheet, with rows at the insertion point, then yeah, both tables will earn an extra row.
If you want to add rows to one table, then work with the table instead of Selection
(you hardly ever really need to work with Selection
anyway):
Dim table1 As ListObject
Set table1 = Worksheeets("MyAwesomeSheet").ListObjects(1)
table1.ListRows.Add Position:=5, AlwaysInsert:=True
That will insert a new row in the first table of MyAwesomeSheet
, making a blank 5th row in that table.
Note that this assumes «table» in the OP is referring to actual tables in the spreadsheet, i.e. that the target sheet has ListObject
objects to play with.
Introduction to Range and Cells in VBA
When you look around in an Excel workbook, you will find that everything works around cells. A cell and a range of cells are where you store your data, and then everything starts.
To make the best of VBA, you need to learn how to use cells and ranges in your codes. For this, you need to have a solid understanding of Range objects. By using it, you can refer to cells in your codes in the following ways:
- A single cell.
- A range of cells
- A row or a column
- A three-dimensional range
The RANGE OBJECT is a part of Excel’s Object Hierarchy: Application ➜ Workbooks ➜ Worksheets ➜ Range and besides inside the worksheet. So if you are writing code to refer to the RANGE object it would be like this:
Application.Workbook(“Workbook-Name”).Worksheets(“Sheet-Name”).Range
By referring to a cell or range of cells, you can do the following things:
- You can read the value from it.
- You can enter a value in it.
- And, you can make changes to the format.
To do all these things, you need to learn to refer to a cell or a range of cells, and in the next section of this tutorial, you will learn to refer to a cell using different ways.
To refer to a cell or a range of cells, you can use three different ways.
- Range Property
- Cells Property
- Offset Property
Well, which one is best out of these depends on your requirement, but it is worth learning all three so that you can choose which one is perfect for you.
So let’s get started.
Range Property
Range property is the most common and popular way to refer to a range in your VBA codes. With Range property, you simply need to refer to the cell address. Let me tell you the syntax.
expression.range(address)
Here the expression is a variable representing a VBA object. So if you need to refer to the cell A1, the line of code you need to write would be:
Application.Workbook(“Book1”).Worksheets(“Sheet1”).Range(“A1”)
The above code tells VBA that you are referring to cell A1 which is in the worksheet “Sheet1” and workbook ”Book1”.
Note: Whenever you type a cell address in the range object, make sure to wrap it in double quotation marks. But here’s one thing to understand. As you are using VBA in Excel there’s no need to use the word “Application”. So the code would be:
Workbook(“Book1”).Worksheets(“Sheet1”).Range(“A1”)
And if you are in the Book1 there you can further trim down your code:
Worksheets(“Sheet1”).Range(“A1”)
But, if you are already in the worksheet “Sheet1” then you can further trim down your code and can only use:
Range(“A1”)
Now, let’s say if you want to refer to a full range of cells (i.e., multiple cells) you need to write the code in the following way:
Range("A1:A5")
In the above code, you have referred to the range A1 to A5 which consists of the five cells. You can also refer to a named range using the range object. Let’s say you have named range with the name of “Sales Discount” to refer to this you can write a code like this:
Range("Sales Discount")
If you want to refer to a non-continues range then you need to do something like this:
Range("A1:B5,D5:G10")
And if you want to refer to an entire row or a column then you need to enter code like the below:
Range("1:1")
Range("A:A")
At this point, you have a clear understanding of how to refer to a cell and the range of cells. But to make it best with this you need to learn how to use this to do other things.
here we have a complete list of tutorials that you can use to learn to work with ranges and cells in VBA
- How to SET (Get and Change) Cell Value using a VBA Code
- How to Select a Range using VBA in Excel
- How to Create a Named Range using VBA (Static + Dynamic) in Excel
- How to Merge and Unmerge Cells in Excel using a VBA Code
- How to Check IF a Cell is Empty using VBA in Excel
- VBA ClearContents (from a Cell, Range, or Entire Worksheet)
- Excel VBA Font (Color, Size, Type, and Bold)
- How to AutoFit (Rows, Column, or the Entire Worksheet) using VBA
- How to use OFFSET Property with the Range Object or a Cell in VBA
- VBA Wrap Text (Cell, Range, and Entire Worksheet)
- How to Copy a CellRange to Another Sheet using VBA
- How to use Range/Cell as a Variable in VBA in Excel
- How to Find Last Rows, Column, and Cell using VBA in Excel
- How to use ActiveCell in VBA in Excel
- How to Refer to the UsedRange using VBA in Excel
- How to Change Row Height/Column Width using VBA in Excel
- How to SELECT ALL the Cells in a Worksheet using a VBA Code
- How to Insert a Row using VBA in Excel
- How to Insert a Column using VBA in Excel
1. Select and Activate a Cell
If you want to select a cell then you can use the Range. Select method. Let’s say if you want to select cell A5 then all you need to do is specify the range and then add “.Select” after that.
Range(“A1”).Select
This code tells VBA to select cell A5 and if you want to select a range of cells then you just need to refer to that range and simply add “.Select” after that.
Range(“A1:A5”).Select
There’s also another method that you can use to activate a cell.
Range(“A1”).Activate
Here you need to remember that you can activate only one cell at a time. Even if you specify a range with the “.Activate” method, it will select that range but the active cell will be the first cell of the range.
2. Enter a Value in a Cell
By using the range property you can enter a value in a cell or a range of cells. Let’s understand how it works using a simple example:
Range("A1").Value = "ExcelChamps"
In the above example, you have specified the A1 as a range and after that, you have added “.Value” which tells VBA to access the value property of the cell.
The next thing you have is the equals sign and then the value which you want to enter (you need to use double quotation marks if you are entering a text value). For a number, the code would like this:
Range("A1").Value = 9988
And if you want to enter a value into a range of cells, I mean multiple cells, then all you need to do is specify that range.
Range("A1:A5").Value = "ExcelChamps"
And, here’s the code if you are referring to the non-continues range.
Range("A1:A5 , E2:E3").Value = "ExcelChamps"
3. Copy and Paste a Cell/Range
With Range property, you can use the “.Copy” method to copy and cell and then paste it into a destination cell. Let’s say if you need to copy the cell A5 the code for this would be:
Range("A5").Copy
When you run this code it will simply copy cell A5 but the next thing is to paste this copied cell to a destination cell. For this, you need to add the keyword destination after it and followed by the cell where you want to paste it. So if you want to copy cell A1 and then want to paste it to the cell E5, the code would be:
Range("A1").Copy Destination:=Range("E5")
In the same way, if you are dealing with a range of multiple cells then the code would be like:
Range("A1:A5").Copy Destination:=Range("E5:E9")
If you have copied a range of cells and then if you have mentioned one cell as the destination range, VBA will copy the entire copied range the starting from the cell you have specified as a destination.
Range("A1:A5").Copy Destination:=Range("B1")
When you run the above code, VBA will copy range A1:A5 and will paste it to the B1:B5 even though you have mentioned only B1 as the destination range.
Tip: Just like the “.Copy” method you can use the “.Cut” method to cut a cell and then simply use a destination to paste it.
4. Use Font Property with Range Property
With the range property, you can access the font property of a cell which helps you to change all the font settings. There are a total of 18 different properties for the font which you can access. Let’s say if you want to make the text BOLD in cell A1, the code would be:
Range("A1").Font.Bold = True
This code tells VBA to access the BOLD property of the font which is inside the range A1 and you have set this property to TRUE. Now, let’s say you want to apply strikethrough to cell A1, this time the code would be:
As I said there are a total of 18 different properties you can use, so make sure to check out all of these to see which one is useful for you.
5. Clear Formatting from a Cell
By using the “.ClearFormats” method you can remove only the format from a cell or a range of cells. All you need to do is add “.ClearFormat” after specifying the range, like below:
Range("A1").ClearFormats
When you run the code above it clears all the formatting from cell A1 and if you want to do it for an entire range, you know what to do, Right?
Range("A1:A5").ClearFormats
Now the above code will simply remove the formatting from the range A1 to A5.
Cells Property
Apart from the RANGE property, you can use the “Cells” property to refer to a cell or a range of cells in your worksheet. In cell property, instead of using the cell reference, you need to enter the column number and row number of the cell.
expression.Cells(Row_Number, Column_Number)
Here the expression is a VBA object and Row_Number is the row number of the cell and Column_Number is the column of the cell. So if you want to refer to the cell A5 you can use the code below code:
Cells(5,1)
Now, this code tells VBA to refer to the cell which is at row number five and at column number one. As its syntax says you need to enter column number as address but the reality is you can also use the column alphabet if you want just by wrapping it in double quotation marks.
The below code will also refer to the cell A5:
Cells(5,"A")
And to VBA to select it simply add “.Select” at the end.
Cells(5,1).Select
The above code will select cell A5 which is in the 5th row and in the first column of the worksheet.
OFFSET Property
If you want to play well with ranges in VBA you need to know how to use the OFFSET property. It helps to refer to a cell that is a particular number of rows and columns away from another cell.
Let’s say your active cell is B5 right now and you want to navigate to the cell which is 3 columns right and 1 row down from B5, you can do this OFFSET. Below is the syntax which you need to use for the OFFSET:
expression.Offset (RowOffset, ColumnOffset)
- RowOffset: In this argument, you need to specify a number that will tell VBA how many rows you want to navigate. A positive number defines a row downward and a negative number defines a row upward.
- ColumnOffset: In this argument, you need to specify a number that will tell VBA how many columns you want to navigate. A positive number defines a column to the right and a negative number defines a left.
Let’s write a simple code for example which we have discussed above.
- First, you need to define the range from where you want to navigate and so type the below code:
- After that, type “.Offset” and enter opening parentheses, just like below:
- Next, you need to enter the row number and then the column number where you want to navigate.
- In the end, you need to add “.Select” to tell VBA to select the cell where you want to navigate.
So when you run this code it will select the cell which is one row down and 3 columns right from cell B5.
Resize a Range using OFFSET
OFFSET not only allows you to navigate to a cell, but you can also resize the range further. Let’s continue the above example.
Range("B5").Offset(1, 3).Select
The above code navigates you to cell E6, and now let’s say you need to select the range of cells that consists of the five columns and three rows from the E6. So what you need to do is after using OFFSET, use the resize property by adding “.Resize”.
Range("B5").Offset(1, 3).Resize
Now you need to enter the row size and column size. Type a starting parenthesis and enter the number to define the row size and then a number to define the column size.
Range("B5").Offset(1, 3).Resize(3,5)
In the end, add “.Select” to tell VBA to select the range, and when you run this code, it will select the range.
Range("B5").Offset(1, 3).Resize(3, 5).Select
So, when you run this code, it will select the range E6 to I8.
Range("A1").Font.Strikethrough = True
More Tutorials
- Count Rows using VBA in Excel
- Excel VBA Font (Color, Size, Type, and Bold)
- Excel VBA Hide and Unhide a Column or a Row
- Apply Borders on a Cell using VBA in Excel
- Find Last Row, Column, and Cell using VBA in Excel
- Insert a Row using VBA in Excel
- Merge Cells in Excel using a VBA Code
- Select a Range/Cell using VBA in Excel
- SELECT ALL the Cells in a Worksheet using a VBA Code
- ActiveCell in VBA in Excel
- Special Cells Method in VBA in Excel
- UsedRange Property in VBA in Excel
- VBA AutoFit (Rows, Column, or the Entire Worksheet)
- VBA ClearContents (from a Cell, Range, or Entire Worksheet)
- VBA Copy Range to Another Sheet + Workbook
- VBA Enter Value in a Cell (Set, Get and Change)
- VBA Insert Column (Single and Multiple)
- VBA Named Range | (Static + from Selection + Dynamic)
- VBA Range Offset
- VBA Sort Range | (Descending, Multiple Columns, Sort Orientation
- VBA Wrap Text (Cell, Range, and Entire Worksheet)
- VBA Check IF a Cell is Empty + Multiple Cells
⇠ Back to What is VBA in Excel
Helpful Links – Developer Tab – Visual Basic Editor – Run a Macro – Personal Macro Workbook – Excel Macro Recorder – VBA Interview Questions – VBA Codes
Range Examples | Cells | Declare a Range Object | Select | Rows | Columns | Copy/Paste | Clear | Count
The Range object, which is the representation of a cell (or cells) on your worksheet, is the most important object of Excel VBA. This chapter gives an overview of the properties and methods of the Range object. Properties are something which an object has (they describe the object), while methods do something (they perform an action with an object).
Range Examples
Place a command button on your worksheet and add the following code line:
Range(«B3»).Value = 2
Result when you click the command button on the sheet:
Code:
Range(«A1:A4»).Value = 5
Result:
Code:
Range(«A1:A2,B3:C4»).Value = 10
Result:
Note: to refer to a named range in your Excel VBA code, use a code line like this:
Range(«Prices»).Value = 15
Cells
Instead of Range, you can also use Cells. Using Cells is particularly useful when you want to loop through ranges.
Code:
Cells(3, 2).Value = 2
Result:
Explanation: Excel VBA enters the value 2 into the cell at the intersection of row 3 and column 2.
Code:
Range(Cells(1, 1), Cells(4, 1)).Value = 5
Result:
Declare a Range Object
You can declare a Range object by using the keywords Dim and Set.
Code:
Dim example As Range
Set example = Range(«A1:C4»)
example.Value = 8
Result:
Select
An important method of the Range object is the Select method. The Select method simply selects a range.
Code:
Dim example As Range
Set example = Range(«A1:C4»)
example.Select
Result:
Note: to select cells on a different worksheet, you have to activate this sheet first. For example, the following code lines select cell B7 on the third worksheet from the left.
Worksheets(3).Activate
Worksheets(3).Range(«B7»).Select
Rows
The Rows property gives access to a specific row of a range.
Code:
Dim example As Range
Set example = Range(«A1:C4»)
example.Rows(3).Select
Result:
Note: border for illustration only.
Columns
The Columns property gives access to a specific column of a range.
Code:
Dim example As Range
Set example = Range(«A1:C4»)
example.Columns(2).Select
Result:
Note: border for illustration only.
Copy/Paste
The Copy and Paste method are used to copy a range and to paste it somewhere else on the worksheet.
Code:
Range(«A1:A2»).Select
Selection.Copy
Range(«C3»).Select
ActiveSheet.Paste
Result:
Although this is allowed in Excel VBA, it is much better to use the code line below which does exactly the same.
Range(«C3:C4»).Value = Range(«A1:A2»).Value
Clear
To clear the content of an Excel range, you can use the ClearContents method.
Range(«A1»).ClearContents
or simply use:
Range(«A1»).Value = «»
Note: use the Clear method to clear the content and format of a range. Use the ClearFormats method to clear the format only.
Count
With the Count property, you can count the number of cells, rows and columns of a range.
Note: border for illustration only.
Code:
Dim example As Range
Set example = Range(«A1:C4»)
MsgBox example.Count
Result:
Code:
Dim example As Range
Set example = Range(«A1:C4»)
MsgBox example.Rows.Count
Result:
Note: in a similar way, you can count the number of columns of a range.
Всё о работе с ячейками в Excel-VBA: обращение, перебор, удаление, вставка, скрытие, смена имени.
Содержание:
Table of Contents:
- Что такое ячейка Excel?
- Способы обращения к ячейкам
- Выбор и активация
- Получение и изменение значений ячеек
- Ячейки открытой книги
- Ячейки закрытой книги
- Перебор ячеек
- Перебор в произвольном диапазоне
- Свойства и методы ячеек
- Имя ячейки
- Адрес ячейки
- Размеры ячейки
- Запуск макроса активацией ячейки
2 нюанса:
- Я почти везде стараюсь использовать ThisWorkbook (а не, например, ActiveWorkbook) для обращения к текущей книге, в которой написан этот код (считаю это наиболее безопасным для новичков способом обращения к книгам, чтобы случайно не внести изменения в другие книги). Для экспериментов можете вставлять этот код в модули, коды книги, либо листа, и он будет работать только в пределах этой книги.
- Я использую английский эксель и у меня по стандарту листы называются Sheet1, Sheet2 и т.д. Если вы работаете в русском экселе, то замените Thisworkbook.Sheets(«Sheet1») на Thisworkbook.Sheets(«Лист1»). Если этого не сделать, то вы получите ошибку в связи с тем, что пытаетесь обратиться к несуществующему объекту. Можно также заменить на Thisworkbook.Sheets(1), но это менее безопасно.
Что такое ячейка Excel?
В большинстве мест пишут: «элемент, образованный пересечением столбца и строки». Это определение полезно для людей, которые не знакомы с понятием «таблица». Для того, чтобы понять чем на самом деле является ячейка Excel, необходимо заглянуть в объектную модель Excel. При этом определения объектов «ряд», «столбец» и «ячейка» будут отличаться в зависимости от того, как мы работаем с файлом.
Объекты в Excel-VBA. Пока мы работаем в Excel без углубления в VBA определение ячейки как «пересечения» строк и столбцов нам вполне хватает, но если мы решаем как-то автоматизировать процесс в VBA, то о нём лучше забыть и просто воспринимать лист как «мешок» ячеек, с каждой из которых VBA позволяет работать как минимум тремя способами:
- по цифровым координатам (ряд, столбец),
- по адресам формата А1, B2 и т.д. (сценарий целесообразности данного способа обращения в VBA мне сложно представить)
- по уникальному имени (во втором и третьем вариантах мы будем иметь дело не совсем с ячейкой, а с объектом VBA range, который может состоять из одной или нескольких ячеек). Функции и методы объектов Cells и Range отличаются. Новичкам я бы порекомендовал работать с ячейками VBA только с помощью Cells и по их цифровым координатам и использовать Range только по необходимости.
Все три способа обращения описаны далее
Как это хранится на диске и как с этим работать вне Excel? С точки зрения хранения и обработки вне Excel и VBA. Сделать это можно, например, сменив расширение файла с .xls(x) на .zip и открыв этот архив.
Пример содержимого файла Excel:
Далее xl -> worksheets и мы видим файл листа
Содержимое файла:
То же, но более наглядно:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<worksheet xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main" xmlns:r="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" mc:Ignorable="x14ac xr xr2 xr3" xmlns:x14ac="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac" xmlns:xr="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2014/revision" xmlns:xr2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2015/revision2" xmlns:xr3="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision3" xr:uid="{00000000-0001-0000-0000-000000000000}">
<dimension ref="B2:F6"/>
<sheetViews>
<sheetView tabSelected="1" workbookViewId="0">
<selection activeCell="D12" sqref="D12"/>
</sheetView>
</sheetViews>
<sheetFormatPr defaultRowHeight="14.4" x14ac:dyDescent="0.3"/>
<sheetData>
<row r="2" spans="2:6" x14ac:dyDescent="0.3">
<c r="B2" t="s">
<v>0</v>
</c>
</row>
<row r="3" spans="2:6" x14ac:dyDescent="0.3">
<c r="C3" t="s">
<v>1</v>
</c>
</row>
<row r="4" spans="2:6" x14ac:dyDescent="0.3">
<c r="D4" t="s">
<v>2</v>
</c>
</row>
<row r="5" spans="2:6" x14ac:dyDescent="0.3">
<c r="E5" t="s">
<v>0</v></c>
</row>
<row r="6" spans="2:6" x14ac:dyDescent="0.3">
<c r="F6" t="s"><v>3</v>
</c></row>
</sheetData>
<pageMargins left="0.7" right="0.7" top="0.75" bottom="0.75" header="0.3" footer="0.3"/>
</worksheet>
Как мы видим, в структуре объектной модели нет никаких «пересечений». Строго говоря рабочая книга — это архив структурированных данных в формате XML. При этом в каждую «строку» входит «столбец», и в нём в свою очередь прописан номер значения данного столбца, по которому оно подтягивается из другого XML файла при открытии книги для экономии места за счёт отсутствия повторяющихся значений. Почему это важно. Если мы захотим написать какой-то обработчик таких файлов, который будет напрямую редактировать данные в этих XML, то ориентироваться надо на такую модель и структуру данных. И правильное определение будет примерно таким: ячейка — это объект внутри столбца, который в свою очередь находится внутри строки в файле xml, в котором хранятся данные о содержимом листа.
Способы обращения к ячейкам
Выбор и активация
Почти во всех случаях можно и стоит избегать использования методов Select и Activate. На это есть две причины:
- Это лишь имитация действий пользователя, которая замедляет выполнение программы. Работать с объектами книги можно напрямую без использования методов Select и Activate.
- Это усложняет код и может приводить к неожиданным последствиям. Каждый раз перед использованием Select необходимо помнить, какие ещё объекты были выбраны до этого и не забывать при необходимости снимать выбор. Либо, например, в случае использования метода Select в самом начале программы может быть выбрано два листа вместо одного потому что пользователь запустил программу, выбрав другой лист.
Можно выбирать и активировать книги, листы, ячейки, фигуры, диаграммы, срезы, таблицы и т.д.
Отменить выбор ячеек можно методом Unselect:
Selection.Unselect
Отличие выбора от активации — активировать можно только один объект из раннее выбранных. Выбрать можно несколько объектов.
Если вы записали и редактируете код макроса, то лучше всего заменить Select и Activate на конструкцию With … End With. Например, предположим, что мы записали вот такой макрос:
Sub Macro1()
' Macro1 Macro
Range("F4:F10,H6:H10").Select 'выбрали два несмежных диапазона зажав ctrl
Range("H6").Activate 'показывает только то, что я начал выбирать второй диапазон с этой ячейки (она осталась белой). Это действие ни на что не влияет
With Selection.Interior
.Pattern = xlSolid
.PatternColorIndex = xlAutomatic
.Color = 65535 'залили желтым цветом, нажав на кнопку заливки на верхней панели
.TintAndShade = 0
.PatternTintAndShade = 0
End With
End Sub
Почему макрос записался таким неэффективным образом? Потому что в каждый момент времени (в каждой строке) программа не знает, что вы будете делать дальше. Поэтому в записи выбор ячеек и действия с ними — это два отдельных действия. Этот код лучше всего оптимизировать (особенно если вы хотите скопировать его внутрь какого-нибудь цикла, который должен будет исполняться много раз и перебирать много объектов). Например, так:
Sub Macro11()
'
' Macro1 Macro
Range("F4:F10,H6:H10").Select '1. смотрим, что за объект выбран (что идёт до .Select)
Range("H6").Activate
With Selection.Interior '2. понимаем, что у выбранного объекта есть свойство interior, с которым далее идёт работа
.Pattern = xlSolid
.PatternColorIndex = xlAutomatic
.Color = 65535
.TintAndShade = 0
.PatternTintAndShade = 0
End With
End Sub
Sub Optimized_Macro()
With Range("F4:F10,H6:H10").Interior '3. переносим объект напрямую в конструкцию With вместо Selection
' ////// Здесь я для надёжности прописал бы ещё Thisworkbook.Sheet("ИмяЛиста") перед Range,
' ////// чтобы минимизировать риск любых случайных изменений других листов и книг
' ////// With Thisworkbook.Sheet("ИмяЛиста").Range("F4:F10,H6:H10").Interior
.Pattern = xlSolid '4. полностью копируем всё, что было записано рекордером внутрь блока with
.PatternColorIndex = xlAutomatic
.Color = 55555 '5. здесь я поменял цвет на зеленый, чтобы было видно, работает ли код при поочерёдном запуске двух макросов
.TintAndShade = 0
.PatternTintAndShade = 0
End With
End Sub
Пример сценария, когда использование Select и Activate оправдано:
Допустим, мы хотим, чтобы во время исполнения программы мы одновременно изменяли несколько листов одним действием и пользователь видел какой-то определённый лист. Это можно сделать примерно так:
Sub Select_Activate_is_OK()
Thisworkbook.Worksheets(Array("Sheet1", "Sheet3")).Select 'Выбираем несколько листов по именам
Thisworkbook.Worksheets("Sheet3").Activate 'Показываем пользователю третий лист
'Далее все действия с выбранными ячейками через Select будут одновременно вносить изменения в оба выбранных листа
'Допустим, что тут мы решили покрасить те же два диапазона:
Range("F4:F10,H6:H10").Select
Range("H6").Activate
With Selection.Interior
.Pattern = xlSolid
.PatternColorIndex = xlAutomatic
.Color = 65535
.TintAndShade = 0
.PatternTintAndShade = 0
End With
End Sub
Единственной причиной использовать этот код по моему мнению может быть желание зачем-то показать пользователю определённую страницу книги в какой-то момент исполнения программы. С точки зрения обработки объектов, опять же, эти действия лишние.
Получение и изменение значений ячеек
Значение ячеек можно получать/изменять с помощью свойства value.
'Если нужно прочитать / записать значение ячейки, то используется свойство Value
a = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells (1,1).Value 'записать значение ячейки А1 листа "Sheet1" в переменную "a"
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells (1,1).Value = 1 'задать значение ячейки А1 (первый ряд, первый столбец) листа "Sheet1"
'Если нужно прочитать текст как есть (с форматированием), то можно использовать свойство .text:
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells (1,1).Text = "1"
a = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells (1,1).Text
'Когда проявится разница:
'Например, если мы считываем дату в формате "31 декабря 2021 г.", хранящуюся как дата
a = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells (1,1).Value 'эапишет как "31.12.2021"
a = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells (1,1).Text 'запишет как "31 декабря 2021 г."
Ячейки открытой книги
К ячейкам можно обращаться:
'В книге, в которой хранится макрос (на каком-то из листов, либо в отдельном модуле или форме)
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(1,1).Value 'По номерам строки и столбца
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(1,"A").Value 'По номерам строки и букве столбца
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1").Value 'По адресу - вариант 1
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").[A1].Value 'По адресу - вариант 2
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Range("CellName").Value 'По имени ячейки (для этого ей предварительно нужно его присвоить)
'Те же действия, но с использованием полного названия рабочей книги (книга должна быть открыта)
Workbooks("workbook.xlsm").Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(1,1).Value 'По номерам строки и столбца
Workbooks("workbook.xlsm").Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(1,"A").Value 'По номерам строки и букве столбца
Workbooks("workbook.xlsm").Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1").Value 'По адресу - вариант 1
Workbooks("workbook.xlsm").Sheets("Sheet1").[A1].Value 'По адресу - вариант 2
Workbooks("workbook.xlsm").Sheets("Sheet1").Range("CellName").Value 'По имени ячейки (для этого ей предварительно нужно его присвоить)
Ячейки закрытой книги
Если нужно достать или изменить данные в другой закрытой книге, то необходимо прописать открытие и закрытие книги. Непосредственно работать с закрытой книгой не получится, потому что данные в ней хранятся отдельно от структуры и при открытии Excel каждый раз производит расстановку значений по соответствующим «слотам» в структуре. Подробнее о том, как хранятся данные в xlsx см выше.
Workbooks.Open Filename:="С:closed_workbook.xlsx" 'открыть книгу (она становится активной)
a = ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(1,1).Value 'достать значение ячейки 1,1
ActiveWorkbook.Close False 'закрыть книгу (False => без сохранения)
Скачать пример, в котором можно посмотреть, как доставать и как записывать значения в закрытую книгу.
Код из файла:
Option Explicit
Sub get_value_from_closed_wb() 'достать значение из закрытой книги
Dim a, wb_path, wsh As String
wb_path = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(2, 3).Value 'get path to workbook from sheet1
wsh = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(3, 3).Value
Workbooks.Open Filename:=wb_path
a = ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(wsh).Cells(3, 3).Value
ActiveWorkbook.Close False
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(4, 3).Value = a
End Sub
Sub record_value_to_closed_wb() 'записать значение в закрытую книгу
Dim wb_path, b, wsh As String
wsh = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(3, 3).Value
wb_path = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(2, 3).Value 'get path to workbook from sheet1
b = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(5, 3).Value 'get value to record in the target workbook
Workbooks.Open Filename:=wb_path
ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(wsh).Cells(4, 4).Value = b 'add new value to cell D4 of the target workbook
ActiveWorkbook.Close True
End Sub
Перебор ячеек
Перебор в произвольном диапазоне
Скачать файл со всеми примерами
Пройтись по всем ячейкам в нужном диапазоне можно разными способами. Основные:
- Цикл For Each. Пример:
Sub iterate_over_cells() For Each c In ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Range("B2:D4").Cells MsgBox (c) Next c End Sub
Этот цикл выведет в виде сообщений значения ячеек в диапазоне B2:D4 по порядку по строкам слева направо и по столбцам — сверху вниз. Данный способ можно использовать для действий, в который вам не важны номера ячеек (закрашивание, изменение форматирования, пересчёт чего-то и т.д.).
- Ту же задачу можно решить с помощью двух вложенных циклов — внешний будет перебирать ряды, а вложенный — ячейки в рядах. Этот способ я использую чаще всего, потому что он позволяет получить больше контроля над исполнением: на каждой итерации цикла нам доступны координаты ячеек. Для перебора всех ячеек на листе этим методом потребуется найти последнюю заполненную ячейку. Пример кода:
Sub iterate_over_cells() Dim cl, rw As Integer Dim x As Variant 'перебор области 3x3 For rw = 1 To 3 ' цикл для перебора рядов 1-3 For cl = 1 To 3 'цикл для перебора столбцов 1-3 x = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(rw + 1, cl + 1).Value MsgBox (x) Next cl Next rw 'перебор всех ячеек на листе. Последняя ячейка определена с помощью UsedRange 'LastRow = ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Row + ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Rows.Count - 1 'LastCol = ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Column + ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Columns.Count - 1 'For rw = 1 To LastRow 'цикл перебора всех рядов ' For cl = 1 To LastCol 'цикл для перебора всех столбцов ' Действия ' Next cl 'Next rw End Sub
- Если нужно перебрать все ячейки в выделенном диапазоне на активном листе, то код будет выглядеть так:
Sub iterate_cell_by_cell_over_selection() Dim ActSheet As Worksheet Dim SelRange As Range Dim cell As Range Set ActSheet = ActiveSheet Set SelRange = Selection 'if we want to do it in every cell of the selected range For Each cell In Selection MsgBox (cell.Value) Next cell End Sub
Данный метод подходит для интерактивных макросов, которые выполняют действия над выбранными пользователем областями.
- Перебор ячеек в ряду
Sub iterate_cells_in_row() Dim i, RowNum, StartCell As Long RowNum = 3 'какой ряд StartCell = 0 ' номер начальной ячейки (минус 1, т.к. в цикле мы прибавляем i) For i = 1 To 10 ' 10 ячеек в выбранном ряду ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(RowNum, i + StartCell).Value = i '(i + StartCell) добавляет 1 к номеру столбца при каждом повторении Next i End Sub
- Перебор ячеек в столбце
Sub iterate_cells_in_column() Dim i, ColNum, StartCell As Long ColNum = 3 'какой столбец StartCell = 0 ' номер начальной ячейки (минус 1, т.к. в цикле мы прибавляем i) For i = 1 To 10 ' 10 ячеек ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(i + StartCell, ColNum).Value = i ' (i + StartCell) добавляет 1 к номеру ряда при каждом повторении Next i End Sub
Свойства и методы ячеек
Имя ячейки
Присвоить новое имя можно так:
Thisworkbook.Sheets(1).Cells(1,1).name = "Новое_Имя"
Для того, чтобы сменить имя ячейки нужно сначала удалить существующее имя, а затем присвоить новое. Удалить имя можно так:
ActiveWorkbook.Names("Старое_Имя").Delete
Пример кода для переименования ячеек:
Sub rename_cell()
old_name = "Cell_Old_Name"
new_name = "Cell_New_Name"
ActiveWorkbook.Names(old_name).Delete
ThisWorkbook.Sheets(1).Cells(2, 1).Name = new_name
End Sub
Sub rename_cell_reverse()
old_name = "Cell_New_Name"
new_name = "Cell_Old_Name"
ActiveWorkbook.Names(old_name).Delete
ThisWorkbook.Sheets(1).Cells(2, 1).Name = new_name
End Sub
Адрес ячейки
Sub get_cell_address() ' вывести адрес ячейки в формате буква столбца, номер ряда
'$A$1 style
txt_address = ThisWorkbook.Sheets(1).Cells(3, 2).Address
MsgBox (txt_address)
End Sub
Sub get_cell_address_R1C1()' получить адрес столбца в формате номер ряда, номер столбца
'R1C1 style
txt_address = ThisWorkbook.Sheets(1).Cells(3, 2).Address(ReferenceStyle:=xlR1C1)
MsgBox (txt_address)
End Sub
'пример функции, которая принимает 2 аргумента: название именованного диапазона и тип желаемого адреса
'(1- тип $A$1 2- R1C1 - номер ряда, столбца)
Function get_cell_address_by_name(str As String, address_type As Integer)
'$A$1 style
Select Case address_type
Case 1
txt_address = Range(str).Address
Case 2
txt_address = Range(str).Address(ReferenceStyle:=xlR1C1)
Case Else
txt_address = "Wrong address type selected. 1,2 available"
End Select
get_cell_address_by_name = txt_address
End Function
'перед запуском нужно убедиться, что в книге есть диапазон с названием,
'адрес которого мы хотим получить, иначе будет ошибка
Sub test_function() 'запустите эту программу, чтобы увидеть, как работает функция
x = get_cell_address_by_name("MyValue", 2)
MsgBox (x)
End Sub
Размеры ячейки
Ширина и длина ячейки в VBA меняется, например, так:
Sub change_size()
Dim x, y As Integer
Dim w, h As Double
'получить координаты целевой ячейки
x = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(2, 2).Value
y = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(3, 2).Value
'получить желаемую ширину и высоту ячейки
w = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(6, 2).Value
h = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(7, 2).Value
'сменить высоту и ширину ячейки с координатами x,y
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(x, y).RowHeight = h
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(x, y).ColumnWidth = w
End Sub
Прочитать значения ширины и высоты ячеек можно двумя способами (однако результаты будут в разных единицах измерения). Если написать просто Cells(x,y).Width или Cells(x,y).Height, то будет получен результат в pt (привязка к размеру шрифта).
Sub get_size()
Dim x, y As Integer
'получить координаты ячейки, с которой мы будем работать
x = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(2, 2).Value
y = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(3, 2).Value
'получить длину и ширину выбранной ячейки в тех же единицах измерения, в которых мы их задавали
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(2, 6).Value = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(x, y).ColumnWidth
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(3, 6).Value = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(x, y).RowHeight
'получить длину и ширину с помощью свойств ячейки (только для чтения) в поинтах (pt)
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(7, 9).Value = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(x, y).Width
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(8, 9).Value = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(x, y).Height
End Sub
Скачать файл с примерами изменения и чтения размера ячеек
Запуск макроса активацией ячейки
Для запуска кода VBA при активации ячейки необходимо вставить в код листа нечто подобное:
3 важных момента, чтобы это работало:
1. Этот код должен быть вставлен в код листа (здесь контролируется диапазон D4)
2-3. Программа, ответственная за запуск кода при выборе ячейки, должна называться Worksheet_SelectionChange и должна принимать значение переменной Target, относящейся к триггеру SelectionChange. Другие доступные триггеры можно посмотреть в правом верхнем углу (2).
Скачать файл с базовым примером (как на картинке)
Скачать файл с расширенным примером (код ниже)
Option Explicit
Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
' имеем в виду, что триггер SelectionChange будет запускать эту Sub после каждого клика мышью (после каждого клика будет проверяться:
'1. количество выделенных ячеек и
'2. не пересекается ли выбранный диапазон с заданным в этой программе диапазоном.
' поэтому в эту программу не стоит без необходимости писать никаких других тяжелых операций
If Selection.Count = 1 Then 'запускаем программу только если выбрано не более 1 ячейки
'вариант модификации - брать адрес ячейки из другой ячейки:
'Dim CellName as String
'CellName = Activesheet.Cells(1,1).value 'брать текстовое имя контролируемой ячейки из A1 (должно быть в формате Буква столбца + номер строки)
'If Not Intersect(Range(CellName), Target) Is Nothing Then
'для работы этой модификации следующую строку надо закомментировать/удалить
If Not Intersect(Range("D4"), Target) Is Nothing Then
'если заданный (D4) и выбранный диапазон пересекаются
'(пересечение диапазонов НЕ равно Nothing)
'можно прописать диапазон из нескольких ячеек:
'If Not Intersect(Range("D4:E10"), Target) Is Nothing Then
'можно прописать несколько диапазонов:
'If Not Intersect(Range("D4:E10"), Target) Is Nothing or Not Intersect(Range("A4:A10"), Target) Is Nothing Then
Call program 'выполняем программу
End If
End If
End Sub
Sub program()
MsgBox ("Program Is running") 'здесь пишем код того, что произойдёт при выборе нужной ячейки
End Sub