On change sheet excel vba

Worksheet Change Event in VBA and Preventing Event Loops

Related Links: 

Excel VBA Events, Event Handlers, Trigger a VBA Macro.

Worksheet Selection Change Event, Excel VBA.

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Contents:

Worksheet_Change Event

Preventing Event Loops with Application.EnableEvents = False

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Worksheet_Change Event:

You can auto run a VBA code, when content of a worksheet cell changes, with the Worksheet_Change event. The change event occurs when cells on the worksheet are changed either by the user, or by any VBA application or by an external link, but not when a cell changes due to recalculation as a result from formula or due to format change. For changes made by calculation, use Worksheet_Calculate event.

Worksheet change procedure is installed with the worksheet, ie. it must be placed in the code module of the appropriate Sheet object. To create a worksheet change event: use the Visual Basic Editor -> in the Project Explorer, double click on the appropriate sheet (under ‘Microsoft Excel Objects’ which is under the VBAProject/name of your workbook) -> in the Code window, select «Worksheet» from the left-side «General» drop-down menu and then select «Change» from the right-side «Declarations» drop-down menu. You will get a procedure «shell» in the code window as follows:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

End Sub

Target is a parameter of data type Range (ie. Target is a Range Object). It refers to the changed Range and can consist of one or multiple cells. If Target is in the defined Range, and its value or content changes, it will trigger the vba procedure. If Target is not in the defined Range, nothing will happen in the worksheet. In this manner, you can limit the events to a particular range for both the Change and SelectionChange events. This can be done in multiple ways:

Using Target Address. Trigger the procedure, if a single cell (A5) value is changed:

If Target.Address = «$A$5» Then MsgBox «Success»

If Target.Address = Range(«$A$5»).Address Then MsgBox «Success»

If Target.Address = Range(«A5»).Address Then MsgBox «Success»

Using Target Address. If cell (A1) or cell (A3) value is changed:

If Target.Address = «$A$1» Or Target.Address = «$A$3» Then MsgBox «Success»

Using Target Address. If any cell(s) value other than that of cell (A1) is changed:

If Target.Address <> «$A$1» Then MsgBox «Success»

The following use of Target.Address is not correct, and the code will not run:

If Target.Address = «$a$5» Then MsgBox «Success»

If Target.Address = «A1» Then MsgBox «Success»

If Target.Address = «$A$1:$A$10» Then MsgBox «Success»

If Target.Address = Range(«$A$1:$A$10») Then MsgBox «Success»

Note: Target.Address should be an absolute reference [unless used as Range(«A5»).Address — see above] and in Caps. Use this to run code when content of a single cell is changed or when any cell(s) other than a specific cell is changed.

Trigger the procedure, if any cell in a column(s) is changed, say for any change in a cell in column B or column C:

If Target.Column = 2 Or Target.Column = 3 Then MsgBox «Success»

Intersect method for a single cell. If Target intersects with the defined Range of A1 ie. if cell (A1) value is changed, the code is triggerred:

If Not Application.Intersect(Target, Range(«A1»)) Is Nothing Then MsgBox «Success»

Trigger the procedure, if at least one cell of Target is A1,B2,C3:

If Not Application.Intersect(Target, Range(«A1,B2,C3»)) Is Nothing Then MsgBox «Success»

At least one cell of Target is within the range C5:D25:

If Not Application.Intersect(Target, Me.Range(«C5:D25»)) Is Nothing Then MsgBox «Success»

If you want the code to run when only a single cell in Range(«C1:C10») is changed and do nothing if multiple cells are changed:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

If Intersect(Target, Range(«C1:C10»)) Is Nothing Or Target.Cells.Count > 1 Then

Exit Sub

Else

MsgBox «Success»

End If

End Sub

Preventing Event Loops with Application.EnableEvents = False

Example of a recursive loop code:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

If Not Application.Intersect(Target, Range(«A1:A10»)) Is Nothing Then

Range(«A5»).Value = Range(«A5»).Value + 1

End If

End Sub

Recursive Event Loop:

If, at each runtime, the worksheet_change event changes the content of a cell which itself is part of the Target Range (ie. which triggers the change event), it will result in reprocessing the change event repeatedly.  Recursion is the process of repeating in a similar way viz. when the procedure calls itself. Refer to above example of a recursive loop code, if any cell content in Range(«A1:A10») is changed by the user, the cell A5 value will change and increment by 1; this will again trigger the change event [because of change in value of cell A5 which is in the Target Range(«A1:A10»)] and will in turn change the cell A5 value by incrementing it by 1; and then this change in cell A5 will again trigger the change event and change the cell A5 value by incrementing it by 1; and so on. This will result in a recursive loop which might result in a ‘Out Of Stack Space’ untrappable error, or depending on the Excel setting, the loop might terminate at a threshold limit of say 100. To prevent this, enter the following at the beginning of the code: Application.EnableEvents = False. This means that any change made by the VBA code will not trigger any event and will not enable restarting the worksheet_change event. EnableEvents is not automatically changed back to True, this should be specifically done in your code, by adding the following line at the end of the code: Application.EnableEvents = True. Meanwhile, if during runtime, your code encounters an error, you will need an ErrorHandler (to change EnableEvents back to True) because events have been disabled in the beginning of the code. This can be done as follows. 

ErrorHandler, Example 1:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

‘on the occurrence of an error procedure flow is directed to the error-handling routine (ie. ErrHandler) which handles the error
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler 

‘to prevent recursion — so that any change made by code will not trigger an event to restart the Worksheet_Change event 

Application.EnableEvents = False

‘on changing cell A1 or B1, go to ErrorHandler which reverts EnableEvents to True & then exit sub

If Target.Address = «$A$1» Or Target.Address = «$B$1» Then GoTo ErrorHandler

‘if value of any cell in column 1 or 2 is changed

If Target.Column = 1 Or Target.Column = 2 Then

‘if changed cell value is numeric ie. new value is not text

If IsNumeric(Target) Then

‘increment cell B2 value by 1

Range(«B2»).Value = Range(«B2»).Value + 1

End If

End If

‘EnableEvents is not automatically changed back to True & hence this needs to be done specifically at the end of the code before exit.

‘because an exit statement (ex. Exit Sub) is not placed above, the error-handling routine will also execute when there is no error.

ErrorHandler:

Application.EnableEvents = True

End Sub

ErrorHandler, Example 2:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

Application.EnableEvents = False

 
If Target.Column = 1 Or Target.Column = 2 Then

If IsNumeric(Target) Then

Range(«B2»).Value = Range(«B2»).Value + 1

End If

End If

End Sub

On Error Statements explained:

On Error Resume Next: Specifies that when a run-time error occurs, control goes to the statement immediately following the statement where the error occurred, and execution continues from that point.

The On Error GoTo 0 statement turns off error trapping.  It disables enabled error handler in the current procedure and resets it to Nothing.

On Error GoTo Line: Enables the error-handling routine that starts at the specified Line. The On Error GoTo statement traps all errors, regardless of the exception class.

You may want to run your macro/VBA snippet when a cell changes its value, when a double click happens, when a sheet is selected, etc. In all these cases we use Worksheet Event Handler.  The Event Handler helps us run VBA code whenever a certain event occurs.

In this article, we will learn briefly about each Worksheet Event Handler.

What is a Worksheets Event Handler?

A worksheet event handler is a subroutine that is local to a worksheet module.

Where to write Worksheet Event Handler Code?

The worksheet Events are written in sheets objects only. If you write a worksheet event in some module or class module, there will be no error but they will just won’t work.

To write in the sheet object. Double click on it or right-click and click on view code. The code writing area will be shown.

How to write code for a specific event on the worksheet?

Now when you are in the editing mode, in the top-left corner dropdown menu you will see general. Click on the drop-down and select worksheet. Now in the top-right corner dropdown, all events will show. Choose whichever you need and a skeletal code for that event will be written for you.

Each event has a fixed procedure name. These are the reserved subroutine names. You can’t use them for other subroutines on a sheet. In a module, they will work as a normal subroutine.

Important: Each subroutine from that list will run on the specified event.
One type of worksheet event procedure can be written only once on one sheet. If you write two same event handling procedures on one sheet, it will result in an error and none of them will be executed. Of course, the error will be ambiguous subroutines.

Let’s learn briefly about each of the events.

1. The Worksheet_Change (ByVal Target As Range) Event

This event triggers when we make any change to containing worksheets (formatting excluded). If you want to do something if any change made in the entire sheet then the code will be:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
  'do somehting 
  Msgbox "done something"
End Sub

The «Target» is the Active cell always.

Another example: You may want to put date and time in Cell B1 if A1 changes. In that case, we use the worksheet_change event. The code would look like this:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
 If Target.Address = "$A$1" Then
  Range("B1").Value2 = Format(Now(), "hh:mm:ss")
 End If
End Sub

This will target only the cell A1.

If you want to target a range then use the below example:

Run Macro If Any Change Made on Sheet in Specified Range

2. The Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range) Event

As the name suggests, this event triggers when the selection changes. In other words, if your cursor is in Cell A1 and it moves to some other cell, the code in this subroutine will run.

The below code will change the active cells color if whenever it changes and if it is an even row.

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
 If Target.Row Mod 2 = 0 Then
    Target.Interior.ColorIndex = 22
 End If
End Sub

Now, whenever my cursor will move on even row, it will be colored. Odd row cells will be spared.

Another Example of the Worksheet_SelectionChange event:

Simplest VBA Code to Highlight Current Row and Column Using

3. The Worksheet_Activate() Event

This event is triggered when the event code containing sheet activates. The skeletal code for this event is:

Private Sub Worksheet_Activate()

End Sub

A simple example is showing the sheet name when it gets selected.

Private Sub Worksheet_Activate()

  MsgBox "You are on " & ActiveSheet.Name

End Sub

As soon as you will come on the sheet that contains this code, the event will run and will be shown a message that «You are on sheet name» (sheet2 is in my case).

4. The Worksheet_Deactivate() Event

This event triggers when leaving the code containing sheet. In other words, if you want to do something, like hiding rows or anything when you leave the sheet, use this VBA event. The syntax is:

Private Sub Worksheet_Deactivate()
'your code
'
End Sub

The below example Worksheet_Deativate event will simply pop up a message that you have left the master sheet, when you will leave this sheet.

Private Sub Worksheet_Deactivate()
  MsgBox "You Left The Master Sheet"
End Sub

5. The Worksheet_BeforeDelete() Event

This event triggers when you confirm the deletion of the VBA event containing sheet. The syntax is simple:

Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeDelete()

End Sub

The below code will ask you if you want to copy the content of the about-to-delete sheet.

Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeDelete()
    ans = MsgBox("Do you want to copy the content of this sheet to a new sheet?", vbYesNo)
    If ans = True Then
    'code to copy
 End If
End Sub

6. The Worksheet_BeforeDoubleClick(ByVal Target As Range, Cancel As Boolean) Event

This event triggers when you double click on the targeted cell. The syntax of this VBA Worksheet Event is:

Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeDoubleClick(ByVal Target As Range, Cancel As Boolean)

End Sub

If you don’t set the target cell or range, it will fire on every double click on the sheet.
The Cancel variable is a boolean variable. If you set it True, the default action won’t happen. It means if you double click on the cell it won’t get into editing mode.
The below code will make the cell fill with a color if you double click on any cell.

Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeDoubleClick(ByVal Target As Range, Cancel As Boolean)

Cancel = True
Target.Interior.ColorIndex = 7

End Sub

The below code targets the cell A1. If it is already filled with the specified color then it will vanish the color. It is much like a like button or check box.

Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeDoubleClick(ByVal Target As Range, Cancel As Boolean)
   If Target.Address = "$A$1" Then
   
   Cancel = True
    If Target.Interior.ColorIndex = 4 Then
        Target.Interior.ColorIndex = xlColorIndexNone
    Else
        Target.Interior.ColorIndex = 4
    End If
    
   End If
   
End Sub

7. The Worksheet_BeforeRightClick(ByVal Target As Range, Cancel As Boolean) Event

This event triggers when you Right-Click on the targeted cell. The syntax of this VBA Worksheet Event is:

Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeRightClick(ByVal Target As Range, Cancel As Boolean)
   Cancel = True
   '
   'your code
   '
End Sub

The below code will fill the cell with value 1 if you right-click on it. It won’t show the default right-click options since we have set the «Cancel» Operator to True.

Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeRightClick(ByVal Target As Range, Cancel As Boolean)
   Cancel = True
   Target.Value = 1
End Sub

8. The Worksheet_Calculate() Event

If you want something to happen when a excel calculates a sheet, use this event. It will trigger whenever excel calculates a sheet. The syntax is simple:

Private Sub Worksheet_Calculate()
  '
   'your code
   '  
End Sub

6. The Worksheet_FollowHyperlink(ByVal Target As Hyperlink) Event

This procedure will run when you click on a hyperlink on the sheet.  The basic syntax of this event handler is:

Private Sub Worksheet_FollowHyperlink(ByVal Target As Hyperlink)
    '
   'your code
   ' 

End Sub

You can set the target hyperlink if you want. If you don’t set the target hyperlink, it will get executed if you click on any hyperlink on the code containing sheet.

So yeah guys, these were some basic worksheet events that will be handy if you know about them. Below are some related articles that you may like to read.

If you have any doubts regarding this article or any other excel/VBA related article, let us know in the comments section below.

Related Articles:

Using Worksheet Change Event To Run Macro When any Change is Made | So to run your macro whenever the sheet updates, we use the Worksheet Events of VBA.

Run Macro If Any Change Made on Sheet in Specified Range | To run your macro code when the value in a specified range changes, use this VBA code. It detects any change made in the specified range and will fire the event.

Simplest VBA Code to Highlight Current Row and Column Using | Use this small VBA snippet to highlight the current row and column of the sheet.

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The worksheet event-handler procedures must be in the code module for that worksheet. Put them somewhere else, and they won’t work. You can quickly access that code window by right-clicking the worksheet’s tab and selecting the View Code:

Worksheet_Change event procedure

The Change event triggers whenever any cell in the worksheet is changed. Excel uses the Worksheet_Change event-handler procedure to trap the Change event. The Worksheet_Change procedure accepts Target (the Range object) as the parameter which represents the cell that was changed. The following example displays a message box that shows the address of the Target range:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
 MsgBox Target.Address
End Sub

Try making some changing in cells, every time you make changes, a message box displays the address of the cell that changed.

Monitor changes made to specific cell or range

The Worksheet_Chnage procedure receives the Target as Range object which represents the changed cell(s). In this example, we compare the Target with the given cell range A1:A10 using Intersect method:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
 Dim MyRange As Range
 Set MyRange = Range("A1:A10")
 If Not Intersect(Target, MyRange) Is Nothing Then
  MsgBox ("You've changed the " & Target.Address)
 End If
End Sub

A popup message box appears when a change made in the given cell range:

Worksheet_Change Vs. Worksheet_Calculate

The Worksheet_Change event procedure is not executed by a calculation change, for example, when a formula returning a different value. You must use the Worksheet_Calculate event procedure to capture the changes to values in cells that contain formulas.

Worksheet_SelectionChange event procedure

The Worksheet_SelectionChange event procedure executes when a cell is selected. The following code highlights the active cell with a red color every time a different cell is selected:

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
 Cells.Interior.ColorIndex = 0
 Target.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
End Sub

The first statement removes the background color for all cells in the worksheet. Next, the the active cell is shaded with red color.

Take some action when specific cells or ranges selected

In many cases, you need to execute a piece of code when certain cells or ranges selected. To accomplish this, we use the Intersect method on the Target (selected cell or range) and the range containing the specific cell to verify the Target is one of the specific cells or ranges. If the Target is in the range containing the specific cells, you can execute the code.

The following code highlights the active cell with a red color every time a different cell is selected:

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
 Cells.Interior.ColorIndex = 0
 Dim MyRange As Range
 Set MyRange = Range("A1:A10")
 If Not Intersect(Target, MyRange) Is Nothing Then
  Target.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
 End If
End Sub

by updated Apr 05, 2020