Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: Determining an ANSI Value in a Macro.

Determining an ANSI Value in a Macro

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 5, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

When creating a macro, you can use the Asc function to determine the ANSI value of the first letter of a string. In early versions of BASIC, Asc returned the ASCII value, but Excel uses only ANSI values. The function uses the following format:

x = Asc(y)

where x is the variable that the ANSI value should be assigned to, and y is the string to be analyzed. The way in which the Asc function works is very similar to the CODE worksheet function.

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 (9202) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Determining an ANSI Value 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. ...

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