VBA Activate Sheet

Excel VBA Activate Sheet

For activating or selecting a sheet in excel, we manually go to the sheet and click on the Sheet tab. But when we write a code where we need to link the different sheets in different forms, then we can use the VBA Activate Sheet function. This can be done with the help of the “.Activate” command in VBA. This will automatically select or activate the sheet for further use.

Activating a sheet means selecting that sheet. And to know whether that sheet is activated or selected, it is better to check after running the code in excel if we are able to see the current sheet or not.

How to Activate the Sheet in Excel VBA?

Below are the different examples to activate sheet in excel using VBA code.

VBA Activate Sheet – Example #1

There are various ways to activate a sheet in VBA. For this, we have considered 3 sheets named as First, Second and Third as shown below. Purpose of naming each sheet is to distinguish between sheet number and sheet name, which will be used in upcoming examples.

Follow the below steps to activate sheet in Excel VBA.

Step 1: Now go to VBA and from the Insert menu tab, select Module as shown below.

The module is the place where we will write the code for Activating Sheet. After that, we will get a new module opened.

Step 2: In that module, create Subcategory of function in any name. For better understanding, we have created it in the name of VBA Activate Sheet in sequence. This will help in tracking the proper module.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet1()

End Sub

Step 3: Now use Sheets function for selecting any sheet.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet1()

Sheets("First")

End Sub

Step 4: Now to actually selecting or activating the sheet in excel use Activate command trailed by dot (.)

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet1()

Sheets("First").Activate

End Sub

By this, we allow the sheet named as “First” to get selected whenever the code calls for it.

Step 5: Now do the same for sheet name Second and Third as shown below.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet1()

Sheets("First").Activate
Sheets("Second").Activate
Sheets("Third").Activate

End Sub

Step 6: Now compile the code step-by-step or in one go. The small code can be compiled in one go which may not give an error. After that run the code by clicking on the Play button which is below the menu bar.

We will see that the Third Sheet will get selected as it was located at the end. If we do step-by-step compile then we will be able to see who First, Second and Third Sheet are getting activated by pressing F8 Key.

As the compiler passes through the first line, we will see sheet First is activated as shown below.

Again pressing F8 Key, the compiler will pass through the second line of code and we can see sheet Second is activated.

And when compiler reached to End Sub of the code structure, we will sheet Third is activated as shown below.

VBA Activate Sheet – Example #2

We can also use Worksheet command to select and activate any sheet. This process is quite similar to example-1. For this again we will consider the file sheet name First, Second and Third. Follow the below steps to activate sheet in Excel VBA.

Step 1: In Module, start writing Subcategory of VBA Activate Sheet in sequence as shown below.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet2()

End Sub

Step 2: As we used Sheet command for activating Sheet, here we will use Worksheet command.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet2()

Worksheets("First")

End Sub

Step 3: Now use Activate function trailed by dot(.) here as well to activate the sheet.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet2()

Worksheets("First").Activate

End Sub

Step 4: Now do the same for Sheet Second and Third as well.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet2()

Worksheets("First").Activate
Worksheets("Second").Activate
Worksheets("Third").Activate

End Sub

Step 5: Once done then compile the code. Here we will do step-by-step compile to see the changes. For press F8 which does step-by-step compiling and run the code as well. As the compiler passes through the second line of code, we will see in the Excel sheet Second is activated or selected.

Step 6: Again press the F8 key to select the next sheet. We will see, as compiler passes through the third line of code and reaches to end, sheet named Third is activated or selected.

VBA Activate Sheet – Example #3

There is another way to activate any worksheet. For this also we will consider the same set of sheets with same names First, Second and Third as used in the above examples. In this example, we will see 3 combinations of Sheet and Worksheet function along with Select, which we will use in place of Activate. The select function works in the same manner as Activate. Using a combination of different function for the same use we will see how the output varies.

Follow the below steps to activate sheet in Excel VBA.

Step 1: For this open a module and put the subcategory in the name of the performed function or in any other name as per your choice. We are keeping the name but in sequence, as shown below.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet3()

End Sub

Step 2: Again in the same manner use Sheets function with sheet name as shown below.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet3()

Sheets("First")

End Sub

Step 3: After that use Select function trailed by dot (.)

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet3()

Sheets("First").Select

End Sub

Step 4: Now in the second line of code, we will use Sheets function along with Activate for sheet named Second as shown below.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet3()

Sheets("First").Select
Sheets("Second").Activate

End Sub

Step 5: And for the last sheet named as Third we will use Worksheets along with Select function to activate it as shown below.

Code:

Sub VBA_ActivateSheet3()

Sheets("First").Select
Sheets("Second").Activate
Worksheets("Third").Select

End Sub

Step 6: Now compile the complete code and run the code step-by-step to see the changes by pressing the F8 key. As the compiler passes through the first line of code, sheet First will be activated.

As the compile goes through the second line of code, sheet Second will be activated.

And at last, when compiler comes to End Sub, sheet Third will get activated as shown below.

This is how we can use a combination of Sheets and Worksheets along with Activate and Select functions to activate any worksheet.

Pros of Excel VBA Activate Sheet

• Selecting any sheet in excel as well as with VBA is quite easy.
• This function is quite helpful when our code is linked with data with different worksheets.

Things to Remember

• Select and Activate function has the same work of activating any worksheet. Although the name is different.
• Different combination of Select and Activate along with Sheets and Worksheet is possible for activating one or multiple worksheets.
• Activating any sheets means selecting of that worksheet.
• Once done with implementing code, save the file in Macro Enable Worksheet. This helps in saving the code so that we can use it multiple times without any loss.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to VBA Activate Sheet. Here we discussed how to Activate sheet in Excel using VBA code along with some practical examples and downloadable excel template. You can also go through our other suggested articles –

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