Macros are little programs that run within Excel and help automate common repetitive tasks. Macros are one of Excel’s most powerful, yet underutilized feature. Using macros, you can save hours and boost productivity manifold.
- EXCEL MACRO is a record and playback tool that simply records your Excel steps and the macro will play it back as many times as you want. VBA Macros save time as they automate repetitive tasks. It is a piece of programming code that runs in an Excel environment but you.
- Recording a Macro in Excel. Now that we have everything in place, let’s learn how to record a macro in Excel. Let’s record a very simple macro – one that selects a cell and enters the text ‘Excel’ in it. I am using the text ‘Excel’ while recording this macro, but feel free to enter your name or any other text that you like.
- Mar 20, 2017 Excel has a built-in tool for writing macros called the Visual Basic Editor—or VBA Editor for short. To open that, open a spreadsheet and use the shortcut Alt + F11 (for Mac: Fn + Shift + F11 ).
In this blog post, we will learn how to create an ultra-simple macro in Excel 2013 to introduce you to the concept. For a more detailed overview of advanced Excel functions, including creating complicated macros, try the comprehensive Excel training course for beginners and intermediate users.
Oct 11, 2017 If you are a Mac user, you will now be able to write macros to help you automate Excel and save time with your job. If you are new to macros or want to learn more, checkout my upcoming free webinar on The 7 Steps to Getting Started with Macros & VBA.
What is a Macro?
A macro can be defined as the recording of a series of tasks. It’s the simplest form of automation – show a software program the steps you follow to get something done, and the software will follow along. When used right, macros can save you hours by automating simple, repetitive tasks.
Marcos in Excel are written in Excel VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). This is a version of Visual Basic (a prominent Microsoft programming language) developed specifically for use in Office-like applications. Creating simple macros – copy a formula from one cell to another, for instance – is fairly easy. Complicated macros require a bit more work. You’ll need to be quite intimate with Excel VBA to automate the more complex tasks in your workflow. You can learn more about these in this advanced Excel 2010 course.
For this tutorial, we will create a very simple macro to get you up to speed with Excel programming and automation.
Step 1: Activate the Developer Toolbar
To write macros, you will need access to the Developer toolbar in the top ribbon. This is hidden by default. To activate it, go to File -> Options -> Customize Ribbon and check the box next to ‘Developer’.
Press OK. You should now see the Developer toolbar in the ribbon.
Step 2: Enable Macros
Macros are disabled by default in Excel. This is to protect you from malicious macros running automatically in downloaded Excel files.
To use macros, you will have to first enable them from the Trust Center. To do this, go to File -> Options -> Trust Center. Click on the ‘Trust Center Settings’ button in this menu.
In this new window, go to ‘Macro Settings’ and select the ‘Enable all macros’ radio button.
Click OK. You can now start using macros in your Excel spreadsheets.
Step 3: Prepare the Spreadsheet
In this tutorial, we will create a very simple macro to change the color, size and boldness of text.
In your spreadsheet, type in some text in any of the cells. We will later record a macro to change the formatting of this text.
Now that our spreadsheet is ready, we can start creating the macro.
Step 4: Create a New Macro
In the ‘Developer’ tab, click on ‘Record Macro’
A pop-up window will ask you to give a name, storage location, shortcut and description for the macro.
Type in whatever you like over here. It helps to be descriptive with your macro titles. You might end up using dozens of macros in a large spreadsheet. Being able to quickly find individual macros by name will save you hours of frustration later. It’s also a good practice to add a description to remind you what the macro actually does.
Two important considerations here:
- Shortcut Key: The shortcut key gives you quick access to the macro. Using a custom shortcut is highly recommended – you are using macros to save time, after all. A lot of default Excel functions are locked in to use the CTRL + Letter/Number shortcut format. To avoid conflicts with existing shortcuts, add not at least two keys to the shortcut – something like CTRL + SHIFT + A, or CTRL + A + 1
- Store Macro in: In this drop down menu, you can decide where to save the macro. If you choose ‘ThisWorkbook’, the macro will be available for use in the existing workbook only. Choosing ‘NewWorkbook’ will, as you guessed, save the macro in a new workbook. The most powerful option here is to save the macro in ‘PersonalMacroWorkbook’. Macros stored in this workbook are available across all your workbooks. Think of it as a central repository for every macro that you create. The actual macro workbook file itself will be hidden the Windows AppData folder, but it will load up automatically when you start Excel, giving you complete access to all macros.
For the purpose of this tutorial, we will give our macro a shortcut of CTRL + SHIFT + A and store it within the same workbook.
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Step 5: Record the Macro
Once you’ve entered all the require details, click OK. Your macro is now being recorded.
Select the cell where you entered your text. Switch to the ‘Home’ tab and change its color to red, font size to 18, and font weight to ‘bold’.
![Macros Macros](/uploads/1/3/4/7/134770358/492615231.png)
When you’re done, click on the ‘Stop Recording’ button in the Developer tab, or hit the small square block at the bottom of the spreadsheet next to ‘Ready’.
![Download Download](/uploads/1/3/4/7/134770358/714175648.jpg)
You have now successfully recorded an Excel macro!
Step 6: Test the Macro
Now that you’ve recorded your first macro, it’s time to see it live.
Add a few more blocks of text to your spreadsheet, one cell at a time. You might have to change the default formatting back to black font, 11 point font size and normal text.
Macros For Mac Excel Tutorial
Once you’ve added the text, simply select any cell and press the shortcut for your macro (CTRL + SHIFT + A). The formatting will immediately change to 18 pt. bold font in red color. You can apply this to each cell at a time, or select multiple cells together.
The formatting changes that would otherwise take you multiple clicks now take just one keystroke.
This is one of the most basic macros you can create. As you can imagine, complex macros can be created to perform very complicated tasks. You can learn more about creating such macros with Excel VBA programming in this Excel training course for advanced topics.
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Applies to Excel templates: 'Georges Excel Checkbook for Mac'
Macros Excel Mac 2016
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How to enable macros on Excel for Mac 2016?
While Excel 2016 for Mac and Excel 2016 for Windows are more similar in features than ever before, there are still differences including differences in Excel settings and also the VBA macros and how to enable macros. To enable macros in Excel 2016 for Mac, please view the Microsoft help article on how to enable macros in Excel 2016 for Mac.
Macros Run on Open and Closing of File
Excel Macros For Beginners
When you enable macros and 'Georges Excel Checkbook for Mac' opens and properly runs those macros, certain Excel default settings will be changed. These changed settings will apply to other Excel files you open if 'Georges Excel Checkbook for Mac' is open, unless you open those files in a different instance/session of Excel. Excels default settings will be changed to the following settings each time 'Georges Excel Checkbook for Mac' is opened and its macros enabled.
- The drag and drop feature and fill handle will be turned off.
- Background error-checking will be disabled.
- Include new rows and columns in table will be disabled.
- Fill Formulas in Tables to create calculated columns will be disabled.
- Show paste options buttons will be disabled.
- AutoRecover for this workbook only ('Georges Excel Checkbook for Mac') will be disabled.
- Display AutoCorrect options will be disabled.
- After pressing Enter move selection to the Right (as opposed to down)
If 'Georges Excel Checkbook for Mac' macros have been enabled and they properly execute and you then close 'Georges Excel Checkbook for Mac', the above changed settings will be restored to Excels default settings with exception of the AutoRecover for this workbook only ('Georges Excel Checkbook for Mac').
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