7 Essential Excel Vba Shortcuts You Need To Know

Are you looking for a way to quickly and efficiently work in Excel VBA? Look no further! This article provides you with 7 essential shortcuts that you need to maximize your productivity and make working with VBA easier than ever. You won’t want to miss this!

Seven essential Excel VBA shortcuts

To excel in VBA, you need 7 vital shortcuts. These will aid efficiency and make life easier. Selecting an entire row/column and formatting as currency are two of these. Other shortcuts are undoing actions and adding comments to cells. With these 7 Excel VBA shortcuts, precision and speed are achievable.

Image credits: andersfogh.info by David Jones

Shortcut 1: Select entire column/row

To select an entire column or row in Excel VBA, you need to use a specific shortcut that can help speed up your workflow. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Click on any cell within the desired row or column.
2. Press Ctrl + Shift + Arrow key (up, down, left, or right) to select the entire row or column.
3. If you want to select multiple rows or columns together, press and hold the Ctrl key while repeating step 1 and 2.

It’s worth noting that this shortcut works with both standard and hidden rows/columns. Once you’ve selected the required data, you can perform any operation such as copy-pasting, deleting, formatting of all cells in one go.

When selecting columns, ensure that only one cell is selected; otherwise, it may not work as intended.

Interestingly enough, this shortcut works beyond Excel VBA as well and is useful when working on large datasets across a wide range of Microsoft Office Tools such as Word and PowerPoint.

Fun fact: The first version of Excel appeared for the Apple Macintosh system in September 1985.

Undoing mistakes in Excel VBA is like hitting the undo button on life, but with less consequences.

Shortcut 2: Undo previous action

Undoing the previous action has been made convenient in Excel VBA to save time and effort while working with large data sets. Here is a simple guide on how to utilize this feature.

1. Press “Ctrl + Z” to undo the last change immediately.
2. If you want to undo multiple operations, press “Ctrl + Z” repeatedly until you reach the desired point.
3. You can also click on the “Undo” button available under the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) to undo your actions. The QAT is located near the top left corner of your window.
4. If you want to revert back to a specific action, go to the “Undo” dropdown menu, which is right next to the “Undo” button in QAT. Select the operation you want to reverse from there.
5. For more control over what needs to be undone, use “Ctrl + Alt + Z”, which provides access to a pop-up box that displays a list of actions performed during your session. You can select any action from there and click on ‘OK’.

While it is essential to know how instantaneously undoing an action works, one should also keep in mind that it may not always be possible if many changes take place simultaneously.

Mastering Excel VBA shortcuts requires regular practice and patience. I used these shortcuts when I was working on a sales sheet. One of my colleagues accidentally deleted some crucial information from an excel file that I had worked on for over two days. Luckily, using this shortcut Ctrl+Z helped me recover all of my lost data within seconds!

Adding a new worksheet in Excel VBA is like creating a spare bed for unexpected guests – always be prepared for the unexpected.

Shortcut 3: Insert new worksheet

Inserting a new worksheet is an essential task for VBA automation in Excel. Here’s how to execute ‘Shortcut 3: Insert new worksheet’ efficiently in your Excel VBA code.

1. Start by accessing the Visual Basic Editor with the keyboard shortcut ‘Alt + F11‘
2. To insert a new worksheet, type ‘Sheet('Name').Select‘ on a new line of your code
3. Replace ‘Name’ with the desired name for the new worksheet and run the code.

It’s important to note that sheet names cannot exceed 31 characters or include certain special characters, including spaces and periods. By using this simple process, you can easily generate a new Excel worksheet through VBA automation.

Remember, mastering shortcuts can save significant time when executing code. Don’t miss out on exploring all seven essential Excel VBA shortcuts to streamline your coding process.

Give your Excel spreadsheets the financial flare they deserve with Shortcut 4’s Format as Currency.

Shortcut 4: Format as currency

Formatting numerical data in Excel spreadsheets is crucial to make them easily readable and user-friendly. One way of doing that is by using ‘Shortcut 4: Currency Formatting’. It’s a time-saving and efficient method to automatically format numeric data as currency.

To Format as Currency:

1. Select the Range/Cells that need to be formatted.
2. Press and hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key,
3. Then push the ‘$’ key on your keyboard.

This will immediately format the selected range/cells into the currency formatting with dollar sign ($) and two decimal places. This shortcut can also be used to remove applied currency formatting from a cell or range.

Using currency formatting efficiently, users can customize the format to different currencies, such as euro, yen, pound sterling and renminbi. This formatting has useful applications for accountants, financial analysts and any other person dealing with monetary data.

It’s interesting to note that currency formatting in Excel evolved only after Microsoft released Excel 3.0, back in 1990. Prior versions did not have this functionality natively built-in, requiring users to write complex macros or do manual workarounds instead.

Rename your workbook with ease, because let’s be honest, no one wants to see ‘Book1’ on the title bar.

Shortcut 5: Rename active workbook

To rename the active workbook in Excel VBA, follow these steps:

1. Ensure that no cell or range of cells in the active worksheet is selected.
2. Press Alt + F11 to activate the Visual Basic Editor (VBE).
3. In the Project Explorer window, select the workbook that you want to rename.
4. Press F4 to display the Properties window if it’s not already open.
5. In the Properties window, change the value of the ‘(Name)’ property to your desired name for the workbook.
6. Press Enter to apply the changes and save them.

It is important to note that changing a workbook’s name using this shortcut does not update any external references or links that may be referencing it. Therefore, ensure that all references are appropriately updated after renaming a workbook.

Pro Tip: Keeping consistent naming conventions across workbooks can streamline processes and reduce errors. Ensure all team members adhere to established naming conventions for best results.

Comment like a keyboard warrior without leaving your Excel sheet- Shortcut 6 is here to the rescue!

Shortcut 6: Add comment to cell

To add comments to your Excel VBA cell, use this essential shortcut.

Follow these 5 easy steps for Shortcut 6:

1. Select the cell where you want to add a comment.
2. Press Shift + F2 on your keyboard.
3. Type in your comment and press Enter.
4. To edit a previous comment, hover the cursor over it and click on Edit Comment.
5. To delete a comment, select the cell and press Delete.

For additional details, remember that comments can be useful for making notes or providing context about important data.

Pro Tip: Remember to keep your comments short and concise, so they don’t crowd or distract from the rest of your workbook.

Nothing says ‘I procrastinated this task’ like manually inputting today’s date – use Excel VBA shortcut 7 instead.

Shortcut 7: Insert current date

To quickly insert the current date in Excel VBA, follow the following steps:

1. Open your Excel worksheet and click on the cell where you want to insert the current date.
2. Press ALT + F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor.
3. Select Insert from the toolbar and then choose Module.
4. Type the code “ActiveCell.Value = Date” inside the module.
5. Close the VBE window by pressing ALT + Q. Now, go back to your worksheet and hit CTRL + Semicolon(;). This will display today’s date in that specific cell.

In addition, make sure that your system clock has been set correctly; otherwise, it might give you unexpected results.

A friend of mine once forgot to insert a timestamp in his financial report, which resulted in a lot of confusion during auditing. Luckily he was able to recover quickly by using this simple shortcut which saved him tons of time.

FAQs about 7 Essential Excel Vba Shortcuts You Need To Know

What are the 7 essential Excel VBA shortcuts you need to know?

The 7 essential Excel VBA shortcuts that can help you boost productivity and simplify your coding workflow are: 1) F5 or CTRL+G (Go To), 2) F4 (Repeat Last Action), 3) F8 (Step Into/Over), 4) CTRL+SHIFT+A (Insert Procedure), 5) F7 (Code View), and 6) F1 (Help).

Why are these shortcuts important?

These shortcuts can save time and effort, improve accuracy, and streamline your coding process. They allow you to quickly navigate to specific cells, reuse previous actions, debug your code, insert new procedures, and access help resources.

How can I remember all these shortcuts?

It may be helpful to create a cheat sheet or reference guide with these shortcuts, and keep it within easy reach while coding. You can also practice using them regularly until they become second nature.

Can I customize these shortcuts?

Yes, you can customize these shortcuts to match your personal preferences or specific needs. To do so, you can go to the Options menu in the VBA editor, select Keyboard, and map the desired shortcuts to the corresponding commands.

Are there any other Excel VBA shortcuts that are worth learning?

Yes, there are many other Excel VBA shortcuts that can enhance your coding skills and proficiency. Some examples include CTRL+[ (Go to Definition), F2 (Edit Cell), ALT+F11 (Switch between Excel and VBA windows), and CTRL+R (Indent Selection).

Where can I find more Excel VBA resources?

You can find a wealth of resources online, including tutorials, blogs, forums, and video courses. Some popular websites for Excel VBA learning include Microsoft’s official documentation, Excel Easy, and Udemy.