Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 10, 2018)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365
When someone is using Lorenzo's workbook, he would like only the F2 key to be accessible to the user. He wonders if there is a way to disable all the function keys in Excel, with the exception of the F2 key?
There is a way, but it must be done using macros. Specifically, you'll want to use the OnKey method of the Application object. This code will disable all the function keys with the exception of F2:
Private Sub Workbook_Open() Application.OnKey "{F1}", "" Application.OnKey "{F3}", "" Application.OnKey "{F4}", "" Application.OnKey "{F5}", "" Application.OnKey "{F6}", "" Application.OnKey "{F7}", "" Application.OnKey "{F8}", "" Application.OnKey "{F9}", "" Application.OnKey "{F10}", "" Application.OnKey "{F11}", "" Application.OnKey "{F12}", "" End Sub
The macro must be added to the ThisWorkbook module and it will run automatically when the workbook is opened.
If desired, you could make the macro a bit shorter:
Private Sub Workbook_Open() Dim sTemp As String Dim J As Integer For J = 1 to 12 If J <> 2 Then sTemp = "{F" & Trim(Str(J)) & "}" Application.OnKey sTemp, "" End If Next J End Sub
You'll want to also make sure that when you close the workbook that you re-enable all the function keys. This macro, again, should be added to the ThisWorkbook module:
Private Sub Workbook_BeforeClose(CANCEL As Boolean) Application.OnKey "{F1}" Application.OnKey "{F3}" Application.OnKey "{F4}" Application.OnKey "{F5}" Application.OnKey "{F6}" Application.OnKey "{F7}" Application.OnKey "{F8}" Application.OnKey "{F9}" Application.OnKey "{F10}" Application.OnKey "{F11}" Application.OnKey "{F12}" End Sub
You could also use a shorter version of the same code:
Private Sub Workbook_BeforeClose(CANCEL As Boolean) Dim sTemp As String Dim J As Integer For J = 1 to 12 If J <> 2 Then sTemp = "{F" & Trim(Str(J)) & "}" Application.OnKey sTemp End If Next J End Sub
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2018-05-06 12:46:38
Willy Vanhaelen
@Bob
That is not correct. If you don't reset the keys, they stay disabled as long as the current session of Excel runs and they even are disabled in any other workbook(s) you opened or will open in that session. So it can be pretty annoying to use this because as long as the workbook containing these macros is not closed these function key are not available in ai all other open workbooks of that session.
2018-05-06 01:44:32
Bob
I found that it was unnecessary to reset the function keys on worksheet closure. It went back to defaults on closure because we were using worksheet macro.
2018-05-05 11:25:16
Willy Vanhaelen
Be aware that the macros in this tip only disable the function keys pressed alone.
Combinations with Ctrl, Alt and Shift are still possible (and there are a lot of them).
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