Vba and excel and move

You can copy and move a sheet in Excel using a VBA code, and in this tutorial, we will learn different ways to do that.

Copy a Sheet within the Same Workbook

If you want to copy a sheet within the same workbook, you can use the following code where you have used the copy method.

Sheets("Sheet5").Copy Before:=Sheets(1)

In this code, sheet1 is the first sheet in the workbook, and when you run this code, it copies the sheet with the name “Sheet5” before the first sheet in the workbook.

And if you want to copy it after the first sheet then the code would be like the following.

Sheets("Sheet5").Copy After:=Sheets(1)

And if you want to copy it after the first sheet, then the code would be like the following.

Sheets("Sheet5").Copy Before:=Sheets("Sheet3")
Sheets("Sheet5").Copy After:=Sheets("Sheet3")

When you run this VBA code, it copies the “Sheet5” before and after the “Sheet3”.

With the following line of code, you can copy a sheet after the last sheet in the workbook. It uses the sheet.count to get the count of the sheets and then uses the number to copy the sheet to the last.

Sheets("myNewSheet").Move After:=Sheets(Sheets.Count)

Helpful Links: Run a Macro – Macro Recorder – Visual Basic Editor – Personal Macro Workbook

Copy a Sheet in the Same Workbook with New Name

And if you want to copy a sheet and then want to rename it instantly, you need to use the name property, just like the following code.

Sheets("Sheet5").Move Before:=Sheets(1)
ActiveSheet.Name = "myNewSheet"

Move a Sheet within the Same Workbook

To move a sheet in the same workbook you need to use the move method as you have in the following code.

Sheets("Sheet5").Move After:=Sheets(1)

This code will move the “Sheet5” before the “Sheet2” as you can see in the above snapshot.

Copy a Sheet to the New Workbook

When you use the copy method without defining any sheet in the current workbook, VBA opens a new workbook and copy that sheet to that workbook.

Sheets("Sheet5").Copy

And to move a sheet to a new workbook.

Sheets("Sheet5").Move

Copy Multiple Sheets to the New Workbook

If you want to add multiple sheets to the new workbook in one go then use code like the following.

Sheets(Array("Sheet2", "Sheet3", "Sheet4", "Sheet5")).Copy

The above code creates an array of the sheets and then copy all of them to a new workbook.

Copy a Sheet to the Another Workbook

If you want to copy a sheet to another workbook that is already open then you can mention the workbook name after or before the argument.

Sheets("Sheet1").Copy Before:=Workbooks("Book1.xlsx").Sheets(1)

The above code copies the Sheet1 from the active workbook and adds to the before the first sheet of the Book1.xlsx that is already open.

 And if you want to move it.

Sheets("Sheet1").Move Before:=Workbooks("Book1.xlsx").Sheets(1)

Copy a Sheet to a Closed Workbook

There’s a way that you can copy a sheet to a workbook that is closed and you don’t need to open it. Look at the below code.

Sub vba_copy_sheet()
Dim mybook As Workbook

Application.ScreenUpdating = False

Set mybook = _
Workbooks.Open _
("C:UsersDellDesktopsamplefile.xlsx")

Workbooks("Book1.xlsx").Sheets("Sheet2").Copy Before:=mybook.Sheets(1)
mybook.Close SaveChanges:=True

Application.ScreenUpdating = True

End Sub

In this code, you have the myBook variable and then a workbook assigned to it. We have turned off the screen updating so that code can perform the task at the backend.

Copy Sheet from Another Workbook without Opening it

In the same way, you can copy and move a sheet from a closed workbook. Look at the below code.

Sub vba_copy_sheet()
Dim mybook As Workbook

Application.ScreenUpdating = False

Set mybook = _
Workbooks.Open _
("C:UsersDellDesktopsamplefile.xlsx")

mybook.Sheets("mySheet").Copy Before:=Workbooks("Book1.xlsx").Sheets(1)
mybook.Close SaveChanges:=True

Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

• Back to VBA Worksheet / VBA Tutorial

Automating processes with VBA can involve copying, moving, deleting and managing lots of files.  Thankfully, VBA has many built-in functions to undertake these tasks for us.  These files do not necessarily need to be Excel workbooks; they can be any file type.

Download the example file

I recommend you download the example file for this post.  Then you’ll be able to work along with examples and see the solution in action, plus the file will be useful for future reference.

Download the file: 0041 VBA copy, move, delete and manage files.zip

Check if a file exists

If any actions are performed on a file that does not exist, the VBA code will error.  As a result, checking for a file’s existence can be one of the most common action we perform.

The code below will display True or False in a message box to indicate if the file exists.

Sub CheckIfFileExists()

'Check if a file exists
MsgBox Dir("C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolderText.xlsx") <> ""

End Sub

The code below uses an If statement to carry out different actions depending on if the file does or does not exist.

Sub PerformActionIfFileExists()

Dim filePath As String

filePath = "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolderFileName.xlsx"

If Dir(filePath) <> "" Then

    'Insert action for if the file exists
    'This example displays a message box
    MsgBox filePath & " exists."

Else

    'Insert actions if the file does not exist
    'This example displays a message box
    MsgBox filePath & " does not exist."

End If

End Sub

When regularly checking for the existence of files, it can be easier to have a reusable function within a Module to be called upon when required.

'Reusable function to check if a file exists
Function DoesFileExist(filePath) As Boolean

DoesFileExist = Dir(filePath) <> ""

End Function

The code below shows how to call the reusable function as part of an If statement.

Sub UseTheFunction()

Dim myFile As String

myFile = "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolderFileName.xlsx"

'Call the reusable function to check for file existence
If DoesFileExist(myFile) = True Then

    'Insert action for if the file exists
    'This example displays a message box
    MsgBox "The file exists."

End If

End Sub

Rename a file

The code below renames a file.

Sub RenameAFile()

'Rename a file
Name "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolderCurrentFileName.xlsx" _
    As "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolderNewFileName.xlsx"

End Sub

If the target filename is already an existing file, the code will error.  Therefore, it is good practice to check if the source and target file names are already in use.

Check out this post for more examples of using VBA to rename files.

Moving a file

The code to move a file is the same syntax as the code to rename a file.

Sub MoveAFile()

'Move a file
Name "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFileName.xlsx" As _
    "C:UsersmarksDocumentsNew FolderFileName.xlsx"

End Sub

Copying a file

Copying a file retains the existing file, but creates a duplicate version of it in a new location.

Sub CopyAFile()

'Copy a file
FileCopy "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolderOriginal File.xlsx", _
    "C:UsersmarksDocumentsNew FolderCopied File.xlsx"

End Sub

If the target filename is already an existing file, the code will error.  Therefore, it is good practice to check if the source and target file names are already in use.

Deleting files removes them completely.  Files deleted using VBA are not sent to the recycle bin, and since there is no undo functionality it can be quite dangerous.  Take extra care to ensure the code does what you expect it to.

The following code deletes a specific file.

Sub DeleteSpecificFile()

'Delete a specific file
Kill "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolderDeleteMe.xlsx"

End Sub

The code below deletes files using a wildcard.  In this circumstance, it deletes all files with a .xlsx file extension.

Sub DeleteFilesWithWildcards()

'Delete all .xlsx files using the * wildcard character
Kill "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolder*.xlsx"

End Sub

The example below deletes all the files in a folder by using wildcard characters.

Sub DeleteAllFilesInFolder()

'Delete all files from a folder using two * wildcard characters
Kill "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolder*.*"

End Sub

Common wildcard characters are:

The example below applies the * (asterisk) and ? (question mark) wildcard characters

'Delete all .xlsx or .xlsm files from a folder, but not .xls files
'as the ? wildcard must be atleast on character in length
 Kill "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolder*.xls?"

Get file attributes

Each files has specific attributes, for example, they can be read-only, hidden or system files etc..

The code below checks if a file is read-only.

Sub GetFileAttributes()

Dim myFile As String

myFile = "C:UsersmarksDocumentsFolderReadOnlyFile.xlsx"

'If the file is Read-Only, display message box
If (GetAttr(myFile) And vbReadOnly) <> 0 Then

    MsgBox "The file is Read only"

End If

End Sub

To check for other attributes, replace vbReadOnly in the code above with the required settings.