When you import data from an outside source, you may run into a need to delete extraneous data from a worksheet. For instance, you may have a need to remove every second line from the data, or every fifth line. Doing this by hand can be tedious and prone to error. Fortunately, you can create a macro to help eliminate both the tedium and the errors.
The following macro, DeleteRows, will remove every X rows from your worksheet. All you have to do is select the rows you want it applied to. The macro, as written, will remove every second row. So, if you wanted to delete the first, third, fifth, and seventh rows beginning with row 10, you would select rows 10 through 16 and then run this macro. It results in rows 10 (the first row), 12 (the third row), 14 (the fifth row), and 16 (the seventh row) being deleted.
Sub DeleteRows() Dim iStart As Integer Dim iEnd As Integer Dim iCount As Integer Dim iStep As Integer Dim J As Integer iStep = 2 'Delete every 2nd row Application.ScreenUpdating = False iStart = 1 iCount = Selection.Rows.Count 'Find ending row to start deleting For J = iStart To iCount Step iStep iEnd = J Next Do While iEnd >= iStart Selection.Rows(iEnd).Delete iEnd = iEnd — iStep Loop Application.ScreenUpdating = True End Sub
If you want to delete some other multiple of lines, simply change the setting for the iStep variable. For instance, if you want to delete every fifth row, change iStep from 2 to 5. (You only need to make the single change, in the iStep = 2 declaration.)
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3592) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Deleting Every X Rows.
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2018-05-21 11:38:59
Robert Cline
By deleting whatever character it was that was copied and pasted in to your Macro, replacing the character with a minus sign, as you suggested, worked like a charm.
Thank you Allen for a useful Macro.
Robert
2018-05-19 10:21:49
Allen
Robert: I suspect that if you copied and pasted the code into the Visual Basic Editor, the minus sign is not really a minus sign. Delete it and type a minus sign, and it should work fine.
-Allen
2018-05-19 07:31:49
Robert Cline
Thanks for the code Allen. I am using Excel 2016.
I get a syntax error at line: iEnd = iEnd – iStep
Am I missing something here?
Thank you.
Robert Cline
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