Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, 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: Creating a Directory in a Macro.

Creating a Directory in a Macro

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 18, 2025)

If you need to, you can create a disk-drive directory (folder) using VBA. This is done with the MkDir command and is a remnant from the same command in earlier versions of BASIC. The syntax is:

MkDir DirName

where DirName is the full pathname of the directory you want to create. If you do not use a string variable to specify the directory name, then DirName must be enclosed in quotes. Further, if you don't provide a full pathname in DirName (perhaps you provide only a simple name like "TempFiles" or "MyDirectory"), then the directory is created in the current directory. Finally, if you try to create a directory that already exists, VBA will generate an error.

There is one potential gotcha you need to be aware of: You cannot create multiple levels of directories in a single go. For instance, let's say you have an existing directory called "Budget" on the C: drive, and you try to create the following:

sTemp = "C:\Budget\2025\First Quarter"
MkDir sTemp

You may get an error if the 2025 directory doesn't already exist within the Budget directory. To avoid such an error, you need to build each directory level explicitly, as in this manner:

sTemp = "C:\Budget\2025"
MkDir sTemp
sTemp = sTemp & "\First Quarter"
MkDir sTemp

Why would you want to create a directory in your macro? One common reason is to create a place where you can store temporary files you are working with in the rest of the macro.

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 (8851) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Creating a Directory in a Macro.

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

Understanding Justification

Paragraphs can be aligned in four different ways. This tip examines those alignment methods.

Discover More

Protecting Your Revisions

Want to protect your documents so that people can't edit them without you knowing about it? One way is to make sure that ...

Discover More

Creating Worksheets with a Macro

Using a macro to add worksheets to your workbook is easy. This tip provides two different methods you can use.

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Counting Commas in a Selection

If you have a range of cells in which you want to count all the commas, there are several ways you can derive the figure ...

Discover More

Removing a Macro from a Shortcut Key

When you assign a macro to a shortcut key, you make it easy to run the macro without ever removing your hands from the ...

Discover More

Macros Not Available in Later Versions of Excel

What would you do if you had a macro-enabled workbook that refused to work properly on computers using later versions of ...

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 five minus 2?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


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.