An Introduction to Excel Macros and VBA

Have you grown tired of manual processes in Excel, repeating the same tasks over and over again? You can liberated from such draconian processes and take advantage of the true power of Excel. I program in Excel on a near-daily basis. It seems that almost every task can be shortened with a few lines of code. To help you get started in the world of creating macros—and creating Excel Add-ins—I have created a lesson made for people with little to no programming experience, although you do need to be familiar with Excel. The lesson is adapted from curriculum created for a graduate class and has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder.

Lesson scope

This lesson is intended to familiarize the student with Excel macros and VBA programming. To accomplish this purpose, the student will be guided through the creation of a simple Excel Add-in for creating Pareto Charts.
Through the lesson, the student will learn how to record a macro, implement variables in the code, use input boxes, implement an error handler, use if/then statements, customize the Excel ribbon, implement User Forms, and create an Excel Add-in.
This lesson is intended for those with little or no programming experience. If you already have programming experience, feel free to review the sections that are already familiar to you. Be sure not to skip the assignments, however.

What are Excel Macros?

Excel macros are automation scripts that run inside Excel. The scripts are coded in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and may be coded manually or recorded through the Record Macro tool in Excel. Once written, Excel macros can automate simple tasks such as reordering a list or they can perform much more complicated tasks such as generating custom reports.

Lesson Structure

This lesson is broken up into three segments:
Segment 1: Recording an Excel Macro
Segment 2: Modifying an Excel Macro
Segment 3: Creating an Excel Add-in

Continue to Segment 1: Recording an Excel Macro > > >