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: Displaying the Print Dialog Box in a Macro.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 5, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Before printing anything in Excel, it is not unusual to display the Print dialog box. This allows you to make changes to how the print job will be handled by the printer driver.
If you are creating a macro that is used to print information from your worksheets, you may want to display the Print dialog box programmatically. The user can then choose to print, directly from within your macro.
To add this capability, simply include the following macro line:
bTemp = Application.Dialogs(xlDialogPrint).Show
The Show method results in the Print dialog box being displayed. When this code line is finished, bTemp will be either True or False. If True, it means that the user clicked on OK in the dialog box, thereby printing something. If False, then the user either clicked on Cancel or the Close button to close the dialog box without printing.
You might wonder if this approach will work in Excel 2013 and later versions seeing as the program now uses what Redmond refers to as "Backstage view" to initiate printing. (Just press Ctrl+P and you can see the printing options in Backstage view.) Fortunately, it does. Later versions of Excel dutifully display the Print dialog box as it appeared in earlier versions of the program, bypassing completely the need for what you see in Backstage view.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10321) 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: Displaying the Print Dialog Box in a Macro.
Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!
If you have a large, complex workbook, you may want to make sure that it is always calculated manually instead of ...
Discover MoreWhen developing macros, you can create subroutines. This is a great way to reuse common code and make your programming ...
Discover MoreWhen you use macros to create functions, you might want to share those functions with others�"particularly if they ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2021-06-08 11:26:49
J. Woolley
@Joan Koskela
See Application.GetSaveAsFilename Method:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/excel.application.getsaveasfilename
Then see Workbook.SaveAs Method:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/excel.workbook.saveas
For example:
vName = Application.GetSaveAsFilename(...)
On Error Resume Next
ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs Filename:=vName
bSuccess = (Err.Number = 0)
On Error GoTo 0
If bSuccess Then MsgBox "ActiveWorkbook is now " & vName
Also, see XlBuiltInDialog Enumeration:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/excel.xlbuiltindialog
2021-06-07 09:32:11
Joan Koskela
Would this work to display the Save As dialog box (xlDialogSaveAs)? I've tried recording a Save As in a macro but when the macro runs it always just saves the document but I need to give it a new unique name each time. I'd save it as a template but it's a work-in-progress and I'd just like it to open the Save As dialog box whenever I or someone else opens it so no one saves the document with data in it.
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
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:
Comments