Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. 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: Selecting the First Cell In a Row.

Selecting the First Cell In a Row

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 25, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


1

If you need to select the first cell in a row from within your macro, you can do it with the Select method, using either of the following:

Cells(ActiveWindow.RangeSelection.Row, 1).Select
ActiveCell.EntireRow.Cells(1).Select

Once executed, the selected cell becomes the first cell (in column A) of the current row. If you run this line while a range of cells is selected, then the cell in column A of the first row of the selection is selected.

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 (7602) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Selecting the First Cell In a Row.

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

Speeding Up Large Worksheets

If your worksheet gets large enough, you may notice a severe slowdown when it is recalculated. This tip provides some ...

Discover More

Controlling Display of the Status Bar

The status bar is used to display all sorts of information about the document on which you are working. Depending on your ...

Discover More

Rounding to the Nearest Half Dollar

When working with financial data, it's easy to round values to the nearest dollar. What if you want them rounded to the ...

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Understanding Functions in Macros

Functions are a common programming construct. They help you to create easy ways of processing information and returning a ...

Discover More

Jumping to the Start of the Next Data Entry Row

Want a quick way to jump to the end of your data entry area in a worksheet? The macro in this tip makes quick work of the ...

Discover More

Stopping Fonts from Changing

There are multiple ways that Excel can create a workbook, and the formatting in each creation method can be different. In ...

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 three more than 7?

2023-11-26 14:39:13

J. Woolley

The Tip's first sentence should be, "If you need to select the first cell in THE ACTIVE CELL'S row from within your macro...."
Here are two more ways:
    ActiveWindow.RangeSelection.End(xlToLeft).Select
    ActiveCell.End(xlToLeft).Select
The following should be avoided unless you are certain Selection is a Range object and not a graphic object:
    Selection.End(xlToLeft).Select
Window.RangeSelection returns the Window's most recently selected Range object. If the most recently selected range has more than one row and its active cell is NOT in the top row, either
    ActiveWindow.RangeSelection.End(xlToLeft).Select
or the Tip's
    Cells(ActiveWindow.RangeSelection.Row, 1).Select
will select the first cell in its top row, but either
    ActiveCell.End(xlToLeft).Select
or the Tip's
    ActiveCell.EntireRow.Cells(1).Select
will select the first cell in the active cell's row.


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.