Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. 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: Switching Windows in a Macro.

Switching Windows in a Macro

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated August 25, 2021)

3

Andrew needs to display a dialog box in his macro that allows a user to switch windows. When someone displays the View tab of the ribbon and clicks the Switch Windows tool, it shows the available workbooks to which the user can switch. Those are what Andrew needs to show up in the dialog box. He wonders if there is a built-in dialog box to do this, or if he needs to create his own.

The short answer is that there is no built-in dialog box to accomplish this task. You can, however, easily create your own. Here is a simple example:

Sub SwitchWindows()
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim n As Integer
    Dim s As String
    Dim v As Variant

    n = Windows.Count
    s = "Choose Window from:"
    For i = 1 To n
        s = s & Chr(10) & i & ")  " & Windows(i).Caption
    Next
    s = s & Chr(10) & "Enter a number from 1 to " & n
    v = Application.InputBox(prompt:=s, Type:=2)
    i = Val(v)
    If i >= 1 And i <= n Then
        Windows(i).Activate
    End If
End Sub

All this does is create a list of the names for each window in your system. It presents them in an InputBox, and then switches to whatever window the user selected.

If you are seeking different ways to present the same information, you can refer to this tip.

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 (11911) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Switching Windows 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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What is one more than 7?

2021-12-16 15:16:20

J. Woolley

Instead of switching windows with a macro, it might be better to switch workbooks:

Sub SwitchWorkbooks()
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim n As Integer
    Dim s As String
    Dim v As Variant

    n = Workbooks.Count
    s = "Choose Workbook from:"
    For i = 1 To n
        s = s & Chr(10) & i & ") " & Workbooks(i).Name
    Next
    s = s & Chr(10) & "Enter a number from 1 to " & n
    v = Application.InputBox(prompt:=s, Type:=2)
    i = Val(v)
    If i >= 1 And i <= n Then
        Workbooks(i).Activate
    End If
End Sub

2021-12-14 12:08:11

BJ Thomas

Hello and thanks for such great tips! I also received an error in Office 365 - is this version restricted or am I the actual issue? Thanks! BJ

2016-06-18 06:57:01

Steve Askins

Allen - useful approach but I find it does not work if one of the open work books has more than one window open.

I get a Runtime error 13 and the debugger hightlights i=Val(v)

Any suggestions?

Steve
PS hope your son's wedding goes well!

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