VBA Cells And Ranges Guide

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Excel Macro Mastery
(https://excelmacromastery.com/)
THE MISSING VBA HANDBOOK
The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA
JANUARY 2, 2015 (HTTPS://EXCELMACROMASTERY.COM/EXCEL-VBA-RANGE-CELLS/) BY PAUL KELLY
(HTTPS://EXCELMACROMASTERY.COM/AUTHOR/ADMIN/) · 91 COMMENTS
(HTTPS://EXCELMACROMASTERY.COM/EXCEL-VBA-RANGE-CELLS/#COMMENTS)
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data”- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
This post covers everythingyou need to know about using Cellsand Ranges in VBA. You can
read it from start to nishas it is layed out in a logical order. If you prefer you can use the table
of contents below to go to a section of your choice.
If you want information about using Range then check out the Range propertysection.
For more information on using the Cells go to the Cells propertysection.
Other topics included are Offset property, reading values between cells, reading values to arrays
and formatting cells.
Contents [hide]
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1 A Quick Guide to Ranges and Cells
2 Introduction
3 TheRange Property
4 The CellsProperty of the Worksheet
5 Using Cells and Range together
6 The Offset Property of Range
7 Using Rows and Columns as Ranges
8 UsingRange in place of Worksheet
9 Reading Values from oneCell to another
10 Reading Values to variables
11 How to Copy and Paste Cells
12 Reading a Range of Cells to an Array
13 Going through all the cells in a Range
14 Formatting Cells
15 Main Points
16 What’s Next?
17 Free PDF of this Post
A Quick Guide to Ranges and Cells
Function Takes Returns Example Gives
Range cell address multiple cells .Range("A1:A4") $A$1:$A$4
Cells row, column one cell .Cells(1,5) $E$1
Offset row, column multiple cells Range("A1:A2")
.Offset(1,2)
$C$2:$C$3
Rows row(s) one or more rows .Rows(4)
.Rows("2:4")
$4:$4
$2:$4
Columns column(s) one or more columns .Columns(4)
.Columns("B:D")
$D:$D
$B:$D
Introduction
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Introduction
This is the third post dealing with the threemain elements of VBA. These three elements are the
Workbooks (http://excelmacromastery.com/complete-guide-excel-vba-workbook/), Worksheets
(http://excelmacromastery.com/the-complete-guide-to-worksheets-in-excel-vba/)and
Ranges/Cells.Cells are by far the most important part of Excel. Almost everything you do in
Excelstarts and ends with Cells.
Generally speaking,youdo three main things with Cells
1. Read
2. Write
3. Changethe format
Excel has a number of methods for accessingcells such as Range, Cells and Offset. “Why do I
need them”, “When should you use them?”,”Which is best ?” arequestions I am often asked.
In this post I will fullyinvestigate each oneof these methods of access and provide you with
answers to thosequestions.
Let’s start with the simplest method of accessing cells – using the Range property of the
worksheet.
TheRange Property
The worksheet has a Range property whichyou can use to access cells in VBA. The Range
property takes the same argument that most Excel Worksheet functions take e.g. “A1”, “A3:C6”
etc.
The following example shows you how to place a value in a cell using the Range property.
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Public Sub WriteToCell()
' Write number to cell A1 in sheet1 of this workbook
ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A1") = 67
' Write text to cell A2 in sheet1 of this workbook
ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A2") = "John Smith"
' Write date to cell A3 in sheet1 of this workbook
ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A3") = #11/21/2017#
End Sub
As you can see Range is a member of the worksheet which in turn is a member of the
Workbook. This follows the same hierarchy as in Excel so should be easy to understand. To do
something with Range youmust rst specify the workbook and worksheet it belongs to.
For the rest of this post I will use the code name of the sheet. This makes the code clearer as
Iwill not need to specify the workbook each time. You can usea sheet directly with the code
name as long as it is in the current workbook.
You can see the Code Name (http://excelmacromastery.com/the-complete-guide-to-
worksheets-in-excel-vba/#Using_the_code_name_of_a_Worksheet)of the sheet in the
VBAProject window. It is the name outside the parenthesis.
The following code shows the above example using the Code Name
(http://excelmacromastery.com/the-complete-guide-to-worksheets-in-excel-
vba/#Using_the_code_name_of_a_Worksheet) of the worksheet.
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Public Sub UsingCodeName()
' Write number to cell A1 in sheet1 of this workbook
cnSheet1.Range("A1") = 67
' Write text to cell A2 in sheet1 of this workbook
cnSheet1.Range("A2") = "John Smith"
' Write date to cell A3 in sheet1 of this workbook
cnSheet1.Range("A3") = #11/21/2017#
End Sub
I will use the worksheet code name in the rest of the examples. It makes the code much easier
to read.
You can also write to multiple cells using the Range property
Public Sub WriteToMulti()
' Write number to a range of cells
cnSheet1.Range("A1:A10") = 67
' Write text to multiple ranges of cells
cnSheet1.Range("B2:B5,B7:B9") = "John Smith"
End Sub
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The CellsProperty of the Worksheet
The worksheet objecthas another property called Cells which is very similar to range. There are
two differences
1. Cells returns a range of one cell only
2. Cells takes row and column as arguments
The example below shows you how to write values to cells using both the Range and Cells
property
Public Sub UsingCells()
' Write to A1
cnSheet1.Range("A1") = 10
cnSheet1.Cells(1, 1) = 10
' Write to A10
cnSheet1.Range("A10") = 10
cnSheet1.Cells(10, 1) = 10
' Write to E1
cnSheet1.Range("E1") = 10
cnSheet1.Cells(1, 5) = 10
End Sub
You may be wondering when you should use Cells and when you should use Range. Using
Range is useful for accessing the same cells each time the Macro runs.
For example, if you were using a Macro to calculate a total and write it to cell A10 every time
then Range would be suitable for this task.
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Using the Cells property is useful if you are accessing a cell based on a number that may vary.It
is easier explain this with an example.
The following code nds the rst blank cell in the rst spreadsheet row and writes text to it.
Public Sub WriteToFirstBlankCell()
' Get last column from left that is not blank
Dim lLastCol As Integer
lLastCol = cnSheet1.Range("A1").End(xlToRight).Column
' If reaches the last column, there is not cell with data
lLastCol = IIf(lLastCol = cnSheet1.Columns.Count, 1, lLastCol)
' Write text to first blank cell in Row 1
cnSheet1.Cells(1, lLastCol + 1) = "John Smith"
End Sub
In this example we have the number of the column and the row.
To use Range here would require us to convert these values to the letter/number cell reference
e.g. “C1”. Using the Cells property allows us to provide a row and a column number to access a
cell.
Sometimes you may want to return more than one cell using row and column numbers. The next
section shows you how to do this.
Using Cells and Range together
As you have seen you can only access one cell using the Cells property. If you want to return a
range of cells then you can use Cells with Ranges as follows
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Public Sub UsingCellsWithRange()
With cnSheet1
' Write 5 to Range A1:A10 using Cells property
.Range(.Cells(1, 1), .Cells(10, 1)) = 5
' Format Range B1:Z1 to be bold
.Range(.Cells(1, 2), .Cells(1, 26)).Font.Bold = True
End With
End Sub
As you can see, you provide the start and end cell of the Range. Sometimes it can be tricky to
see which range you are dealing with when the value are all numbers. Range has a property
called Address which displays the letter/ number cell reference of any range. This can come in
very handy when you are debugging or writing code for the rst time.
In the following example we print out the address of the ranges we are using.
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Public Sub ShowRangeAddress()
' Note: Using underscore allows you to split up lines of code
With cnSheet1
' Write 5 to Range A1:A10 using Cells property
.Range(.Cells(1, 1), .Cells(10, 1)) = 5
Debug.Print "First address is : " _
+ .Range(.Cells(1, 1), .Cells(10, 1)).Address
' Format Range B1:Z1 to be bold
.Range(.Cells(1, 2), .Cells(1, 26)).Font.Bold = True
Debug.Print "Second address is : " _
+ .Range(.Cells(1, 2), .Cells(1, 26)).Address
End With
End Sub
In the example I used Debug.Print to print to the Immediate Window. To view this window select
View->Immediate Window(or Ctrl G)
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The Offset Property of Range
Range has a property called Offset. The term Offset refers to a count from the original position.
It is used a lot incertain areas of programming. With the Offset propertyyou can get a Range of
cells the same size and a certain distance from the current range. The reason this is useful is
that sometimes you may want to select a Range based on a certain condition. For example in
the screenshot below there is a column for each day of the week. Given the day number(i.e.
Monday=1, Tuesday=2 etc.) we need to write the value to the correct column.
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We will rst attempt to do this without using Offset.
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' This sub tests with different values
Public Sub TestSelect()
' Monday
SetValueSelect 1, 111.21
' Wednesday
SetValueSelect 3, 456.99
' Friday
SetValueSelect 5, 432.25
' Sunday
SetValueSelect 7, 710.17
End Sub
' Writes the value to a column based on the day
Public Sub SetValueSelect(lDay As Long, lValue As Currency)
Select Case lDay
Case 1: cnSheet1.Range("H3") = lValue
Case 2: cnSheet1.Range("I3") = lValue
Case 3: cnSheet1.Range("J3") = lValue
Case 4: cnSheet1.Range("K3") = lValue
Case 5: cnSheet1.Range("L3") = lValue
Case 6: cnSheet1.Range("M3") = lValue
Case 7: cnSheet1.Range("N3") = lValue
End Select
End Sub
As you can see in the example, we need to add a line for each possible option. This is not an
ideal situation. Using the Offset Property provides a much cleanersolution
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' This sub tests with different values
Public Sub TestOffset()
DayOffSet 1, 111.01
DayOffSet 3, 456.99
DayOffSet 5, 432.25
DayOffSet 7, 710.17
End Sub
Public Sub DayOffSet(lDay As Long, lValue As Currency)
' We use the day value with offset specify the correct column
cnSheet1.Range("G3").Offset(, lDay) = lValue
End Sub
As you can see this solution is much better. If the number of days in increased then we do not
need to add any more code. For Offset to be useful there needs to be some kind of relationship
between the positions of the cells. If the Day columns in the above example were random then
we could not use Offset. We would have to use the rst solution.
One thing to keep in mind is that Offset retains the size of the range. So
.Range(“A1:A3”).Offset(1,1) returns the range B2:B4. Below are some more examples of using
Offset
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Public Sub UsingOffset()
' Write to B2 - no offset
cnSheet1.Range("B2").Offset() = "Cell B2"
' Write to C2 - 1 column to the right
cnSheet1.Range("B2").Offset(, 1) = "Cell C2"
' Write to B3 - 1 row down
cnSheet1.Range("B2").Offset(1) = "Cell B3"
' Write to C3 - 1 column right and 1 row down
cnSheet1.Range("B2").Offset(1, 1) = "Cell C3"
' Write to A1 - 1 column left and 1 row up
cnSheet1.Range("B2").Offset(-1, -1) = "Cell A1"
' Write to range E3:G13 - 1 column right and 1 row down
cnSheet1.Range("D2:F12").Offset(1, 1) = "Cells E3:G13"
End Sub
Using Rows and Columns as Ranges
If you want to do something with an entire Row or Column you can use the Rows or Columns
property of the Worksheet. They both take one parameter which is the row or column number
you wish to access
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Public Sub UseRowAndColumns()
' Set the font size of column B to 9
cnSheet1.Columns(2).Font.Size = 9
' Set the width of columns D to F
cnSheet1.Columns("D:F").ColumnWidth = 4
' Set the font size of row 5 to 18
cnSheet1.Rows(5).Font.Size = 18
End Sub
UsingRange in place of Worksheet
You can also use Cells, Rows and Columns as part of a Range rather than part of a Worksheet.
You may have a specic need to do this but otherwise I would avoid the practice.It makes the
code more complex. Simple code is your friend. It reduces the possibility of errors.
The code below will set the second column of the range to bold. As the range has only two
rowsthe entire column is considered B1:B2
Public Sub UseColumnsInRange()
' This will set B1 and B2 to be bold
cnSheet1.Range("A1:C2").Columns(2).Font.Bold = True
End Sub
Reading Values from oneCell to
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Reading Values from oneCell to
another
In most of the examples so far we have written values to a cell. We do this by placing the range
on the leftof the equals sign and the value to place in the cell on the right. To writedata from
one cell to another we do the same. Thedestination rangegoes on the left and the source range
goes on the right.
The following example shows you how to do this
Public Sub ReadValues()
' Place value from B1 in A1
cnSheet1.Range("A1") = cnSheet1.Range("B1")
' Place value from B3 in sheet2 to cell A1
cnSheet1.Range("A1").Value = cnSheet2.Range("B3")
' Place value from B1 in cells A1 to A5
cnSheet1.Range("A1:A5") = cnSheet1.Range("B1")
' You need to use the "Value" property to read multiple cells
cnSheet1.Range("A1:A5") = cnSheet1.Range("B1:B5").Value
End Sub
As you can see from this example it is not possible to read from multiple cells. If you want to do
this you can use the Copy function of Range with the Destination parameter
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Public Sub CopyValues()
' Store the copy range in a variable
Dim rgCopy As Range
Set rgCopy = cnSheet1.Range("B1:B5")
' Use this to copy from more than one cell
rgCopy.Copy Destination:=cnSheet1.Range("A1:A5")
' You can paste to multiple destinations
rgCopy.Copy Destination:=cnSheet1.Range("A1:A5,C2:C6")
End Sub
The Copy function copies everything including the format of the cells. It is the same result as
manually copying and pasting a selection. You can see more about it in the Copying and Pasting
Cellssection.
Reading Values to variables
The last section showed you how to read from one cell to another. You can also read from a cell
to a variable. A variable is used to store values while a Macro is running. You normally do this
when you want to manipulate the data before writing it somewhere. The following is a simple
example using a variable. As you can see the value of the item to the right of the equals is
written to the item to the left of the equals.
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Public Sub UseVar()
' Create
Dim val As Integer
' Read number from cell
val = cnSheet1.Range("A1")
' Add 1 to value
val = val + 1
' Write new value to cell
cnSheet1.Range("A2") = val
End Sub
To read text to a variable you use a variable of type String.
Public Sub UseVarText()
' Declare a variable of type string
Dim sText As String
' Read value from cell
sText = cnSheet1.Range("A1")
' Write value to cell
cnSheet1.Range("A2") = sText
End Sub
You can write a variable to a range of cells. You just specify the range on the left and the value
will be written to all cells in the range.
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Public Sub VarToMulti()
' Read value from cell
cnSheet1.Range("A1:B10") = 66
End Sub
You cannot read from multiple cells to a variable. However you can read to an array which is a
collection of variables. We will look at doing this in the next section.
How to Copy and Paste Cells
If you want to copy and paste a range of cells then you donot need to select them. This is a
common error made by new VBA users.
You can simply copy a range of cellslike this
Range("A1:B4").Copy Destination:=Range("C5")
Using this method copies everything – values, formats, formulas and so on. If you want to copy
individual items you can use the PasteSpecial property of range.
It works like this
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Range("A1:B4").Copy
Range("F3").PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteValues
Range("F3").PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteFormats
Range("F3").PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteFormulas
The following table shows a full list of all the paste types
Paste Type
xlPasteAll
xlPasteAllExceptBorders
xlPasteAllMergingConditionalFormats
xlPasteAllUsingSourceTheme
xlPasteColumnWidths
xlPasteComments
xlPasteFormats
xlPasteFormulas
xlPasteFormulasAndNumberFormats
xlPasteValidation
xlPasteValues
xlPasteValuesAndNumberFormats
Reading a Range of Cells to an Array
You can also copy values by assigning the value of one range to another.
Range("A3:Z3").Value = Range("A1:Z1").Value
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The value of range in this example is considered to be a variant array. What this means is that
you can easily readfrom a range of cells to an array. You can also write from an array to a range
of cells. If you are not familiar with arrays you can check them out in this post: The Complete
Guide to Arrays in Excel VBA (http://excelmacromastery.com/the-complete-guide-to-using-
arrays-in-excel-vba/). 
The following code shows an example ofusing an array with a range.
Public Sub ReadToArray()
' Create dynamic array
Dim StudentMarks() As Variant
' Read 26 values into array from the first row
StudentMarks = Range("A1:Z1").Value
' Do something with array here
' Write the 26 values to the third row
Range("A3:Z3").Value = StudentMarks
End Sub
Keep in mind that the array created by the read is a 2 dimensional array. This is because a
spreadsheet stores values in two dimensions i.e. rows and columns
Going through all the cells in a Range
Sometimes you may want to go through each cell one at a time to check value.
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You can do this using a For Each (http://excelmacromastery.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-loops-in-
excel-vba/#The_For_Each_Loop) loop shown in the following code
Public Sub TraversingCells()
' Go through each cells in the range
Dim rg As Range
For Each rg In cnSheet1.Range("A1:A10,A20")
' Print address of cells that are negative
If rg.Value < 0 Then
Debug.Print rg.Address + " is negative."
End If
Next
End Sub
You can also go through consecutive Cells using the Cells property and a standard For
(http://excelmacromastery.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-loops-in-excel-vba/#The_For_Loop)loop.
The standard loop is more exible about the order you use but it is slower than a For Each loop.
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Public Sub TraverseCells()
' Go through cells from A1 to A10
Dim i As Long
For i = 1 To 10
' Print address of cells that are negative
If Range("A" & i).Value < 0 Then
Debug.Print Range("A" & i).Address + " is negative."
End If
Next
' Go through cells in reverse i.e. from A10 to A1
For i = 10 To 1 Step -1
' Print address of cells that are negative
If Range("A" & i) < 0 Then
Debug.Print Range("A" & i).Address + " is negative."
End If
Next
End Sub
Formatting Cells
Sometimes you will need to format the cells the in spreadsheet. This is actually very
straightforward. The following example shows you various formatting you can add to any range
of cells
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Public Sub FormattingCells()
With cnSheet1
' Format the font
.Range("A1").Font.Bold = True
.Range("A1").Font.Underline = True
.Range("A1").Font.Color = rgbNavy
' Set the number format to 2 decimal places
.Range("B2").NumberFormat = "0.00"
' Set the number format to a date
.Range("C2").NumberFormat = "dd/mm/yyyy"
' Set the number format to general
.Range("C3").NumberFormat = "General"
' Set the number format to text
.Range("C4").NumberFormat = "Text"
' Set the fill color of the cell
.Range("B3").Interior.Color = rgbSandyBrown
' Format the borders
.Range("B4").Borders.LineStyle = xlDash
.Range("B4").Borders.Color = rgbBlueViolet
End With
End Sub
Main Points
The following is a summary of the main points
1. Rangereturns a range of cells
2. Cells returns one cells only
3. You can read from one cell to another
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4. You can read from a range of cells to another range of cells.
5. You can read values from cells to variables andvice versa.
6. You can read values from ranges to arrays and vice versa
7. You can use a For Eachor For loop to run through every cell in a range.
8. The properties Rows and Columnsallow you to access a range ofcells of these types
What’s Next?
The three most important elements of VBA are Workbooks
(http://excelmacromastery.com/complete-guide-excel-vba-workbook/), Worksheets
(http://excelmacromastery.com/the-complete-guide-to-worksheets-in-excel-vba/)and Cells and
Ranges. If you feel you have a good understanding of these the you may want to check outThe
Ultimate Guide to Loops in Excel VBA (http://excelmacromastery.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-
loops-in-excel-vba/).You can also view a list of all the VBA postshere
(http://excelmacromastery.com/a-quick-guide-to-the-vba-posts/).
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91 COMMENTS
(https://excelmacromastery.com/tag/offset/) Range
(https://excelmacromastery.com/tag/range/) VBA
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Adam (http://n/a)
May 23, 2017 at 8:06 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-6910)
Hi Paul,
I am new at excel macros and I’ve stumbled on looping issue. I have a macro that does what I
want but it requires certain guessing
on a user part and I don’t like the guessing.
I have formulas in two columns D7 (=E6-$D$4) & E6 (=D6-(ABS(D6)^0.5)) starting row 6.
100, $D$4=01 and H2=20 are manual entries and H2 is guessed number of iterations.
D E
6 100 90
7 89.9 80.41843895
8 80.31843895 71.35638344
9 71.25638344 62.81503382
10 62.71503382 54.79575141
11 54.69575141 47.30009381
12 47.20009381 40.32986136
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 28/44
13 40.22986136 33.88715994
14 33.78715994 27.97448758
15 27.87448758 22.59485809
16 22.49485809 17.75198363
17 17.65198363 13.45055725
18 13.35055725 9.696715815
19 9.596715815 6.498859167
20 6.398859167 3.869262526
21 3.769262526 1.82780366
22 1.72780366 0.413344205
23 0.313344205 -0.24642736
24 -0.34642736 -0.935008162
25 -1.035008162 -2.05236167
26 -2.15236167 -3.619454602
27 -3.719454602 -5.648043361
I want to loop through the formulas until value in one column changes to negative and and then
macro stops instead as running
predened number of times to eliminate situation when guessed number of iterations will be
too small and negative value currently in E23 won’t be reached.
However when I eliminate H20 and I’m trying to use loop with condition to loop until rst
negative value in column E is reached, macro crushes.
My current code is as below and I’d really appreciate your comments, I can’t nd a suitable
example online.
Best regards,
Adam
Sub AddRowFormula()
Dim n As Range, rng As Range, rng1 As Range
‘ # of iterations
Set n = Range(“H2”)
‘ cell where formulas start
Set rng = Range(“D7”)
rng.Select
line2:
Range(rng.Offset(1, 0), rng.Offset(3, 0)).EntireRow.Insert
Range(rng, rng.End(xlToRight)).Copy
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 29/44
Range(rng, rng.Offset(n, 0)).PasteSpecial
Set rng = rng.Offset(n + 1, 0)
If rng = “” Then
GoTo line1
Else
GoTo line2
End If
line1:
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Range(“D7”).Select
MsgBox “Macro completed”
End Sub
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?replytocom=6910#respond)
Paul Kelly
May 29, 2017 at 9:42 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-
2/#comment-7293)
Hi Adam,
I am not 100% clear on what you are trying to achieve with your macro.
“I want to loop through the formulas until value in one column changes to
negative and and then macro stops”
You haven’t said why you are copying and pasting and what you are trying to
achieve.
Paul
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?
replytocom=7293#respond)
Adam
May 29, 2017 at 6:01 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/comment-page-2/#comment-7298)
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 30/44
Hi Paul,
Thank you for replying and my apology for not being clear
about my issue.
The goal is to run the calculations until a break point between
positive and negative values in column E is reached, in this
case:
E22 = 0.413344205
E23 = -0.24642736
I want the calculations to stop when the rst negative number
will be obtained – in this case E23.
Right now the macro I am using is working based on xed
number of calculations stated in H2 and equals 20 and the
number of iterations is chosen arbitrarily, simply speaking just
a guess. I want to eliminate the guess work and keep copying
the formulas down until rst negative value in column E will
show up. I’m not concerned with the number of iterations, if it
will take three iterations to get rst negative or it will take few
hundreds or even few thousands. As long as I’ll get the break
point I’ll be happy:-)
I hope this makes sense but if not I’ll try to make it clearer.
Best Regards,
Adam
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/?replytocom=7298#respond)
Paul Kelly
This should do the trick
May 30, 2017 at 12:51 pm
(https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/comment-page-2/#comment-7310)
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 31/44
Sub GetBreak()
Dim bFound As Boolean
bFound = False
Dim row As Long
row = 7
Do
Sheet1.Range("D" & row & ":E" & row).Copy _
Sheet1.Range("D" & row + 1 &
' Check for negative value
If Sheet1.Range("D" & row + 1).Value < 0
bFound = True
End If
' Move to next row
row = row + 1
Loop Until bFound = True
End Sub
Reply
(https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-
range-cells/?replytocom=7310#respond)
Adam
Thank you very much Paul.
I works perfectly the way I
wanted:-)
It is also a great example
June 5, 2017 at 12:27 pm
(https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-
vba-range-cells/comment-page-
2/#comment-7502)
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 32/44
because it only works in
specic range without
inserting extra rows which
could mess with other parts
of the sheet.
Best Regards,
Adam
Nick
May 31, 2017 at 1:34 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-7355)
HI Paul,
Great tutorials, thanks!!
When I try and run:
“Public Sub WriteToFirstBlankCell()
‘ Get last column from left that is not blank
Dim lLastCol As Integer
lLastCol = cnSheet1.Range(“A1”).End(xlToRight).Column
‘ Write text to rst blank cell in Row 1
cnSheet1.Cells(1, lLastCol + 1) = “John Smith”
End Sub”
I get two problems, one my excel doesn’t like the number 1 as the start of a variable.
the other is I get a ” run-time error 1004: Application-dened or object-dened error”
when I try to execute the code
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?replytocom=7355#respond)
Nick
May 31, 2017 at 3:15 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-
2/#comment-7359)
Update: changing “Range(“A1”) to Cells(1,1) did the trick!
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 33/44
Sub WriteToFirstBlankCell()
Dim OneLastCol As Integer
‘OneLastCol = cnSheet1.Range(“A1”).End(xlToRight).Column
OneLastCol = cnSheet1.Cells(1, 1).End(xlToRight).Column
cnSheet1.Cells(1, OneLastCol + 1) = “John Smith”
‘ cnSheet1.Cells(1, OneastCol + 1) = “John Smith”
End Sub
Kind Regards,
Nick
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?
replytocom=7359#respond)
Paul Kelly
Hi Nick,
It is the letter l in front of LastCol rather than the number
one:-)
Range(“A1”)
will work ne.
Cells(1,1)
is essentially the same
thing.
If you only have text in cell A1 in the rst row then this error
occurs.
The following line should prevent this error(add it before the
last line with “John Smith”
lLastCol = IIf(lLastCol = cnSheet1.Columns.Count, 1, lLastCol)
Regards
Paul
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/?replytocom=7361#respond)
May 31, 2017 at 3:42 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/comment-page-2/#comment-7361)
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 34/44
Nick
Great, Thanks Paul
It seems the Cells(1,1) reference works after
a fashion with a blank worksheet – it just
sticks “John Smith” right at the end of the
sheet
Kind Regards,
Nick
Reply
(https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-
range-cells/?replytocom=7388#respond)
June 1, 2017 at 3:22 pm
(https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/comment-page-2/#comment-7388)
Nick
June 1, 2017 at 2:58 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-7386)
Hi Paul,
In the example “Reading Values from one Cell to another” you have the example:
“‘ Will not work – You cannot read from multiple cells
cnSheet1.Range(“A1:A5”) = cnSheet1.Range(“B1:B5ʺ)”
If you add .value to the end of the code you can then duplicate the range B1:B5
I’m not sure why this seems to make the difference – do you mind explaining?
Kind Regards,
Nick
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?replytocom=7386#respond)
Paul Kelly
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 35/44
June 1, 2017 at 3:14 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-
7387)
Hi Nick,
I changed that example slightly to use Value. Before otherwise it is a bit
misleading.
Value for a single cell is a single value.
Value for multiple cells is a 2D array.
You cannot use the default with multiple – only with single. I’m not sure why
this is the case.
Regards
Paul
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?
replytocom=7387#respond)
Nick
Hi Paul,
Thanks – great instructions, I’ve learned a whole load about
VBA from your site already!
Regards,
Nick
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/?replytocom=7389#respond)
June 1, 2017 at 3:28 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/comment-page-2/#comment-7389)
Josalyn Raymundo
June 8, 2017 at 11:47 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-7678)
Hi Paul,
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 36/44
I need your help. Here’s my problem:
A1 Contains a drop-down list. B1 will populate (via drop down list also) based on selected item
from A1.
Say if select “Tissue” from A1, then I can only see different brand of tissues from B1
If I select “Fruit” from A1, then I can only see fruit selections from B1
I will not be allowed to ll-out B1 unless I select something from A1.
My dilemma now is that If both cells are already lled-out, I can still go back to A1 and change it.
It will accept the change made and will not prompt an error even if B1 was not changed. In
effect the data in A1 and B1 are now misaligned. Can you help me with a code where it will
prevent any changes in A1 if the data in B1 do not corresponds with A1?
Thanks and appreciate any help you can provide.
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?replytocom=7678#respond)
Paul Kelly
June 10, 2017 at 10:03 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-
2/#comment-7738)
Hi Josalyn
Can you post a snippet of your code?
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?
replytocom=7738#respond)
Angus Arrol
June 30, 2017 at 8:28 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-8620)
Hello Paul,
Compliments on such a clearly-written tutorial! Almost as impressive is the extensive
comments attached to it! With apologies, I haven’t read through all of them to see if anyone else
has the same question.
My question is whether Range().Offset starts offsets at zero or one. In the section “The Offset
Property of Range”, the DayOffSet() example function seems to take lDay=1 as meaning no
offset, lDay=2 as an offset of one, and so on. However the following UsingOffset() example
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 37/44
seems to take 1 as an offset of one. Am I missing something?
In any case, thanks for such a well-written tutorial!
Cheers, Angus
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?replytocom=8620#respond)
Paul Kelly
July 1, 2017 at 6:24 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-
2/#comment-8642)
Offset starts at 1.
For column 0 is not offset, -1 is one column to the left, 1 is one column to the
right.
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?
replytocom=8642#respond)
Angus Arrol
Hello Paul,
I am comparing the SetValueSelect() and DayOffSet()
subroutines. When lDay = 1, SetValueSelect() executes
Case 1: cnSheet1.Range(“G3”) = lValue
which puts lValue in cell G3. But when DayOffSet() executes
cnSheet1.Range(“G3”).Offset(, lDay) = lValue
doesn’t that put lValue in cell H3?
Cheers, Angus
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/?replytocom=8711#respond)
July 2, 2017 at 8:50 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/comment-page-2/#comment-8711)
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 38/44
Paul Kelly
Hi Angus,
I see what you mean. The
SetValueSelect
sub should indeed start at H3.
I have updated the example.
Thanks for pointing that out.
Paul
Reply
(https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-
range-cells/?replytocom=8788#respond)
July 4, 2017 at 2:55 am
(https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-
cells/comment-page-2/#comment-8788)
Anshuman
July 19, 2017 at 7:00 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-9395)
Hello Paul,
I am having some trouble in understand the cell traverse pattern of FOR loop.
The code is {i,j,k as integer: g1b double}
For k = 1 To 7
For j = 1 To 7
For j = 1 To 6
ThisWorkbook.Sheets(“Consumption”).Cells( 11 * i + k – 4, j +2 ).Value
Next i
ThisWorkbook.Sheets(“Emissions Calculation”).Cells(8 + k, j + 13).Value = g1b
Next j
Next k
end sub
I understand that “i” will go 11 multiples in the sheet, but i did not understand [ + k – 4 ] part.
Glad if you could help me
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 39/44
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?replytocom=9395#respond)
Paul Kelly
July 21, 2017 at 4:25 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-
2/#comment-9503)
Hi Anshuman
The third For loop should be
For i
instead of
For j
.
The loops work like this
K=1,j=1,i=1
k=1,j=1,i=2
k=1,j=1,i=3
i = 6 then
k=1,j=2,i=1
k=1,j=2,i=2
and so on until
k=7,j=7,i=6
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?
replytocom=9503#respond)
randy
July 24, 2017 at 7:55 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-9657)
I have a combo box that contains a list of worksheet names. the user will select the appropriate
sheet in the combo box and then when another button is selected I want it to display a listing of
all information in column “A” of the previously selected sheet
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?replytocom=9657#respond)
Paul Kelly
July 26, 2017 at 7:15 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-
2/#comment-9696)
Hi Randy,
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 40/44
You can do it like this
' Get the worksheet from the name in the combobox
Dim sh As Worksheet
Set sh = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(Trim(Sheet1.ComboBox1.Value))
' Get the last row
Dim lastrow As Long
lastrow = sh.Cells(sh.Rows.Count, 1).End(xlUp).Row
' read through the cells
Dim i As Long
For i = 1 To lastrow
' Print the value of all the cells
Debug.Print sh.Range("A" & i)
Next i
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?
replytocom=9696#respond)
Justin
August 3, 2017 at 6:28 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-13038)
Hi Paul,
I am trying to do a time tracker and I have come up with the simplest vba along with an inserted
start/stop button. I was able to do starttimestamp when I press the button on A1 then the active
cell will now go to B1 then hit the button for endtime stamp again. It works ne however what I
wanted to do next was to put the active cell after B1 this time on A2 for start time then B2 for
end, and then A3 then B3 and so on. Could you please edit and maybe give a little hint on how to
do this. Thank you so much Paul!
Sub EnterCurrentTime()
‘
‘ EnterCurrentTime Macro
‘ This macro enters the current time into the active cell
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 41/44
ActiveCell.Value = Now()
ActiveCell.Offset(0, 1).Select
End Sub
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?replytocom=13038#respond)
Stefano
August 28, 2017 at 3:34 pm (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-15266)
Hi Paul ad thank you very much for the great info.
How do I select a range of cells (say a table, for example with a xed number of columns and a
variable number of rows), making sure that my selection captures every time all the non empty
rows?
In other words, how do I specify the parameters of a range by using variables and not constants
(such as startingcell:endingcell instead of “B1:C3”)?
Kindly let me know.
Best Regards
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?replytocom=15266#respond)
Hilton
September 6, 2017 at 7:30 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-page-2/#comment-16080)
Hi Paul,
I earnestly need your help.
I have a source le holding ongong projects names in column B with their respective status in
adjacent rows. Hence each project has its status adjacent to it in the same row but under
columns C,D,E,F etc. Also their is possibility of new projects to be added to the source in the
same structure above.
I need a separate automated workbook called ” QUICK report “to automatically extract these
Project with their statuses into specic cells and always check for newly added project/s to
likewise extract into specic Cells. The extraction should stop at any blank row.
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?replytocom=16080#respond)
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Paul Kelly
September 7, 2017 at 4:11 am (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/comment-
page-2/#comment-16110)
Hi Hilton,
What code has your written so far?
Reply (https://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/?
replytocom=16110#respond)
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
http://excelmacromastery.com/excel-vba-range-cells/ 43/44
9/18/2017 The Complete Guide to Ranges and Cells in Excel VBA - Excel Macro Mastery
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