Conditionally Deleting Rows

When you are working with data tables containing information that you received from another person, you may want to prune the amount of data in the table by deleting rows if a particular condition is met. There are several ways you can approach such a task.

The first method is to use Excel's AutoFilter feature. This works particularly well if you have a rather simple criteria by which to delete rows. When you turn on the AutoFilter, Excel places pull-down buttons at the right side of each cell in the data table's header row. Using these pull-down buttons you can specify the records you want displayed. You should select a filter value that will result in displaying only those rows you want to delete. With those rows displayed, you can select them and use the ribbon tools to get rid of the rows. When you turn AutoFilter off, then you are left with only the rows you wanted.

Another method involves the use of macros to do the deleting for you. This approach works well if you have to perform the deletions on lots of data, or if you do it quite often. The following macro can delete rows based on a key value:

Sub DeleteRows()
    Dim sToDelete As String
    Dim ThisRow As Integer
    Dim ThatRow As Integer
    Dim ThisCol As Integer
    Dim J As Integer
    Dim iDeleted As Integer

    sToDelete = InputBox("Value to Trigger Delete?", "Delete Rows")

    With Selection
        ThisRow = .Row
        ThatRow = ThisRow + .Rows.Count - 1
        ThisCol = .Column

        For J = ThatRow To ThisRow Step -1
            If Cells(J, ThisCol) = sToDelete Then
                Rows(J).EntireRow.Delete
                iDeleted = iDeleted + 1
            End If
        Next J
    End With
    MsgBox "Number of deleted rows: " & iDeleted
End Sub

To use the macro, select the key range that covers the rows you want checked. For instance, if the key to be checked is in column G, and you want to check rows 5 through 73, then you would select the range G5:G73. When you run the macro, it asks you what value it should check for. If any cells in the range G5:G73 contain the value you specify, the corresponding row for that cell is deleted.

Remember that if you use the macro to delete rows, those rows are permanently deleted. This could be a drawback in some situations. If so, you should rely on the AutoFilter technique, or make a copy of your worksheet before running the macro.

There are obviously other ways to delete rows based on a value. For a good selection of different methods, take a look at this page:

https://www.ozgrid.com/VBA/VBACode.htm

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12256) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Conditionally Deleting Rows.