Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Choosing Direction after Enter On a Workbook Basis.

Choosing Direction after Enter On a Workbook Basis

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 27, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021


2

When you press Enter after typing information into a cell, Excel normally saves your information and then moves to the next cell beneath the one where you pressed Enter. You can modify this behavior, however:

  1. Display the Excel Options dialog box. (In Excel 2007 click the Office button and then click Excel Options. In Excel 2010 or a later version display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
  2. At the left of the dialog box click Advanced. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Advanced options of the Excel Options dialog box.

  4. Under Editing Options, make sure that the checkbox for "After pressing Enter, move selection" is checked (it should be by default).
  5. Using the Direction drop-down list, change the direction as desired. Changing the direction affects how Excel behaves in all workbooks.

If you have a need to vary the Enter key behavior on a workbook-by-workbook basis, you might think you are out of luck. You can, however, use a little creative macro code to specify which direction you want to go after Enter, and have that code run whenever a workbook is activated.

For instance, let's say that you had a particular workbook, and you always want to move the selection up after pressing Enter. In this particular workbook, you can add the following code to the thisWorkbook object in the VBA editor:

Private Sub Workbook_WindowActivate(ByVal Wn As Excel.Window)
    bMove = Application.MoveAfterReturn
    lMoveDirection = Application.MoveAfterReturnDirection

    Application.MoveAfterReturn = True
    Application.MoveAfterReturnDirection = xlUp
End Sub

Private Sub Workbook_WindowDeactivate(ByVal Wn As Excel.Window)
    Application.MoveAfterReturn = bMove
    Application.MoveAfterReturnDirection = lMoveDirection
End Sub

There are two separate subroutines here. The first one runs whenever the window for the workbook is activated. In this case, it stores the settings associated with the MoveAfterReturn and MoveAfterReturnDirection properties into variables. (You will learn about these variables shortly.) The macro then sets the MoveAfterReturn property to True and sets the direction to xlUp. If you want to go a different direction by default in this particular workbook, simply use a different Excel constant, such as xlDown, xlToLeft, or xlToRight.

The second subroutine runs whenever the workbook window is deactivated. In this case, the values of the MoveAfterReturn and MoveAfterReturnDirection properties are reset to what they were before the workbook was first activated.

The two variables used in these routines, lMoveDirection and bMove, need to be defined in the declaration portion of any module. This allows the variables to be accessed from both of the above routines.

Public lMoveDirection As Long
Public bMove As Boolean

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (7220) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Choosing Direction after Enter On a Workbook Basis.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Automatically Capitalizing Day Names

Type the name of any of the seven days into your document, and Word automatically makes sure it is capitalized. This is ...

Discover More

Offering Options in a Macro

It is often helpful to get user input within a macro. Here's a quick way to present some options and get the user's response.

Discover More

Changing the Default Drive

Macros can be used to read and write all sorts of files. If those files are on a different drive than the current one, ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Disabling Page Layout View

Excel allows you to display your workbooks using a couple of different views. If you want to disable one of the views, it ...

Discover More

Saving Excel Configuration Settings

Excel lets you change lots of settings that affect the configuration of your system. At some point you may want to save ...

Discover More

Slash Key No Longer Works as Expected

Press the slash key and Excel may display a series of keyboard commands near the ribbon. If this behavior drives you ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 6?

2022-08-28 04:12:11

KIwerry

Thanks, J. Woolley.
Installing your tool in the personal workbook is a good alternative to Allen's solution, which requires that each affected workbook be saved in xlsm format, which is a less desirable option


2022-08-27 10:36:23

J. Woolley

My Excel Toolbox includes the MoveAfterEnter macro (Ctrl+T M O)to set adjacent cell movement after the Enter key is pressed (see Figure 1 below) .
See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/

Figure 1. 


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.