Excel vba this button

This tutorial will demonstrate how to add a macro button in Excel VBA.

Once we have created macros in Excel, it is sometimes useful to create a button in the Excel worksheet to run the macro.

Also, as we  use VBA to create UserForms in Excel, we need to be able to create buttons on these UserForms to perform the OK and Cancel operations.  This tutorial will demonstrate how to add a macro button to a VBA worksheet, how to add a macro to a shape in VBA (as opposed to a button), and how to add a button onto a User Form in the VBE Editor.

Adding a Macro Button to an Excel Worksheet

Once we have created a macro in Excel VBA, we can create a button on the worksheet to run the macro.

In the Ribbon, select the Developer tab if it is visible. This tab is switched off by default so you will need to switch it on to see the tab on the ribbon.

If the Developer tab is not visible on the ribbon, click on the File tab in the Ribbon, and go down to Options. In the Customize Ribbon options, tick the Developer check box.

Click OK.

The Developer tab will appear on the main ribbon.

There are 2 types of buttons we can add to an Excel sheet – a Form Control button and an ActiveX Control Button.

Adding a Form Control Button

In the Ribbon, select Developer > Insert > Form Controls > Button.

Click and drag in the worksheet to create a button.  As soon as you release the mouse button, the assign macro dialog box will appear.

Scroll down to 1) select the macro you wish to assign to the button, and then, 2) click OK.

Right click on the button, and select Edit Text to change the text on the button.

Type an appropriate name for the button and then click off the button.

Click the button to run the macro.

To change the format of the button, right click on the button and select Format Control.

Select the options to format, and click OK.

Adding an ActiveX Button

The ActiveX button is similar to a Form Control Button but instead of assigning an existing macro to the button, we need to write code behind the Click Event of the button. It also has a lot more Properties than the Form Control Button making it a much more flexible control.

In the Ribbon, select Developer > Insert > ActiveX Controls > Command button.

Click and drag in your worksheet to create the button.   The button will appear as an Embedded Command Button.

To change the name of the command button, or the text that is displayed, right-click on the command button and click on Properties.

Amend the 1) name of the button, 2) caption of the button and 3) format of the text as required.

To add code to the button, right-click on the button once more and select View Code.

This will automatically create the click event for the button in the VBE Editor. (the click event is the most common event for command buttons and is created by default).

Type the code you require into the event that has been created.

Private Sub cmdTime_Click()
 Dim strT As String
 strT = Time()
 MsgBox "The time right now is " & strT
End Sub

Close the VBE Editor to return to your worksheet.

Click once more on your new button.  You will notice that macro does not run, but the button gets selected.  This is due to the fact that when you create an ActiveX button, you are automatically put into Design Mode. 

To run the code behind the button, click on the Design Mode button on the Ribbon to go out of Design mode, and then click the button.

Adding a Macro to a Shape in an Excel Worksheet

In the Ribbon, select Insert > Shape.

Select the shape from the drop down, and then drag in the Excel worksheet to create the shape.

Right-click on the shape, and select Assign Macro.

Select the macro to assign, and then click OK.

When you move your mouse over your shape, the mouse cursor should turn into a small hand.  Click on the shape to run the macro.

Adding Command Buttons to VBA Forms

Creating VBA UserForms is a big part of programming in VBA.  It allows you to build a professional looking user interface to communicate with the users of your VBA application.  It also allows you to totally control the user in what they are doing to your workbook.  To learn how to create UserForms in VBA, click here.

Once a UserForm is created, and controls have been added to a UserForm, buttons can be added to perform functions such as OK and Cancel.

In the Toolbox, select the Command Button control, and then click and drag in your form to create the button.

Using the Caption Property, change the caption of the command button to OK, and the Accelerator to “O”

The purpose of the Accelerator is for the user to use the keyboard to activate the button, in this case Alt+O would activate the button.

Once we have created the command button, we can double-click on the command button to go to the VBA code.  Double-clicking on the command button in the form will automatically create the Click Event for the button as this is the event that is most commonly used by command buttons.

We can now type our relevant VBA code within the procedure that has been created.

Bottom Line: Learn how to create macro buttons in a worksheet that run VBA code when clicked. Includes how to format buttons and prevent them from moving and resizing on the sheet.

Skill Level: Intermediate

Video Tutorial

Download the Excel File

Here’s the Excel workbook that I use in the video so you can follow along and practice what you’re learning.

Making User-Friendly Macro Buttons in Your Spreadsheets

Macros make life easier. Buttons make life easier. It’s only natural to marry the two and make the processes you repeatedly have to perform as simple as possible.

You can literally run through a hundred steps with just one small click using macros and buttons–which, of course, is both empowering and gratifying.

Kristen, a member of our VBA Pro Course, loves to add buttons to her spreadsheets for this reason.

You can watch the entire video to learn more about Kristen’s story with learning VBA, and how she uses macro buttons.

For this tutorial, we’re using macros that have already been created. If you don’t know how to create macros yet, then checkout one of my free webinars to learn the basics getting started with macros & VBA.

So let’s take a look at how to create a button and assign a macro to it.

3 Types of Macro Buttons for Worksheets

In this post I explain three different types of buttons you can place on a worksheet.

1. Shapes
2. Form Control Buttons
3. ActiveX Control Buttons

We’ll start with my favorite…

1. Using Shapes to Create Macro Buttons

In my opinion, the best way to create macro buttons is to use shapes. Shapes give us the most styling/formatting options, and we can make them look like buttons you click every day on modern web pages.

Below, we will create the button on a worksheet and assign a macro to it. Here are the steps to create the macro button:

1. Draw a shape on the sheet (Insert tab > Shapes drop-down > Rectangle shape).

2. Add text to the shape (Right-click > Edit Text | or double-click in the shape).

3. Assign the macro (Right-click the border of the shape > Assign Macro…)

4. Select the macro from the list. It’s important to note that the macro should be selected from the This Workbook list so that when you share the workbook with other users, the macro will be shared as well.

If you assign the macro from another workbook, the button will not work for the people you share the workbook with.

5. Press OK.

When you hover your mouse over the shape it will now turn into the hand pointer cursor.  Clicking the shape will run the macro.

That’s it! That’s how you assign a macro to a button that you’ve created right on the worksheet.

Modifying the Button

If you need to select the shape to change its look or move it, hold the Ctrl key while clicking the shape.  This will prevent the macro from running and allow you to modify the shape. Excel offers a ton of options on the Format tab for changing the shape style, shape effects, font color or size, etc.

Preventing the Button from Resizing with Cell Changes

Depending on your settings, it’s likely that when you change the size of the column or row that your button is on, the button size will change as well. If you don’t want that to happen, you can easily adjust the settings to keep the button static.

First, just right click on the button and choose Size and Properties…

This will bring up the Format Shape pane. There are options for you to choose from in the Properties section, depending on whether or not you want the button to move or resize when changes are made to your sheet.

2. Using Form Controls to Create Macro Buttons

The next option for macro buttons is Form Controls. They are essentially the same in terms of set-up.

The difference between Controls and Shapes is the styling.

Form Control buttons do give the appearance of being pressed when you click on them, which is kind of cool. However, they unfortunately look like a button you’d find on an early version of Windows.

We cannot change the color of the button either. The only formatting options are for the font type, size, and color.

Insert a Form Control Button

To add a Form Control button, just go to the Developer tab and click on the Insert button. A drop-down gives you options under Form Controls.

3. Using ActiveX Controls for Macro Buttons

The last option is ActiveX Control buttons.

The ActiveX Control buttons do have more formatting options and you can change the button color.

They also require you to add an event macro in the sheet module that will run when the button is clicked. This is done by right-clicking the button and choosing View Code.

You can add other event triggers like double-click. This could perform a different action/macro when the button is double-clicked.

However, I don’t recommend the ActiveX Control buttons. In my experience they are glitchy in terms of consistent appearance. They can end up really big or really small when changes are made to the sheet or when the file is shared back and forth between users.

Placing Buttons in the Ribbon or Toolbar Instead

Another option is to place your macro buttons on any of the tabs in the Excel Ribbon or Quick Access Toolbar.

This is video #3 in my 4-part video series on the Personal Macro Workbook. This technique is best for macros that you will only run on your computer because the ribbon button customizations do not travel with the workbook.

If you do want the ribbon buttons to travel with the workbook then you can use XML code to customize the ribbon. I’ll write an article on that in the future, and I do cover extensively in my VBA Pro Course, along with how to create add-ins.

Related Tutorials

I have a couple other posts for you to check out on this topic. Take a few minutes to give them a look!

• How to Create VBA Macro Buttons for Filters in Excel
• Macro Buttons to Add Fields to Pivot Tables
• How to Add a Yes No Pop-up Message Box to a Macro Before It Runs
• How to Enable the Developer Tab in Excel

Conclusion

My overall recommendation is to keep it simple and stick to using shapes for macro buttons. They give you the most formatting options, and are easy to setup and modify.

What will you create macro buttons for? I’d love to hear how you plan to put these buttons to work. If you have any comments or questions about running a macro button that you’ve created, please leave a comment below.

Thank you! 🙂

Fortunately, Excel lets us refer to an ActiveX control on a worksheet by using its name, without reference to the OLEObjects collection. For instance, if we place a command button on a worksheet, Excel will give it the default name CommandButton1. Both of the following lines set the height of this command button to 20 points:

ActiveSheet.OLEObjects(«CommandButton1»).Height = 20 ActiveSheet.CommandButtonl.Height = 20

Unfortunately, however, the properties and methods that we access in this manner are the properties and methods of the OLEObject, not the control itself. These properties are shown in Table 14-4.

Thus, for instance, while we can set the Height property of the command button, we cannot set its Caption property in this way. That is, the code:

ActiveSheet.OLEObjects(«CommandButton1»).Caption = «ClickMe» will generate an error.

The way to reach the members of the control itself is to use the Object property of an OLEObject object, which returns the underlying control, and makes its properties and methods accessible. Thus, the following two lines each set the button’s caption:

ActiveSheet.OLEObjects(«CommandButton1»).Object.Caption = «ClickMe» ActiveSheet.CommandButton1.Object.Caption = «ClickMe»

In addition to the standard properties available for ActiveX controls, the following properties can be used with ActiveX controls embedded in sheets in Microsoft Excel:

BottomRightCell

Returns a Range object that represents the cell that lies under the lower-right corner of the object.

LinkedCell

Returns or sets the worksheet range that is linked to the value of the control. Thus, if we place a value in the linked cell, the control will assume this value, and vice-versa.

ListFillRange

Returns or sets the worksheet range that is used to fill a list box control.

Placement

Returns or sets the way that the control is attached to the cells below it. The possible values are the XlPlacement constants: xlMoveAndSize, xlMove, and xlFreeFloating.

PrintObject

Prints the control when the worksheet is printed if this property is set to True. TopLeftCell

Returns a Range object that represents the cell that lies under the top-left corner of the object.

ZOrder

Returns the ZOrder position of the control.

Note also that Table 14-4 has some properties that are not properties of controls themselves. They relate to the OLEObject, which is the container for the control, and thus to the control’s relationship with the worksheet. For instance, the code:

ActiveSheet.CommandButtonl.TopLeftCell.Address returns the address of the top-left cell of the worksheet that lies under the control (or rather, the control’s container: the OLEObject).

As another example, the following code will locate the top-left cell under the command button and then scroll the active window so that this cell (and therefore the command button) is at the upper-left corner of the window:

Dim rng As Range

Set rng = ActiveSheet.CommandButtonl.TopLeftCell With ActiveWindow

.ScrollRow = rng.Row .ScrollColumn = rng.Column End With

It is important to note that some properties and methods of some Excel objects are disabled when an ActiveX control has the focus. For example, the Sort method of the Range object cannot be used when a control is active. Since a control on a worksheet remains active after it is clicked, the following code will fail:

Private Sub CommandButtonl Click

Range(«A:A»).Sort Key1:=Range(«A:A») End Sub

(We will discuss the sort method in Chapter 19. Don’t worry about that now.) This is one disadvantage of placing controls directly on worksheets.

Of course, one way to avoid this problem is to activate another object before calling the sort method. For instance, we can amend the previous code as follows:

Private Sub CommandButtonl Click Range(«A:A»).Activate Range(«A:A»).Sort Key1:=Range(«A:A») CommandButtonl.Activate ‘ Optional

End Sub

It is also worth mentioning that if you save an Excel 97 or Excel 2000 workbook in Excel 5.0/95 Workbook file format, all ActiveX control information will be lost.

Continue reading here: Adding a Control to a Worksheet Programmatically

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