Excel active cells vba

Active Cell in Excel VBA

The active cell is the currently selected cell in a worksheet. The active cell in VBA can be used as a reference to move to another cell or change the properties of the same active cell or the cell reference provided by the active cell. We can access an active cell in VBA by using the application.property method with the keyword active cell.

Understanding the concept of range object and cell properties in VBACells are cells of the worksheet, and in VBA, when we refer to cells as a range property, we refer to the same cells. In VBA concepts, cells are also the same, no different from normal excel cells.read more is important to work efficiently with VBA codingVBA code refers to a set of instructions written by the user in the Visual Basic Applications programming language on a Visual Basic Editor (VBE) to perform a specific task.read more. One more concept you need to look into in these concepts is “VBA Active Cell.”

In Excel, there are millions of cells, and you are unsure which one is an active cell. For example, look at the below image.

In the above pic, we have many cells. Finding which one is an active cell is very simple; whichever cell is selected. It is called an “active cell” in VBA.

Look at the name boxIn Excel, the name box is located on the left side of the window and is used to give a name to a table or a cell. The name is usually the row character followed by the column number, such as cell A1.read more if your active cell is not visible in your window. It will show you the active cell address. For example, in the above image, the active cell address is B3.

Even when many cells are selected as a range of cells, whatever the first cell is in, the selection becomes the active cell. For example, look at the below image.

#1 – Referencing in Excel VBA

In our earlier articles, we have seen how to reference the cellsCell reference in excel is referring the other cells to a cell to use its values or properties. For instance, if we have data in cell A2 and want to use that in cell A1, use =A2 in cell A1, and this will copy the A2 value in A1.read more in VBA. By active cell property, we can refer to the cell.

For example, if we want to select cell A1 and insert the value “Hello,” we can write it in two ways. Below is the way of selecting the cell and inserting the value using the VBA “RANGE” object

Code:

Sub ActiveCell_Example1()

    Range("A1").Select
    Range("A1").Value = "Hello"
 
End Sub

It will first select the cell A1 “Range(“A1″). Select”

Then, it will insert the value “Hello” in cell A1 Range(“A1”).Value = “Hello”

Now, we will remove the line Range(“A1”). Value = “Hello” and use the active cell property to insert the value.

Code:

Sub ActiveCell_Example1()

    Range("A1").Select
    ActiveCell.Value = "Hello"

End Sub

Similarly, first, it will select the cell A1 “Range(“A1”). Select.“

But here, we have used ActiveCell.Value = “Hello” instead of Range(“A1”).Value = “Hello”

We have used the active cell property because the moment we select cell A1 it becomes an active cell. So, we can use the Excel VBA active cell property to insert the value.

#2 – Active Cell Address, Value, Row, and Column Number

Let’s show the active cell’s address in the message box to understand it better. Now, look at the below image.

In the above image, the active cell is “B3,” and the value is 55. So, let us write code in VBA to get the active cell’s address.

Code:

Sub ActiveCell_Example2()

    MsgBox ActiveCell.Address

End Sub

Run this code using the F5 key or manually. Then, it will show the active cell’s address in a message box.

Output:

Similarly, the below code will show the value of the active cell.

Code:

Sub ActiveCell_Example2()

    MsgBox ActiveCell.Value

End Sub

Output:

The below code will show the row number of the active cell.

Code:

Sub ActiveCell_Example2()

  MsgBox ActiveCell.Row

End Sub

Output:

The below code will show the column number of the active cell.

Code:

Sub ActiveCell_Example2()

MsgBox ActiveCell.Column

End Sub

Output:

#3 – Parameters of Active Cell in Excel VBA

The active cell property has parameters as well. After entering the property, the active cell opens parenthesis to see the parameters.

Using this parameter, we can refer to another cell as well.

For example, ActiveCell (1,1) means whichever cell is active. If you want to move down one row to the bottom, you can use ActiveCell (2,1). Here 2 does not mean moving down two rows but rather just one row down. Similarly, if you want to move one column to the right, then this is the code ActiveCell (2,2)

Look at the below image.

In the above image, the active cell is A2. To insert value to the active cell, you write this code.

Code:

ActiveCell.Value = “Hiiii” or ActiveCell (1,1).Value = “Hiiii”

Run this code manually or through the F5 key. It will insert the value “Hiiii” into the cell.

If you want to insert the same value to the below cell, you can use this code.

Code:

ActiveCell (2,1).Value = “Hiiii”

It will insert the value to the cell below the active cell.

You can use this code if you want to insert the value to one column right then.

Code:

ActiveCell (1,2).Value = “Hiiii”

It will insert “Hiiii” to the next column cell of the active cell.

Like this, we can reference the cells in VBA using the active cell property.

We hope you have enjoyed it. Thanks for your time with us.

You can download the VBA Active Cell Excel Template here:- VBA Active Cell Template

Recommended Articles

This article has been a guide to VBA Active Cell. Here, we learned the concept of an active cell to find the address of a cell. Also, we learned the parameters of the active cell in Excel VBA along with practical examples and a downloadable template. Below you can find some useful Excel VBA articles: –

• VBA Selection
• Excel Edit Cell Shortcut
• Excel VBA Range Cells
• Get Cell Value with Excel VBA

VBA Active Cell

Active cell means the specific cell which is active in the current active worksheet. For example, if in sheet 2 cell B4 is selected means the active cell is B4 in sheet 2. In VBA we use a reference of active cell to change the properties or values of the active cell. OR we use this function in certain situations when we need to make some changes in the active cell on some certain conditions which meet the requirements.

The active cell is a property in VBA. We use it in different situations in VBA. We can assign values to an active cell using VBA Active Cell function or fetch the address of the active cell. What did these functions return? Active cell Function returns the range property of the active cell in the active worksheet. As explained in the above statement in the definition if sheet 2 is active and cell B4 is active cell the active cell function in VBA will fetch the range properties of the cell B4 in sheet 2.

Syntax of Active Cell in Excel VBA

Below is the syntax of Active Cell in Excel VBA

The syntax is used to assign a certain value to the active cell.

Activecell.Value= “ “

The syntax will select the value or the property of the active cell in the active worksheet.

Application.Activecell

If we need to change the font of the active cell then the syntax will be as follows

Activecell.Font.(The font we want) = True

We can also display the rows and column of the active cell using the following syntax

Application.Activecell

Let us use the above syntax explained in a few examples and learn how to play with the active cells.

Note: In order to use VBA make sure to have developer’s tab enabled from File Tab from the options section.

Examples of Excel VBA Active Cell

Below are the different examples of VBA Active Cell in Excel:

You can download this VBA Active Cell Excel Template here – VBA Active Cell Excel Template

VBA Active Cell – Example #1

In this example, we want to change the value of the current cell with something cell. For example in sheet 1, select cell A2 and insert value as ANAND and we want to change the value for that active cell as ARAN.

Follow the below steps to use VBA Active Cell in Excel.

Step 1: Go to Developer’s tab and click on Visual Basic to open VB Editor.

Step 2: Click on Insert tab and click on modules to insert a new module.

Step 3: Declare a sub-function to start writing the code.

Code:

Sub Sample()

End Sub

Step 4: Activate the worksheet 1 by using the below function.

Code:

Sub Sample()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate

End Sub

Step 5: We can check that in cell A2 in sheet 1 we have the value as ANAND and it is the active cell.

Step 6: Now use the following statement to change the value of the active cell.

Code:

Sub Sample()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate

ActiveCell.Value = "ARAN"

End Sub

Step 7: Run the above code from the run button provided or press F5.

We can see that the value in cell A2 has been changed.

VBA Active Cell – Example #2

Now we have changed the active cell Value from ANAND to ARAN. How do we display the current value of the active cell? This we will learn in this example.

Follow the below steps to use VBA Active Cell in Excel.

Step 1: Go to the developer’s Tab and click on Visual Basic to Open VB Editor.

Step 2: In the same module declare a sub-function to start writing the code.

Code:

Sub Sample1()

End Sub

Step 3: Activate the worksheet 1 by the following code.

Code:

Sub Sample1()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate

End Sub

Step 4: Now let us select the active cell by the following code.

Code:

Sub Sample1()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate
Set selectedCell = Application.ActiveCell

End Sub

Step 5: Now let us display the value of the selected cell by the following code.

Code:

Sub Sample1()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate
Set selectedCell = Application.ActiveCell
MsgBox selectedCell.Value

End Sub

Step 6: Run the above code by pressing F5 or by the run button provided and see the following result.

The active cell was A2 and it has the value as ARAN so the displayed property is ARAN.

VBA Active Cell – Example #3

Let us change the font of the cell A2 which was the selected cell. Let us make the font as BOLD. Initially, there was no font selected.

For this, Follow the below steps to use VBA Active Cell in Excel.

Step 1: Go to the Developer’s Tab and click on Visual Basic to open VB Editor.

Step 2: In the same module declare a sub-function to start writing the code.

Code:

Sub Sample2()

End Sub

Step 3: Let us activate the worksheet first in order to use the active cell.

Code:

Sub Sample2()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate

End Sub

Step 4: Let us change the font of the selected cell by the following code.

Code:

Sub Sample2()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate

ActiveCell.Font.Bold = True

End Sub

Step 5: Run the above code by pressing F5 or by the run button provided and see the result.

The font of the active cell is changed to BOLD.

VBA Active Cell – Example #4

Now we want to know what row or what column the currently active cell is in. How to do this is what we will learn in this example.

For this, Follow the below steps to use VBA Active Cell in Excel.

Step 1: Go to Developer’s Tab and click on Visual Basic to Open the VB Editor.

Step 2: In the same module declare a sub-function to start writing the code.

Code:

Sub Sample3()

End Sub

Step 3: Let us activate the worksheet first in order to use the active cell properties.

Code:

Sub Sample3()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate

End Sub

Step 4: Now we select the active cell by the following code.

Code:

Sub Sample3()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate
Set selectedCell = Application.ActiveCell

End Sub

Step 5: Now we can display the current row of the active cell by the following code.

Code:

Sub Sample3()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate
Set selectedCell = Application.ActiveCell
MsgBox selectedCell.Row

End Sub

Step 6: We can also get the current column of the active cell by the following code.

Code:

Sub Sample3()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate
Set selectedCell = Application.ActiveCell
MsgBox selectedCell.Row
MsgBox selectedCell.Column

End Sub

Step 7: Now press F5 or the run button provided to run the above code and see the following result.

The above result was the row of the active cell. Press ok to see the column of the active cell.

Things to Remember

There are few things which we need to remember about Active cell in VBA:

• The active cell is the currently active or selected cell in any worksheet.
• We can display or change the properties of the active cell address in VBA.
• In order to use the properties of the active cell, we must need to activate the current worksheet first.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to Excel VBA Active Cell. Here we discussed how to use VBA Active Cell property to assign value or fetch the address of the active cell in Excel along with some practical examples and downloadable excel template. You can also go through our other suggested articles –

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