How to Use Visual Basic for Applications

Applications in Excel

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is a powerful programming language that can be used to automate tasks in Microsoft Excel. In this tutorial, we will show you how to get started with VBA in Excel and create a basic macro.

Enabling the Developer Tab

Before we can start using VBA in Excel, we need to enable the Developer tab. Follow these steps:

1. Click on the “File” tab in the ribbon.
2. Click on “Options”.
3. Click on “Customize Ribbon”.
4. In the “Main Tabs” list, check the box next to “Developer”.
5. Click “OK”.

Creating a Basic Macro

Now that we have enabled the Developer tab, we can create a basic macro using VBA. Follow these steps:

1. Click on the “Developer” tab in the ribbon.
2. Click on “Visual Basic” to open the Visual Basic Editor.
3. In the Visual Basic Editor, click on “Insert” and select “Module” to create a new module.
4. In the module window, type the following code:

Sub HelloWorld()
    MsgBox "Hello, World!"
End Sub

1. Press F5 or click the “Run” button to run the macro.

When you run the macro, a message box should appear with the text “Hello, World!”.

Understanding VBA Code

Let’s take a closer look at the VBA code we just wrote.

The first line, “Sub HelloWorld()”, is the start of the subroutine, or macro. “Sub” stands for “subroutine”, and “HelloWorld” is the name of the macro. You can name your macro whatever you like, but it should be descriptive and easy to remember.

The second line, “MsgBox “Hello, World!””, is the code that tells Excel to display a message box with the text “Hello, World!”. “MsgBox” stands for “message box”, and the text in quotation marks is what will be displayed in the message box.

Editing and Running Macros

Once you have created a macro, you can edit it and run it again as needed.

To edit a macro:

1. Click on the “Developer” tab in the ribbon.
2. Click on “Visual Basic” to open the Visual Basic Editor.
3. Find the macro you want to edit in the “Project” window on the left.
4. Double-click on the macro to open it in the module window.
5. Make your changes to the code.
6. Press F5 or click the “Run” button to run the macro again.

To run a macro:

1. Click on the “Developer” tab in the ribbon.
2. Click on “Macros” to open the Macros dialog box.
3. Select the macro you want to run.
4. Click “Run”.