Excel.Tips.Net ExcelTips (Menu Interface)

Forcing Input to Uppercase

Summary: If you type information into a workbook, you may want to make sure that what you type is always stored in uppercase. You can implement this type of feature by using a couple of short macros. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

If you are developing a worksheet for others to use, you may want them to always enter information in uppercase. Excel provides a worksheet function that allows you to convert information to uppercase, but it doesn't apply as people are actually entering information. For instance, if someone enters information in cell B6, then the worksheet function can't be used for converting the information in B6 to uppercase.

Instead, you must use a macro to do your changing for you. When programming in VBA, you can force Excel to run a particular macro whenever anything is changed in a worksheet cell. The following macro can be used to convert all worksheet input to uppercase:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
With Target
    If Not .HasFormula Then
        .Value = UCase(.Value)
    End If
End With
End Sub

For the macro to work, however, it must be entered in a specific place. Follow these steps to place the macro:

  1. Display the VBA Editor by pressing Alt+F11.
  2. In the Project window, at the left side of the Editor, double-click on the name of the worksheet you are using. (You may need to first open the VBAProject folder, and then open the Microsoft Excel Objects folder under it.)
  3. In the code window for the worksheet, paste the above macro.
  4. Close the VBA Editor.

Now anything (except formulas) that are entered into any cell of the worksheet will be automatically converted to uppercase. If you don't want everything converted, but only cells in a particular area of the worksheet, you can modify the macro slightly:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
If Not (Application.Intersect(Target, Range("A1:B10")) Is Nothing) Then
    With Target
        If Not .HasFormula Then
            .Value = UCase(.Value)
        End If
    End With
End If
End Sub

In this particular example, only text entered in cells A1:B10 will be converted; everything else will be left as entered. If you need to have a different range converted, specify that range in the second line of the macro.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2568) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Related Tips:

Tame Your Data! ExcelTips: Filters and Filtering provides all the details necessary to let you manage large sets of data with confidence and ease. Its information-packed pages demonstrate how to use the two types of filters provided by Excel: AutoFilters and advanced filters. Check out ExcelTips: Filters and Filtering today!