Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: Removing Pictures for a Worksheet in VBA.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 16, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Rob wrote about a problem he was having removing pictures from a worksheet. He has macros that add a picture (a signature) as a shape, but when he later tries to delete the picture, he cannot find it in the Shapes collection.
There are a couple of things to check out. First of all, you should ensure that you are using the proper syntax to do the deletion. Check to make sure you are explicitly including the sheet object in your code. For instance, the following line will not work:
Shapes(1).Delete
Instead, you must specify the sheet, using code similar to any of the following lines:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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:
ActiveSheet.Shapes(1).Delete
Sheets("Sheet1").Shapes(1).Delete
Sheets(1).Shapes("Signature").Delete
If you determine that the expected image is not in the Shapes collection, then it is possible that Excel (for strange reasons only known to Excel) moved the image to a different collection, such as the Pictures collection. If you suspect this, then try using the following macro:
Sub WhatAmI()
Dim sTemp As String
sTemp = "You selected this type of object: " & TypeName(Selection)
sTemp = sTemp & vbCrLf
sTemp = sTemp & "It's name is " & Selection.Name
MsgBox sTemp
End Sub
Select the signature image, then run the macro. You should see a message box that indicates the type of object you selected, along with its name. You can then use the information to modify your macro so it deletes the image, as desired.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10037) 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: Removing Pictures for a Worksheet in VBA.
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2019-08-17 08:13:30
Willy Vanhaelen
For the last macro, If you only need to use it once or occasionally, you can instead simply type in the Immediate window of the VBA editor:
?TypeName(Selection)
press enter and then type
?selection.name
and press enter
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