Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, 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: Recording a Macro.

Recording a Macro

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 27, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021


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If you have a repetitive task that is a good candidate for a macro, you can use the macro recording capabilities of Excel to turn your actions into a macro. To record a macro, follow these steps:

  1. Display the Developer tab of the ribbon.
  2. Click the Record Macro tool. Excel displays the Record Macro dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Record Macro dialog box.

  4. In the Macro Name field, provide a name you want used for your macro. You can accept the default name, if you desire, but if you plan on using the macro more than once or twice, you will want to use a more descriptive name. The name you provide must not include any spaces.
  5. In the Description box you can provide an optional comment about your macro.
  6. Use the Store Macro In drop-down list to specify where you want the macro stored.
  7. Click OK.

Excel starts recording everything you do. The actions you take become steps in the macro and will be repeated when you later execute the macro. When you have finished the steps you want recorded in your macro, again display the Developer tab of the ribbon and click the Stop Recording tool. (This tool is only available when you are actually recording your macro.) The macro is then saved and available for use at any time.

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 (5683) 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: Recording 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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Comments

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What is five more than 8?

2024-01-29 12:16:39

J. Woolley

BARRY mentioned the "Use relative references" function (option) but was vague about how. It is in the Code group of the Ribbon's Developer tab under the Record Macro "tool" discussed in the Tip.
See https://www.excel-easy.com/vba/examples/use-relative-references.html

You might also notice the Record Macro "tool" near the left side of the Status Bar at the bottom of Excel's window. If you don't see it, right-click the Status Bar and press M to enable it (Macro Recording). This makes it easy to start and stop recording, but you still must use the Ribbon's Developer tab to toggle the status of Use Relative References (which is always FALSE when Excel starts).

The status of Use Relative References can be reviewed (but not set) in VBA using the Application.RecordRelative property. My Excel Toolbox includes the following function:
    =VBAResult(Expression)
where the text argument is a VBA expression (right side of equal sign). So this cell formula will return the current status of Use Relative References:
    =VBAResult("Application.RecordRelative")
See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/


2024-01-27 07:11:17

BARRY

The macro recorder is a useful tool for those not into VBA. However it's default setting of using absolute addresses can be quite limiting, flipping judicially between that and relative addressing whilst recording the macro greatly improves the usefulness of any macro that you may record.
The "Use relative references" function does this, accessing it depends upon your version of Excel.


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