What is VBA?

VBA stands for Visual Basic for Applications. Just like you and I have a
language, computer programs too have their own language. VBA happens to be
the language in which Excel speaks. For that matter, VBA is also the language of
MS Word, PowerPoint, Access and other MS Office applications.
The prospect of learning new languages scares us a lot. But worry not, VBA is
much easier to learn than French, Spanish, German or Chinese. The main reason
why VBA is easy to learn is because it almost looks like plain English.

For example the following line says hello to you:

MsgBox "hello"

Just like any language, VBA too has its own rules, grammatical structures &
nuances. Once you understand these, speaking VBA with Excel becomes as easy
as chatting with your friend over a drink.

What is a Macro?
While VBA is the language which Excel speaks (and understands), Macro is like a
paragraph. In other words, a Macro is a set of instructions given to Excel to
accomplish something.
For example, this is a macro for generating a report (written in plain English, not
VBA)

1. Open data.xls

2. Take last 30 days of data

3. Prepare a bar chart

4. Copy the chart to a new workbook

5. Save the workbook as a PDF

6. Email it to boss
When we execute or run this macro, we end up generating the report &
mailing it.
Basics of VBA & Macros – Writing our First Macro
In this section, lets build our first macro. We will write a MakeMeRed() macro,
that paints red color in any selected cell(s). Like this,

Enabling Developer Ribbon in Excel

In order to record and use macros (and other developer features), the first step
is to activate Developer Ribbon (or Developer Toolbar). This is done by,

Excel 2007:
1. Click on Office button (top left)
2. Go to Excel Options
3. Go to Popular
4. Check “Show Developer Tab in Ribbon” (3rd Check box)
5. Click ok.
Excel 2010:
1. Click on File Menu (top left)
2. Go to Options
3. Select “Customize Ribbon”
4. Make sure “Developer tab” is checked in right side area
5. Click ok.
 2.
Using Excel’s Built-in Macro Recorder
In order to write your first VBA program (or Macro), you need to know the
language first. This is where Excel’s tape recorder will help us.

Tape Recorder?!?
Yes. Excel has a built-in tape recorder, that listens and records everything you
do, in Excel’s own language, ie VBA.
Since we don’t know any VBA, we will use this recorder to record our actions and
then we will see recorded instructions (called as code in computer lingo) to
understand how VBA looks like.
Step 1: Select any cell & start macro recorder
This is the easiest part. Just select any cell and go to Developer Ribbon & click
on Record Macro button.

Step 2: Give a name to your Macro

Specify a name for your macro. I called mine MakeMeRed. You can choose
whatever you want. Just make sure there are no spaces or special characters in
the name (except underscore)

Click OK when done.

Step 3: Fill the current cell with red color

This is easy as eating pie. Just go to Home ribbon and fill red color in the current
cell.

Step 4: Stop Recording

Now that you have done the only step in our macro, its time to stop Excel’s tape
recorder. Go to Developer ribbon and hit “stop recording” button.

Step 5: Assign your Macro to a button

Now go to Insert ribbon and draw a nice rectangle. Then, put some text like
“click me to fill red” in it.

Then right click on the rectangle shape and go to Assign Macro. And select the
MakeMeRed macro from the list shown. Click ok.

Step 6: Go ahead and play with your first macro

That is all. Now, we have linked the rectangle shape to your macro. Whenever
you click it, Excel would drop a bucket of red paint in the selected cell(s).
 Go ahead and play with this little macro of ours.

Important Shortcuts for Excel VBA

Please remember these shortcuts & use them to be productive while using Excel
VBA.

 ALT+F11: To view VBA Editor (or to switch back to Excel)

 ALT+F8: To display all macros
These shortcuts will work only in VBA Editor (also known as VBE):

 ALT+Q: To close VBA Editor and return to Excel

 F5: To run a Macro
 F2: Display Object Browser
 F7: Display code editor
 CTRL+G: Open immediate window
 F1: Display help
More on Excel VBA
Please go thru these pages for more on Excel VBA

 Excel VBA Examples

 Video Tutorials on Excel VBA, Macros
 Excel VBA Tips
 User Forms & Controls in VBA
 Books on Excel VBA
 References on Excel VBA
 Training on Excel VBA
 Join our Excel Newsletter