This is the first step to learning about Macros for Excel and how to use them.
A macro is a small program that you make in Excel that automates tasks.
Basically, this "thing", the macro, can save you hours of time. You can create macros that do almost anything in Excel and even other Microsoft Office programs.
Macros are useful when you want to automate a repetitive, tedious, or complex process.
For example, you can create a macro that searches through all of the data in an Excel Workbook, compiles the important information, and emails that information through Outlook, and you can do all of this with just the click of a button once you make the macro.
In a moment, we will create a simple macro together, but first let's talk about how they are made.
Macros are made using VBA, which stands for Visual Basic for Applications.
Visual Basic is a programming language, and if you start learning it from a book, it can be terrifically annoying and confusing.
All you need to know is that VBA is the programming language that is used to create Macros. You DO NOT need to be a VBA expert to make macros; you just need to follow the tutorials here! :)
Now that you know what a macro is, let's create a simple one so you can see just how easy it is.
We have successfully programmed and run a macro for Excel!
As you can see, the basics of creating a macro for Excel are pretty simple. It does get more complex than this, but that depends on what you want to do. The best thing about creating macros though, is that you don't have to be a master programmer or even learn a lot about VBA in order to make some very useful macros.
Basically, since you are just creating a little helper program for yourself in Excel, you only need to learn the code that will do what you need; you don't need to learn everything about VBA to make complex macros.
The tutorials here will focus on teaching you how to do things with your macros and not just about conceptual crap that you'll never use.
Keep reading to learn more! :)
Make sure to download the sample workbook attached to this tutorial if you want to see the macro that was created.