For next vba excel описание

This Excel tutorial explains how to use the Excel FOR…NEXT statement to create a FOR loop in VBA with syntax and examples.

Description

The Microsoft Excel FOR…NEXT statement is used to create a FOR loop so that you can execute VBA code a fixed number of times.

The FOR…NEXT statement is a built-in function in Excel that is categorized as a Logical Function. It can be used as a VBA function (VBA) in Excel. As a VBA function, you can use this function in macro code that is entered through the Microsoft Visual Basic Editor.

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If you want to follow along with this tutorial, download the example spreadsheet.

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Syntax

The syntax to create a FOR Loop using the FOR…NEXT statement in Microsoft Excel is:

For counter = start To end [Step increment]
   {...statements...}
Next [counter]

Parameters or Arguments

counter

The loop counter variable.

start

The starting value for counter.

end

The ending value for counter.

increment

Optional. The value that counter is incremented each pass through the loop. It can be a positive or negative number. If not specified, it will default to an increment of 1 so that each pass through the loop increases counter by 1.

statements

The statements of code to execute each pass through the loop.

Returns

The FOR…NEXT statement creates a FOR loop in VBA.

Example (as VBA Function)

The FOR…NEXT statement can only be used in VBA code in Microsoft Excel.

Let’s look at how to create a FOR loop in Microsoft Excel, starting with a single loop, double loop, and triple loop, and then exploring how to change the value used to increment the counter each pass through the loop.

Single Loop

The simplest implementation of the FOR loop is to use the FOR…NEXT statement to create a single loop. This will allow you to repeat VBA code a fixed number of times.

For example:

Sub Single_Loop_Example

   Dim LCounter As Integer

   For LCounter = 1 To 5
      MsgBox (LCounter)
   Next LCounter

End Sub

In this example, the FOR loop is controlled by the LCounter variable. It would loop 5 times, starting at 1 and ending at 5. Each time within the loop, it would display a message box with the value of the LCounter variable. This code would display 5 message boxes with the following values: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Single Loop — Changing Increment

By default, the FOR loop will increment its loop counter by 1, but this can be customized. You can use STEP increment to change the value used to increment the counter. The FOR loop can be increment can be either positive or negative values.

Positive Increment

Let’s first look at an example of how to increment the counter of a FOR loop by a positive value.

For example:

Sub Increment_Positive_Example

   Dim LCounter As Integer

   For LCounter = 1 To 9 Step 2
      MsgBox LCounter
   Next LCounter

End Sub

In this example, we’ve used Step 2 in the FOR loop to change the increment to 2. What this means is that the FOR loop would start at 1, increment by 2, and end at 9. The code would display 5 message boxes with the following values: 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9.

Negative Increment

Now, let’s look at how to increment the counter of a FOR loop by a negative value.

For example:

Sub Increment_Negative_Example

   Dim LCounter As Integer

   For LCounter = 50 To 30 Step -5
      MsgBox LCounter
   Next LCounter

End Sub

When you increment by a negative value, you need the starting number to be the higher value and the ending number to be the lower value, since the FOR loop will be counting down. So in this example, the FOR loop will start at 50, increment by -5, and end at 30. The code would display 5 message boxes with the following values: 50, 45, 40, 35, and 30.

Double Loop

Next, let’s look at an example of how to create a double FOR loop in Microsoft Excel.

For example:

Sub Double_Loop_Example

   Dim LCounter1 As Integer
   Dim LCounter2 As Integer

   For LCounter1 = 1 To 4
      For LCounter2 = 8 To 9
         MsgBox LCounter1 & "-" & LCounter2
      Next LCounter2
   Next LCounter1

End Sub

Here we have 2 FOR loops. The outer FOR loop is controlled by the LCounter1 variable. The inner FOR loop is controlled by the LCounter2 variable.

In this example, the outer FOR loop would loop 4 times (starting at 1 and ending at 4) and the inner FOR loop would loop 2 times (starting at 8 and ending at 9). Within the inner loop, the code would display a message box each time with the value of the LCounter1—LCounter2. So in this example, 8 message boxes would be displayed with the following values: 1-8, 1-9, 2-8, 2-9, 3-8, 3-9, 4-8, and 4-9.

Triple Loop

Next, let’s look at an example of how to create a triple FOR loop in Microsoft Excel.

For example:

Sub Triple_Loop_Example

   Dim LCounter1 As Integer
   Dim LCounter2 As Integer
   Dim LCounter3 As Integer

   For LCounter1 = 1 To 2
      For LCounter2 = 5 To 6
         For LCounter3 = 7 To 8
            MsgBox LCounter1 & "-" & LCounter2 & "-" & LCounter3
         Next LCounter3
      Next LCounter2
   Next LCounter1

End Sub

Here we have 3 FOR loops. The outer-most FOR loop is controlled by the LCounter1 variable. The next FOR loop is controlled by the LCounter2 variable. The inner-most FOR loop is controlled by the LCounter3 variable.

In this example, the outer-most FOR loop would loop 2 times (starting at 1 and ending at 2) , the next FOR loop would loop 2 times (starting at 5 and ending at 6), and the inner-most FOR loop would loop 2 times (starting at 7 and ending at 8).

Within the inner-most loop, the code would display a message box each time with the value of the LCounter1—LCounter2—LCounter3. This code would display 8 message boxes with the following values: 1-5-7, 1-5-8, 1-6-7, 1-6-8, 2-5-7, 2-5-8, 2-6-7, and 2-6-8.

Example#1 from Video

In the first video example, we are going to use the For…Next statement to loop through the products in column A and update the appropriate application type in column B.

Sub totn_for_loop_example1()

   Dim LCounter As Integer

   For LCounter = 2 To 4
      If Cells(LCounter, 1).Value = "Excel" Then
         Cells(LCounter, 2).Value = "Spreadsheet"

      ElseIf Cells(LCounter, 1).Value = "Access" Then
         Cells(LCounter, 2).Value = "Database"

      ElseIf Cells(LCounter, 1).Value = "Word" Then
         Cells(LCounter, 2).Value = "Word Processor"

      End If
   Next LCounter

End Sub

Example#2 from Video

In the second video example, we have a list of participants in column A and we’ll use two FOR Loops to assign each of the participants to either Team A or Team B (alternating between the two).

Sub totn_for_loop_example2()

   Dim LCounter1 As Integer
   Dim LCounter2 As Integer

   For LCounter1 = 2 To 9 Step 2
      Cells(LCounter1, 2).Value = "Team A"
   Next LCounter1

   For LCounter2 = 3 To 9 Step 2
      Cells(LCounter2, 2).Value = "Team B"
   Next LCounter2

End Sub

This post provides a complete guide to the standard VBA For Loop and the VBA For Each Loop.

If you are looking for information about the VBA While and VBA Do Loop then go here.

If you want some quick info about the For loops then check out the Quick Guide table in the section below.

If you are looking for information on a particular topic then check out the Table of Contents below.

“History is about loops and continuums” – Mike Bidlo.
 

Related Links for the VBA For Loop

The Complete Guide to Ranges in Excel VBA.
The Complete Guide to Copying Data in Excel VBA.
VBA Do While Loop.

A Quick Guide to the VBA For Loop

Loop format	Description	Example
For … Next	Run 10 times	For i = 1 To 10 Next
For … Next	Run 5 times. i=2,4, 6 etc.	For i = 2 To 10 Step 2 Next
For … Next	Run in reverse order	For i = 10 To 1 Step -1     Debug.Print i Next
For … Next	Go through Collection	For i = 1 To coll.Count     Debug.Print coll(i) Next
For … Next	Go through array	For i = LBound(arr) To UBound(arr)     Debug.Print arr(i) Next i
For … Next	Go through 2D array	For i = LBound(arr) To UBound(arr)     For j = LBound(arr,2) To UBound(arr,2)         Debug.Print arr(i, j)     Next j Next i
For Each … Next	Go through Collection	Dim item As Variant For Each item In coll     Debug.Print item Next item
For Each … Next	Go through array	Dim item As Variant For Each item In arr     Debug.Print item Next item
For Each … Next	Go through 2D array	Dim item As Variant For Each item In arr     Debug.Print item Next item
For Each … Next	Go through Dictionary	Dim key As Variant For Each key In dict.Keys     Debug.Print key, dict(key) Next key
Both types	Exit Loop	For i = 1 To 10     If Cells(i,1) = «found» Then         Exit For     End If Next i

The VBA For Loop Webinar

If you are a member of the website, click on the image below to view the webinar for this post.

(Note: Website members have access to the full webinar archive.)

Introduction to the VBA For Loop

Loops are by far the most powerful component of VBA. They are the rocket fuel of your Macros. They can perform tasks in milliseconds that would take humans hours. They also dramatically reduce the lines of code your applications need.

For Loops have been part of all major programming languages since they were first used with Fortan in 1957.

If you have never used loops before then this post is a great place to start. It provides an in-depth guide to loops, written in plain English without the jargon.

Let’s start with a very important question – what are loops and why do we need them?

What are VBA For Loops?

A loop is simply a way of running the same lines of code a number of times. Obviously running the same code over and over would give the same result.

So what is important to understand is that the lines of code normally contain a variable that changes slightly each time the loop runs.

For example, a loop could write to cell A1, then cell A2, A3 and so on. The slight change each time is the row.

Let’s look at a simple example.

VBA For Loop Example 1

 
The following code  prints the values 1 to 5 in the Immediate Window(Ctrl + G to view).

Debug.Print 1
Debug.Print 2
Debug.Print 3
Debug.Print 4
Debug.Print 5

The Immediate Window

If you have not used the Immediate Window before then this section will get you up to speed quickly.

The function Debug.Print writes values to the Immediate  Window. To view this window select View->Immediate Window from the menu( the shortcut is Ctrl + G)

 

 

VBA For Loop Example 2

Now imagine we want to print out the numbers 1 to 20. We would need to add 15 more lines to the example above.

 
However, using a loop we only need to write Debug.Print once.

    For i = 1 To 20
        Debug.Print i
    Next i

 
The output is:

 
If we needed print the numbers 1 to 1000 then we only need to change the 20 to 1000.

Normally when we write code we would use a variable instead of a number like 20 or 1000. This gives you greater flexibility. It allows you to decide the number of times you wish to run the loop when the code is running. The following example explains this.

VBA For Loop Example 3

A common task in Excel is read all the rows with with data. 

 
The way you approach this task is as follows

1. Find the last row with data
2. Store the value in variable
3. Use the variable to determine how many times the loop runs

 
Using a variable in the loop makes your code very flexible. Your will work no matter how many rows there are.

Let’s have a look at an example. Imagine you receive a sheet with a list of fruit types and their daily sales. You want to count the number of Oranges sold and this list will vary in size depending on sales.

 
The following screenshot shows an example of this list

 
We can use the code to count the oranges

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub CountFruit()

    ' Get the last row with text
    Dim LastRow As Long
    LastRow = Sheet1.Cells(Sheet1.Rows.Count, 1).End(xlUp).Row

    Dim i As Long, Total As Long
    ' Use LastRow in loop
    For i = 2 To LastRow
        ' Check if cell has text "Orange"
        If Sheet1.Cells(i, 1).Value = "Oranges" Then
            ' Add value in column B to total
            Total = Total + Sheet1.Cells(i, 2).Value
        End If
    Next i

    ' Print total
    Debug.Print "Total oranges sold was:"; Total

End Sub

 
You can try this code for yourself. Change the number of fruit items and you will see that the code still works fine.

If you were to increase the number fruit items to a large value like 10,000 then you will hardly notice the difference in the time it takes to run – almost instantly.

Loops are super fast. This is what makes them so powerful. Imagine performing a manual task on 10,000 cells. It would take a considerable amount of time.

Advantages of the VBA For Loop

4To conclude this section we will list the major advantages of using loops

• They reduce the lines code you need
• They are flexible
• They are fast

 
In the next sections we will look at the different types of loops and how to use them.

The Standard VBA For Loop

The VBA For loop is the most common loop you will use in Excel VBA. The For Loop is used when you can determine the number of times it will be run. For example, if you want to repeat something twenty times.

YouTube Video For Loop

Check out this YouTube Video of the For Loop:

Get the workbook and code for this video here
 

Format of the Standard VBA For Loop

The Standard VBA For Loop has the following format:

For <variable> = <start value> to <end value>
Next <variable>

The start and end values can be variables. Also the variable after Next is optional but it is useful and it makes it clear which for loop it belongs to.

How a For Loop Works

Let’s look at a simple for loop that prints the numbers 1 to 3

    Dim i As Long
    For i = 1 To 3
        Debug.Print i
    Next i

 
How this code works is as follows

i is set to 1
The value of i(now 1) is printed

 
i is set to 2
The value of i(now 2) is printed

 
i is set to 3
The value of i(now 3) is printed

 
If we did not use a loop then the equivalent code would be

    Dim i As Long
    i = i + 1
    Debug.Print i
    i = i + 1
    Debug.Print i
    i = i + 1
    Debug.Print i

 
The i = i + 1 line is used to add 1 to i and is a common way in programming to update a counter.

Using Step with the VBA For Loop

You can see that i is increased by one each time. This is the default. You can specify this interval using Step keyword.

 
The next example shows you how to do this:

    ' Prints the even numbers i.e. 2,4,6,8 ... 20
    For i = 2 To 20 Step 2
        Debug.Print i
    Next i

 
You can use a negative number with Step which will count in reverse

    ' Prints the even numbers in reverse i.e. 20,18,16,14 ... 2
    For i = 20 To 2 Step -2
        Debug.Print i
    Next i

 
Note: if Step is positive then your starting number must be lower than you ending number. The following loop will not run because the starting number 20 is greater than 10. VBA therefore, thinks it has already reached the target value 10.

    ' Will not run as starting number already greater than 10
    For i = 20 To 10 Step 1
        Debug.Print i
    Next i

 
If Step is negative then the start number must be greater than the end number.

Exit the For Loop

Sometimes you may want to leave the loop earlier if a certain condition occurs. For example if you read bad data.

 
You can use Exit For to automatically leave  the loop as shown in the following code

    For i = 1 To 1000

        ' If cell is blank then exit for
        If Cells(i, 1) = "" Then
            MsgBox "Blank Cell found - Data error"
            Exit For
        End If

    Next i

Using the VBA For Loop with a Collection

The For loop can also be used to read items in a Collection.

 
In the following example, we display the name of all the open workbooks

    Dim i As Long
    For i = 1 To Workbooks.Count
        Debug.Print Workbooks(i).FullName
    Next i

Using Nested For Loops

Sometimes you may want to use a loop within a loop. An example of this would be where you want to print the names of the worksheets of each open workbook.

The first loop would go through each workbook. Each time this loop runs it would use a second loop to go through all the worksheets of that workbook. It is actually much easier to do than it sounds.

 
The following code shows how:

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ListWorksheets()

    Dim i As Long, j As Long
    ' First Loop goes through all workbooks
    For i = 1 To Workbooks.Count

        ' Second loop goes through all the worksheets of workbook(i)
        For j = 1 To Workbooks(i).Worksheets.Count
            Debug.Print Workbooks(i).Name + ":" + Worksheets(j).Name
        Next j

    Next i

End Sub

 
This works as follows:

 
The first loop sets i to 1

 
The second loop then uses the workbook at 1 to go through the worksheets.

 
The first loop sets i to 2

 
The second loop then uses the workbook at 2 to go through the worksheets.

 
and so on

 
It the next section we will use a For Each loop to perform the same task. You will find the For Each version much easier to read.

The VBA For Each Loop

The VBA For Each loop is used to read items from a collection or an array. We can use the For Each loop to access all the open workbooks. This is because Application.Workbooks is a collection of open workbooks.

 
This is a simple example of using the For Each Loop

    Dim wk As Workbook
    For Each wk In Workbooks
        Debug.Print wk.FullName
    Next wk

 Format of the VBA For Each Loop

You can see the format of the VBA for each loop here(See Microsoft For Each Next documentation):
For Each <variable> in <collection>
Next <variable>

To create a For Each loop we need a variable of the same type that the collection holds. In the example here we created a variable of type Workbook.

If the collection has different types of items we can declare the variable as a variant.

VBA contains a collection called Sheets. This is a collection of sheets of type Worksheet(normal) and Chart(when you move a chart to be a full sheet). To go through this collection you would declare the variable as a Variant.

 
The following code uses For Each to print out the name of all the sheets in the current workbook

    Dim sh As Variant
    For Each sh In ThisWorkbook.Sheets
        Debug.Print sh.Name
    Next sh

Order of Items in the For Loop

For Each goes through items in one way only.

For example, if you go through all the worksheets in a workbook it will always go through from left to right. If you go through a range it will start at the lowest cell e.g. Range(“A1:A10”) will return A1,A2,A3 etc.

This means if you want any other order then you need to use the For loop.

 
Both loops in the following example will read the worksheets from left to right:

    ' Both loops read the worksheets from left to right
    Dim wk As Worksheet
    For Each wk In ThisWorkbook.Worksheets
        Debug.Print wk.Name
    Next

    Dim i As Long
    For i = 1 To ThisWorkbook.Worksheets.Count
        Debug.Print ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(i).Name
    Next

 
As you can see the For Each loop is neater to write. However if you want to read the sheets in any other order e.g. right to left then you have to use the for loop:

    ' Reading the worksheets from right to left
    Dim i As Long
    For i = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets.Count To 1 Step -1
        Debug.Print ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(i).Name
    Next

Using the VBA For Each Loop With Arrays

One thing to keep in my is that the For Each loop is that it is read-only when you use it with arrays.

 
The following example demonstrates this:

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub UseForEach()

    ' Create array and add three values
    Dim arr() As Variant
    arr = Array("A", "B", "C")

    Dim s As Variant
    For Each s In arr
        ' Changes what s is referring to - not value of array item
        s = "Z"
    Next

    ' Print items to show the array has remained unchanged
    For Each s In arr
        Debug.Print s
    Next

End Sub

 
In the first loop we try to assign s to “Z”. When happens is that s is now referring the string “Z” and no longer to the item in the array.

In the second loop we print out the array and you can see that none of the values have changed.

 
When we use the For Loop we can change the array item. If we change the previous code to use the For Loop you it will change all the array values to “Z”

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub UsingForWithArray()

    ' Create array and add three values
    Dim arr() As Variant
    arr = Array("A", "B", "C")

    Dim i As Long
    For i = LBound(arr) To UBound(arr)
        ' Changes value at position to Z
        arr(i) = "Z"
    Next

    ' Print items to show the array values have change
    For i = LBound(arr) To UBound(arr)
        Debug.Print arr(i)
    Next

End Sub

If your Collection is storing Objects the you can change the items using a For Each loop.

Using Nested For Each Loops

We saw already that you can have a loop inside other loops. Here is the example from above:

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ListWorksheets()

    Dim i As Long, j As Long
    ' First Loop goes through all workbooks
    For i = 1 To Workbooks.Count

        ' Second loop goes through all the worksheets of workbook(i)
        For j = 1 To Workbooks(i).Worksheets.Count
            Debug.Print Workbooks(i).Name + ":" + Worksheets(j).Name
        Next j

    Next i

End Sub

This time we will use the For Each loop to perform the same task:

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ReadAllWorksheets()

    Dim wk As Workbook, sh As Worksheet
    ' Read each workbook
    For Each wk In Workbooks

        ' Read each worksheet in the wk workbook
        For Each sh In wk.Worksheets
            ' Print workbook name and worksheet name
            Debug.Print wk.Name + ": " + sh.Name
        Next sh

    Next wk

End Sub

As you can see this is a neater way of performing this task than using the For Loop:

This code run as follows:

1. Get the first Workbook from the Workbooks collection
2. Go through all the worksheets in this workbook
3. Print the workbook/worksheet details
4. Get the next workbooks in the collection
5. Repeat steps 2 to 3
6. Continue until no more workbooks are left in the collection

How to Loop Through a Range

In Excel VBA, the most common use of a For Loop is to read through a range.

Imagine we have the data set in the screenshot below. Our task is to write code that will read through the data and copy the amounts to the column J. We are only going to copy amounts that are greater than 200,000.

' Read through an Excel Range using the VBA For Loop
' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ForLoopThroughRange()

    ' Get the worksheet
    Dim sh As Worksheet
    Set sh = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1")
    
    ' Get the Range
    Dim rg As Range
    Set rg = sh.Range("A1").CurrentRegion
    
    ' Delete existing output
    sh.Range("J1").CurrentRegion.ClearContents
    
    ' Set the first output row
    Dim row As Long
    row = 1
    
    ' Read through all the rows using the For Loop
    Dim i As Long
    For i = 2 To rg.Rows.Count
    
        ' Check if amount is greater than 200000
        If rg.Cells(i, 4).Value > 200000 Then
        
            ' Copy amount to column m
            sh.Cells(row, "J").Value = rg.Cells(i, 4).Value
            
            ' Move to next output row
            row = row + 1
            
        End If
        
    Next i
    
End Sub

 
This is a very basic example of copying data using Excel VBA. If you want a complete guide to copying data using Excel VBA then check out this post

Summary of the VBA For Loops

The Standard VBA For Loop

• The For  loop is slower than the For  Each loop.
• The For loop can go through a selection of items e.g. 5 to 10.
• The For loop can read items in reverse e.g. 10 to 1.
• The For loop is not as neat to write as the For Each Loop especially with nested loops.
• To exit a For loop use Exit For.

The VBA For Each Loop

• The For Each loop is faster than the For loop.
• The For Each loop goes through all items in the collectionarray.
• The For Each loop can go through items in one order only.
• The For Each loop is neater to write than a For Loop especially for nested loops.
• To exit a For Each loop use Exit For.

What’s Next?

Free VBA Tutorial If you are new to VBA or you want to sharpen your existing VBA skills then why not try out the The Ultimate VBA Tutorial.

Related Training: Get full access to the Excel VBA training webinars.

(NOTE: Planning to build or manage a VBA Application? Learn how to build 10 Excel VBA applications from scratch.)

A loop is an essential concept for any programming language, and VBA follows the same approach. You can use loops to repeat an action until a specified condition is reached, or move through objects in a group, e.g. all worksheets in a workbook. A loop is an essential concept for programming. In this guide, we’re going to show you how to create a VBA loop in Excel.

Download Workbook

VBA loops can be useful to automate tasks. For example, you may need to protect or unprotect every worksheet at once, iterate a calculation for a specific number of times, or loop cells and store their values into an array until you find an empty cell. The rest is up to your needs and imagination.

VBA has two main loop categories:

• For…Next Loops
• Do Loops

In generally, while For…Next loops are designed for specific amount of iterations, Do loops are good for iterating based on a condition. However, you can modify and configure both loop types by their individual keywords. Let’s see the loop types with examples.

For…Next VBA Loop

For…Next (also known as For) loops are where you start to create VBA loops in Excel. A For loop is a basic concept of a loop structure in all programming languages. A For…Next loop is good for if you want to iterate you code certain amount of times, and for when you need to use the counter. For example, if you want to check cells from A1 to A10, a counter clicks from 1 to 10 can work in that case. Let’s see its syntax and an example.

Syntax

For counter = start To end [ Step step ]
[ statements ]
[ Exit For ]
[ statements ]
Next [ counter ]

Part	Description
counter	Required. Numeric variable used as a loop counter. The variable can’t be a Boolean or an array element.
start	Required. Initial value of counter.
end	Required. Final value of counter.
step	Optional. Amount counter is changed each time through the loop. If not specified, step defaults to one.
statements	Optional. One or more statements between For and Next that are executed a specific number of times.

Example 1 – Basic Form

In the first example of For…Next loop, we attempt to write serial numbers into the cells in A1:A10. In this code, For…Next loop sets values from 1 to 10 into the variable i. After the variable gets its value, you can use it in the code. We used the variable to specify the row numbers and cell values. Finally, the Next row increases the variable’s row by 1, and cycle goes on until the variable is equal to 11.

Sub FillSerialNumbers()
    Dim i As Integer
    For i = 1 To 10
        ActiveSheet.Cells(i, 1) = i
    Next i
End Sub

Example 2 – Step

By default, For…Next loop increases its counter variable by 1 for each loop. You can change this property by using the step argument. To specify a step argument, use the Step keyword after the end argument and enter a number. Step can be either a positive or negative.

The following code is a modified version of the first example. Step 2 argument is added to loop. In this loop, the variable i can only take «1, 3, 5, 7, 9» values.

Sub FillSerialNumbers_Step2()
    Dim i As Integer
    For i = 1 To 10 Step 2
        ActiveSheet.Cells(i, 1) = i
    Next i
End Sub

Example 3 – Nested Loops

You can create loops within other loops. VBA executes all iterations in an inner loop, for each iteration of the outer loop. This type of structure can be helpful if you want add additional dimensions into your code. For example, while one loop is counting rows, other can count the columns. You need three loops to fill a three-dimensional data array.

The important point is using different counter variables for each loop. Otherwise, there will be leaps for the counter values. Let’s see an example for nested For…Next loops.

The following code contains 2 For…Next loops which is using variables named i and j. In the statement panel, i and j are used as row and column numbers respectively.

In the first run, i becomes 1 and j becomes 2. After code is executed in the j-loop, while i keeps its value (1), j becomes 3. This cycle goes on until j becomes 7. After this, i becomes 2 and j returns back to 2.

Sub FillSerialNumbers_Nested()
    Dim i As Integer, j As Integer
    For i = 1 To 10
        For j = 2 To 6
            ActiveSheet.Cells(i, j) = i * j
        Next j
    Next i
End Sub

Since j gets numbers between 2 and 6, only columns from B to F are filled.

Example 4 – Exit For

You may want to exit a loop when a certain condition is met. Let’s say we do not want to fill cells if i * j is more than 18. To achieve this, we can use Exit For statement.

The following code uses Exit For in the inner loop. Please note that, Exit For works for only the loop it’s in. Thus, when i * j > 18 condition is met, VBA continues to run the outer loop (i-loop).

Sub FillSerialNumbers_ExitFor()
    Dim i As Integer, j As Integer
    For i = 1 To 10
        For j = 2 To 6
            If i * j > 18 Then Exit For
            ActiveSheet.Cells(i, j) = i * j
        Next j
    Next i
End Sub

Example 5 — For Each

A For Each loop is a more specialized version of the For…Next loops. For Each loops can iterate for elements in a list. These elements can be values in an array, cells in a range, or worksheets in workbook. For Each loops doesn’t need a counter, each element is stored in a variable to be used in the code.

Let’s take another example. This time there isn’t a counter variable, but a range object c. For Each loop assigns each cell in the range «A1:C8» to element c, at each iteration. Also, since there is no counter value, we need to increase an integer by 1 in the code.

Sub FillSerialNumbers_ForEach()
    Dim c As Range, i As Integer
    i = 0
    For Each c In ActiveSheet.Range("A1:C8")
        i = i + 1
        c = i
    Next c
End Sub

This is the last example for the For…Next loops of our how to create a VBA loop in Excel guide. Let’s now move on to the Do loops.

Do VBA Loop

A Do loop looks at whether a condition is met to continue cycling through, or stop a loop. Do loops are more flexible than For…Next loops. On the other hand, this flexibility comes with some complexities.

A Do loop starts with Do and finishes with Loop keywords. You can define a condition for one of these statements. If you specify a condition with Do, VBA looks at the condition first; otherwise, the code block in the loop is executed and the condition is evaluated at the end. This flexibility presents 2 syntaxes.

Also, Do loops can use While and Until keywords to specify the action when a condition is met. If you use the While keyword, the loop continues to work if condition is met. On the other hand, the Until keyword stops the loop.

Syntax

Do [{ While | Until } condition ]
[ statements ]
[ Exit Do ]
[ statements ]
Loop

Or, you can use this syntax:

Do
[ statements ]
[ Exit Do ]
[ statements ]
Loop [{ While | Until } condition ]

Part	Description
condition	Optional. Numeric expression or string expression that is True or False. If condition is Null, condition is treated as False.
statements	One or more statements that are repeated while, or until, condition is True.

Example 1 – Do While

Do While loop iterates its statements as long as the specified conditions are valid. We can modify our first example to work with a Do loop.

In the following example, the Do loop works as many iterations as the variable i is equal or less than 10.

Sub FillSerialNumbers_DoWhile()
    Dim i As Integer
    i = 1
    Do While i <= 10
        ActiveSheet.Cells(i, 1) = i
        i = i + 1
    Loop
End Sub

Example 2 — Do Until

This time the loop continues «until» the condition is met. Once it does, the loop ends.

Sub FillSerialNumbers_DoUntil()
    Dim i As Integer
    i = 1
    Do Until i > 10
        ActiveSheet.Cells(i, 1) = i
        i = i + 1
    Loop
End Sub

Example 3 – Loop While

You can use conditions after Loop as well. In this scenario, you ensure that the statements are executed at least once before condition validation.

Loop While iterates the loop if the supplied condition is met.

Sub FillSerialNumbers_DoLoopWhile()
    Dim i As Integer
    i = 1
    Do
        ActiveSheet.Cells(i, 1) = i
        i = i + 1
    Loop While i <= 10
End Sub

Example 4 – Loop Until

Use Loop Until statement when you need to check the condition after the statements, and want to continue the loop «until» the condition is met.

Sub FillSerialNumbers_DoLoopUntil()
    Dim i As Integer
    i = 1
    Do
        ActiveSheet.Cells(i, 1) = i
        i = i + 1
    Loop Until i > 10
End Sub

That’s all! You can now create your own VBA loop to automate your Excel tasks in no time.