Vba excel file in folder

You can use the built-in Dir function or the FileSystemObject.

• Dir Function: VBA: Dir Function

• FileSystemObject: VBA: FileSystemObject — Files Collection

They each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Dir Function

The Dir Function is a built-in, lightweight method to get a list of files. The benefits for using it are:

• Easy to Use
• Good performance (it’s fast)
• Wildcard support

The trick is to understand the difference between calling it with or without a parameter. Here is a very simple example to demonstrate:

Public Sub ListFilesDir(ByVal sPath As String, Optional ByVal sFilter As String)

    Dim sFile As String

    If Right(sPath, 1) <> "" Then
        sPath = sPath & ""
    End If

    If sFilter = "" Then
        sFilter = "*.*"
    End If

    'call with path "initializes" the dir function and returns the first file name
    sFile = Dir(sPath & sFilter)

   'call it again until there are no more files
    Do Until sFile = ""

        Debug.Print sFile

        'subsequent calls without param return next file name
        sFile = Dir

    Loop

End Sub

If you alter any of the files inside the loop, you will get unpredictable results. It is better to read all the names into an array of strings before doing any operations on the files. Here is an example which builds on the previous one. This is a Function that returns a String Array:

Public Function GetFilesDir(ByVal sPath As String, _
    Optional ByVal sFilter As String) As String()

    'dynamic array for names
    Dim aFileNames() As String
    ReDim aFileNames(0)

    Dim sFile As String
    Dim nCounter As Long

    If Right(sPath, 1) <> "" Then
        sPath = sPath & ""
    End If

    If sFilter = "" Then
        sFilter = "*.*"
    End If

    'call with path "initializes" the dir function and returns the first file
    sFile = Dir(sPath & sFilter)

    'call it until there is no filename returned
    Do While sFile <> ""

        'store the file name in the array
        aFileNames(nCounter) = sFile

        'subsequent calls without param return next file
        sFile = Dir

        'make sure your array is large enough for another
        nCounter = nCounter + 1
        If nCounter > UBound(aFileNames) Then
            'preserve the values and grow by reasonable amount for performance
            ReDim Preserve aFileNames(UBound(aFileNames) + 255)
        End If

    Loop

    'truncate the array to correct size
    If nCounter < UBound(aFileNames) Then
        ReDim Preserve aFileNames(0 To nCounter - 1)
    End If

    'return the array of file names
    GetFilesDir = aFileNames()

End Function

File System Object

The File System Object is a library for IO operations which supports an object-model for manipulating files. Pros for this approach:

• Intellisense
• Robust object-model

You can add a reference to to «Windows Script Host Object Model» (or «Windows Scripting Runtime») and declare your objects like so:

Public Sub ListFilesFSO(ByVal sPath As String)

    Dim oFSO As FileSystemObject
    Dim oFolder As Folder
    Dim oFile As File

    Set oFSO = New FileSystemObject
    Set oFolder = oFSO.GetFolder(sPath)
    For Each oFile In oFolder.Files
        Debug.Print oFile.Name
    Next 'oFile

    Set oFile = Nothing
    Set oFolder = Nothing
    Set oFSO = Nothing

End Sub

If you don’t want intellisense you can do like so without setting a reference:

Public Sub ListFilesFSO(ByVal sPath As String)

    Dim oFSO As Object
    Dim oFolder As Object
    Dim oFile As Object

    Set oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
    Set oFolder = oFSO.GetFolder(sPath)
    For Each oFile In oFolder.Files
        Debug.Print oFile.Name
    Next 'oFile

    Set oFile = Nothing
    Set oFolder = Nothing
    Set oFSO = Nothing

End Sub

Listing filenames in a worksheet, printing all the files to PDF, or making changes to every file in a folder, there are many reasons why we may want to loop through files in a folder.  VBA provides us with a few ways to achieve it (1) Dir function (2) File System Object.

Let’s briefly look at each of these before we start looking at the code to loop through files.

Using the Dir Function

The Dir function is a built-in VBA function, meaning it works with Excel, PowerPoint and Word; In fact, it will work anywhere where VBA is available.

The Dir function is easy to use and does not require any special actions to enable it within the Visual Basic Editor.

Using the File System Object (FSO)

The File System Object (FSO) is a separate library of actions that we can enable to use within our VBA code. There are two ways to turn on the FSO library, known as Early or Late Binding. If you’re not sure which to use, then I recommend using Late Binding. It may result in slower code, but it should run with less errors.

Early Binding

Early Binding opens the FSO library as soon as the workbook opens. For this, we need to reference the FSO library in the file.

In the Visual Basic Editor, click Tools > References…

From the References – VBAProject window select the Microsoft Scripting Runtime option, then click OK.

Late Binding

Late Binding does not require any specific actions to enable the FSO Library. We reference the library when we need it within the VBA code.

Examples

The example macros below cover two scenarios

1. Looping through all files in a folder
2. Looping through all files in a folder and it’s subfolders

Each of these scenarios will use the Dir, Late Binding FSO and Early Binding FSO options.

Looping through all the files in a folder

The example we are looking at prints the file name to the immediate window. But it is easy enough to change the code to make it more complex and fit with your specific circumstances. Check out the other VBA Code Snippets to see what else could be achieved.

Using the Dir Function – Method #1

Sub LoopAllFilesInAFolder()

'Loop through all files in a folder
Dim fileName As Variant
fileName = Dir("C:UsersmarksDocuments")

While fileName <> ""
    
    'Insert the actions to be performed on each file
    'This example will print the file name to the immediate window
    Debug.Print fileName

    'Set the fileName to the next file
    fileName = Dir
Wend

End Sub

The code above can easily be adapted with the use of wildcard characters. Only the files matching the pattern set by the wildcard characters are included in the scope of the loop.

Example wildcard codes:

'Loop through each file with an extension of ".xlsx"
fileName = Dir("C:UsersmarksDocuments*.xlsx")

'Loop through each file containing the word "January" in the filename
fileName = Dir("C:UsersmarksDocuments*January*")

'Loop through each text file in a folder
fileName = Dir("C:UsersmarksDocuments*.txt")

Using the File System Object (FSO) Late Binding – Method #2

Sub LoopAllFilesInFolder()

Dim folderName As String
Dim FSOLibrary As Object
Dim FSOFolder As Object
Dim FSOFile As Object

'Set the file name to a variable
folderName = "C:UsersmarksDocuments"

'Set all the references to the FSO Library
Set FSOLibrary = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set FSOFolder = FSOLibrary.GetFolder(folderName)

'Use For Each loop to loop through each file in the folder
For Each FSOFile In FSOFolder.Files

    'Insert actions to be perfomed on each file
    'This example will print the file name to the immediate window
    Debug.Print FSOFile.Name

Next

'Release the memory
Set FSOLibrary = Nothing
Set FSOFolder = Nothing

End Sub

Using File System Object (FSO) Early Binding – Method #3

To use this method, remember to turn on the FSO Library as noted above. Most of the code is the same as Method #2, but for the sake of the copy and pasters out there, I’ll show the full code.

Sub LoopFilesInFolder()

Dim folderName As String
Dim FSOLibrary As FileSystemObject
Dim FSOFolder As Object
Dim FSOFile As Object

'Set the file name to a variable
folderName = "C:UsersmarksDocuments"

'Set all the references to the FSO Library
Set FSOLibrary = New FileSystemObject
Set FSOFolder = FSOLibrary.GetFolder(folderName)  'Use For Each loop to loop through each file in the folder
For Each FSOFile In FSOFolder.Files

    'Insert actions to be perfomed on each file
    'This example will print the file name to the immediate window
    Debug.Print FSOFile.Name

Next

'Release the memory
Set FSOLibrary = Nothing
Set FSOFolder = Nothing

End Sub

Looping through all the files in subfolders

Whenever files are stored in subfolders life becomes a little trickier. We now need to find a way to drill down into those subfolders. We will use the same Dir and FSO methods presented above. To ensure the codes work with any number of subfolders, the macro will actually call itself (a technique known as recursion).

Using the DIR function – Method #1

This example prints the full file path (folder path and file name) to the immediate window.

Run the following macro:

Sub loopAllSubFolderSelectStartDirectory()

'Another Macro must call LoopAllSubFolders Macro to start to procedure
Call LoopAllSubFolders("C:UsersmarksDocuments")

End Sub

Don’t run the following macro, it will be called from the macro above:

'List all files in sub folders
Sub LoopAllSubFolders(ByVal folderPath As String)

Dim fileName As String
Dim fullFilePath As String
Dim numFolders As Long
Dim folders() As String
Dim i As Long

If Right(folderPath, 1) <> "" Then folderPath = folderPath & ""
fileName = Dir(folderPath & "*.*", vbDirectory)

While Len(fileName) <> 0

    If Left(fileName, 1) <> "." Then
 
        fullFilePath = folderPath & fileName
 
        If (GetAttr(fullFilePath) And vbDirectory) = vbDirectory Then
            ReDim Preserve folders(0 To numFolders) As String
            folders(numFolders) = fullFilePath
            numFolders = numFolders + 1
        Else
            'Insert the actions to be performed on each file
            'This example will print the full file path to the immediate window
            Debug.Print folderPath & fileName
        End If
 
    End If
 
    fileName = Dir()

Wend

For i = 0 To numFolders - 1

    LoopAllSubFolders folders(i)
 
Next i

End Sub

Using File System Object (FSO) Late Binding – Method #2

Run the following macro:

Sub loopAllSubFolderSelectStartDirectory()

Dim FSOLibrary As Object
Dim FSOFolder As Object
Dim folderName As String

'Set the folder name to a variable
folderName = "C:UsersmarksDocuments"

'Set the reference to the FSO Library
Set FSOLibrary = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

'Another Macro must call LoopAllSubFolders Macro to start
LoopAllSubFolders FSOLibrary.GetFolder(folderName)

End Sub

Don’t run the following macro, it will be called from the macro above

Sub LoopAllSubFolders(FSOFolder As Object)

Dim FSOSubFolder As Object
Dim FSOFile As Object

'For each subfolder call the macro
For Each FSOSubFolder In FSOFolder.subfolders
    LoopAllSubFolders FSOSubFolder
Next

'For each file, print the name
For Each FSOFile In FSOFolder.Files

    'Insert the actions to be performed on each file
    'This example will print the full file path to the immediate window
    Debug.Print FSOFile.Path

Next

End Sub

Using File System Object (FSO) Early Binding – Method #3

To use this method, remember to turn on the FSO Library as noted above. Most of the code here is the same as method 2, but I will show it in full, so you can copy and paste.

Run the following macro:

Sub loopAllSubFolderSelectStartDirectory()

Dim FSOLibrary As FileSystemObject
Dim FSOFolder As Object
Dim folderName As String

'Set the folder name to a variable
folderName = "C:UsersmarksOneDriveDocuments"

'Set the reference to the FSO Library
Set FSOLibrary = New FileSystemObject

'Another Macro must call LoopAllSubFolders Macro to start
LoopAllSubFolders FSOLibrary.GetFolder(folderName)

End Sub

Don’t run the following macro, it will be called from the macro above:

Sub LoopAllSubFolders(FSOFolder As Object)

Dim FSOSubFolder As Object
Dim FSOFile As Object

'For each subfolder call the macro
For Each FSOSubFolder In FSOFolder.subfolders
    LoopAllSubFolders FSOSubFolder
Next

'For each file, print the name
For Each FSOFile In FSOFolder.Files

    'Insert the actions to be performed on each file
    'This example will print the full file path to the immediate window
    Debug.Print FSOFile.Path

Next

End Sub

Conclusion

In this post, we have seen 6 methods to loop through files in a folder with VBA.

The Dir function methods are native to VBA and do not require any additional libraries. But the FSO methods require either early or late binding to ensure they run correctly.