Understanding the While...Wend Structure

Macros in Excel are written in a language called VBA. Like other programming languages, VBA includes certain programming structures that are used to control how the program executes. One of these structures is the While...Wend structure. This structure has the following syntax:

While condition
    program statements
Wend

When a macro is executing and this structure is encountered, the language tests whatever condition you have defined. You can see examples of conditions in many of the macros used in ExcelTips. If the condition is true, then the program statements between the While and Wend keywords are executed. If the condition is not true, execution of the macro continues with the statement following the Wend keyword. If the conditions are true when Wend is encountered, the macro will loop back up to the While statement and keep executing the loop until the condition becomes false.

Understand that the While...Wend structure is one of a number of different structures that can be used to control how code within a macro is executed. Some VBA programmers contend that While...Wend is "obsolete" and that other structures such as the various Do loops should be used in preference to it. It is true that While...Wend predates the newer structures, but the predating doesn't mean that the structure should never be used.

What structure should you use? The one that makes the most sense to you as you are putting your coding logic together. If you prefer While...Wend, then use it because it will work just fine. If you prefer a different looping structure, then by all means use that one. VBA provides them all so that you can approach a task using whatever makes the most sense to you.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12425) 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: Understanding the While...Wend Structure.