How to select cells/ranges by using Visual Basic procedures in Excel Page 1 of 11

How to select cells/ranges by using

Visual Basic procedures in Excel
Applies to: Microsoft Office Excel 2003, Microsoft Office Excel
2007, Excel 2010, More

More Information

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only,

without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is
not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness
for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar
with the programming language that is being demonstrated and
with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures.
Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a
particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to
provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your
specific requirements. The examples in this article use the Visual
Basic methods listed in the following table.

Method Arguments
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
Activate none
Cells rowIndex, columnIndex
Application.Goto reference, scroll
Offset rowOffset, columnOffset
Range cell1
cell1, cell2
Resize rowSize, columnSize
Select none
Sheets index (or sheetName)
Workbooks index (or bookName)
End direction
CurrentRegion none

The examples in this article use the properties in the following table.

Property Use
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
ActiveSheet to specify the active sheet
ActiveWorkbook to specify the active workbook
Columns.Count to count the number of columns in

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the specified item

Rows.Count to count the number of rows in the
specified item
Selection to refer to the currently selected
range

1: How to Select a Cell on the Active Worksheet

To select cell D5 on the active worksheet, you can use either of the
following examples:

ActiveSheet.Cells(5, 4).Select

-or-

ActiveSheet.Range("D5").Select

2: How to Select a Cell on Another Worksheet in the

Same Workbook

To select cell E6 on another worksheet in the same workbook, you

can use either of the following examples:

Application.Goto ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet2").Cells
(6, 5)

­or­

Application.Goto (ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet2").Rang
e("E6"))

Or, you can activate the worksheet, and then use method 1 above
to select the cell:

Sheets("Sheet2").Activate
ActiveSheet.Cells(6, 5).Select

3: How to Select a Cell on a Worksheet in a Different

Workbook

To select cell F7 on a worksheet in a different workbook, you can

use either of the following examples:

Application.Goto Workbooks("BOOK2.XLS").Sheets("Sheet1
").Cells(7, 6)

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-or-

Application.Goto Workbooks("BOOK2.XLS").Sheets("Sheet1
").Range("F7")

Or, you can activate the worksheet, and then use method 1 above
to select the cell:

Workbooks("BOOK2.XLS").Sheets("Sheet1").Activate
ActiveSheet.Cells(7, 6).Select

4: How to Select a Range of Cells on the Active

Worksheet

To select the range C2:D10 on the active worksheet, you can use
any of the following examples:

ActiveSheet.Range(Cells(2, 3), Cells(10, 4)).Select

ActiveSheet.Range("C2:D10").Select

ActiveSheet.Range("C2", "D10").Select

5: How to Select a Range of Cells on Another

Worksheet in the Same Workbook

To select the range D3:E11 on another worksheet in the same

workbook, you can use either of the following examples:

Application.Goto ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet3").Range
("D3:E11")

Application.Goto ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet3").Range
("D3", "E11")

Or, you can activate the worksheet, and then use method 4 above
to select the range:

Sheets("Sheet3").Activate
ActiveSheet.Range(Cells(3, 4), Cells(11, 5)).Select

6: How to Select a Range of Cells on a Worksheet in a

Different Workbook

To select the range E4:F12 on a worksheet in a different workbook,

you can use either of the following examples:

Application.Goto Workbooks("BOOK2.XLS").Sheets("Sheet1
").Range("E4:F12")

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Application.Goto _
Workbooks("BOOK2.XLS").Sheets("Sheet1").Range("E
4", "F12")

Or, you can activate the worksheet, and then use method 4 above
to select the range:

Workbooks("BOOK2.XLS").Sheets("Sheet1").Activate
ActiveSheet.Range(Cells(4, 5), Cells(12, 6)).Select

7: How to Select a Named Range on the Active

Worksheet

To select the named range "Test" on the active worksheet, you can
use either of the following examples:

Range("Test").Select

Application.Goto "Test"

8: How to Select a Named Range on Another

Worksheet in the Same Workbook

To select the named range "Test" on another worksheet in the same

workbook, you can use the following example:

Application.Goto Sheets("Sheet1").Range("Test")

Or, you can activate the worksheet, and then use method 7 above
to select the named range:

Sheets("Sheet1").Activate
Range("Test").Select

9: How to Select a Named Range on a Worksheet in a

Different Workbook

To select the named range "Test" on a worksheet in a different

workbook, you can use the following example:

Application.Goto _
Workbooks("BOOK2.XLS").Sheets("Sheet2").Range("Test
")

Or, you can activate the worksheet, and then use method 7 above
to select the named range:

Workbooks("BOOK2.XLS").Sheets("Sheet2").Activate
Range("Test").Select

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10: How to Select a Cell Relative to the Active Cell

To select a cell that is five rows below and four columns to the left
of the active cell, you can use the following example:

ActiveCell.Offset(5, ­4).Select

To select a cell that is two rows above and three columns to the
right of the active cell, you can use the following example:

ActiveCell.Offset(­2, 3).Select

Note An error will occur if you try to select a cell that is "off the
worksheet." The first example shown above will return an error if the
active cell is in columns A through D, since moving four columns to
the left would take the active cell to an invalid cell address.

11: How to Select a Cell Relative to Another (Not the

Active) Cell

To select a cell that is five rows below and four columns to the right
of cell C7, you can use either of the following examples:

ActiveSheet.Cells(7, 3).Offset(5, 4).Select

ActiveSheet.Range("C7").Offset(5, 4).Select

12: How to Select a Range of Cells Offset from a

Specified Range

To select a range of cells that is the same size as the named range
"Test" but that is shifted four rows down and three columns to the
right, you can use the following example:

ActiveSheet.Range("Test").Offset(4, 3).Select

If the named range is on another (not the active) worksheet,

activate that worksheet first, and then select the range using the
following example:

Sheets("Sheet3").Activate
ActiveSheet.Range("Test").Offset(4, 3).Select

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13: How to Select a Specified Range and Resize the

Selection

To select the named range "Database" and then extend the

selection by five rows, you can use the following example:

Range("Database").Select
Selection.Resize(Selection.Rows.Count + 5, _
   Selection.Columns.Count).Select

14: How to Select a Specified Range, Offset It, and

Then Resize It

To select a range four rows below and three columns to the right of
the named range "Database" and include two rows and one column
more than the named range, you can use the following example:

Range("Database").Select
Selection.Offset(4, 3).Resize(Selection.Rows.Count + 2
, _
   Selection.Columns.Count + 1).Select

15: How to Select the Union of Two or More Specified

Ranges

To select the union (that is, the combined area) of the two named
ranges "Test" and "Sample," you can use the following example:

Application.Union(Range("Test"), Range("Sample")).Sele
ct

Note that both ranges must be on the same worksheet for this
example to work. Note also that the Union method does not work
across sheets. For example, this line works fine

Set y = Application.Union(Range("Sheet1!A1:B2"), Range
("Sheet1!C3:D4"))

but this line

Set y = Application.Union(Range("Sheet1!A1:B2"), Range
("Sheet2!C3:D4"))

returns the error message:

Union method of application class failed

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16: How to Select the Intersection of Two or More

Specified Ranges

To select the intersection of the two named ranges "Test" and

"Sample," you can use the following example:

Application.Intersect(Range("Test"), Range("Sample")).
Select

Note that both ranges must be on the same worksheet for this
example to work.

Examples 17-21 in this article refer to the following sample set of

data. Each example states the range of cells in the sample data that
would be selected.

   A1: Name    B1: Sales    C1: Quantity
   A2: a       B2: $10      C2: 5
   A3: b       B3:          C3: 10
   A4: c       B4: $10      C4: 5
   A5:         B5:          C5:
   A6: Total   B6: $20      C6: 20

17: How to Select the Last Cell of a Column of

Contiguous Data

To select the last cell in a contiguous column, use the following

example:

ActiveSheet.Range("a1").End(xlDown).Select

When this code is used with the sample table, cell A4 will be
selected.

18: How to Select the Blank Cell at Bottom of a

Column of Contiguous Data

To select the cell below a range of contiguous cells, use the

following example:

ActiveSheet.Range("a1").End(xlDown).Offset(1,0).Select

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When this code is used with the sample table, cell A5 will be
selected.

19: How to Select an Entire Range of Contiguous Cells

in a Column

To select a range of contiguous cells in a column, use one of the

following examples:

ActiveSheet.Range("a1", ActiveSheet.Range("a1").End(xl
Down)).Select

   ­or­

ActiveSheet.Range("a1:" & ActiveSheet.Range("a1"). _
      End(xlDown).Address).Select

When this code is used with the sample table, cells A1 through A4
will be selected.

20: How to Select an Entire Range of Non-Contiguous

Cells in a Column

To select a range of cells that are non-contiguous, use one of the

following examples:

ActiveSheet.Range("a1",ActiveSheet.Range("a65536").End
(xlUp)).Select

   ­or­

ActiveSheet.Range("a1:" & ActiveSheet.Range("a65536").
 _
   End(xlUp).Address).Select

When this code is used with the sample table, it will select cells A1
through A6.

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21: How to Select a Rectangular Range of Cells

In order to select a rectangular range of cells around a cell, use the

CurrentRegion method. The range selected by the CurrentRegion
method is an area bounded by any combination of blank rows and
blank columns. The following is an example of how to use the
CurrentRegion method:

ActiveSheet.Range("a1").CurrentRegion.Select

This code will select cells A1 through C4. Other examples to select
the same range of cells are listed below:

ActiveSheet.Range("a1", _
   ActiveSheet.Range("a1").End(xlDown).End(xlToRight))
.Select

   ­or­

ActiveSheet.Range("a1:" & _
   ActiveSheet.Range("a1").End(xlDown).End(xlToRight).
Address).Select

In some instances, you may want to select cells A1 through C6. In

this example, the CurrentRegion method will not work because of
the blank line on Row 5. The following examples will select all of the
cells:

lastCol = ActiveSheet.Range("a1").End(xlToRight).Colum
n
lastRow = ActiveSheet.Cells(65536, lastCol).End(xlUp).
Row
ActiveSheet.Range("a1", ActiveSheet.Cells(lastRow, las
tCol)).Select

    ­or­

lastCol = ActiveSheet.Range("a1").End(xlToRight).Colum
n
lastRow = ActiveSheet.Cells(65536, lastCol).End(xlUp).
Row
ActiveSheet.Range("a1:" & _
   ActiveSheet.Cells(lastRow, lastCol).Address).Select

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22. How to Select Multiple Non-Contiguous Columns

of Varying Length

To select multiple non-contiguous columns of varying length, use

the following sample table and macro example:

   A1: 1  B1: 1  C1: 1  D1: 1
   A2: 2  B2: 2  C2: 2  D2: 2
   A3: 3  B3: 3  C3: 3  D3: 3
   A4:    B4: 4  C4: 4  D4: 4
   A5:    B5: 5  C5: 5  D5:
   A6:    B6:    C6: 6  D6:

StartRange = "A1"
EndRange = "C1"
Set a = Range(StartRange, Range(StartRange).End(xlDown
))
Set b = Range(EndRange, Range(EndRange).End(xlDown))
Union(a,b).Select

When this code is used with the sample table, cells A1:A3 and C1:C6
will be selected.

NOTES ON THE EXAMPLES

• The ActiveSheet property can usually be omitted, because it

is implied if a specific sheet is not named. For example,
instead of

ActiveSheet.Range("D5").Select

you can use:

Range("D5").Select

• The ActiveWorkbook property can also usually be omitted.

Unless a specific workbook is named, the active workbook is
implied.

• When you use the Application.Goto method, if you want to

use two Cells methods within the Range method when the
specified range is on another (not the active) worksheet, you
must include the Sheets object each time. For example:

Application.Goto Sheets("Sheet1").Range( _
      Sheets("Sheet1").Range(Sheets("Sheet1").Ce
lls(2, 3), _
      Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(4, 5)))

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• For any item in quotation marks (for example, the named

range "Test"), you can also use a variable whose value is a
text string. For example, instead of

ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Activate

you can use

ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(myVar).Activate

where the value of myVar is "Sheet1".

References

For more information about how to use the sample code in this
article, click the following article number to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:

290140 How to run the sample code for the Office XP

programs from Knowledge Base articles

Last Updated: Apr 17, 2018

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