Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Page Numbers in VBA.

Page Numbers in VBA

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 9, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Steve is looking for a way to determine, in a VBA macro, the number of pages that a worksheet will have, when printed, and the page number on which a particular cell will print. This task is not quite as easy as one would hope, but it can be done.

It seems that the best way to handle this is to use an outmoded (but still available) Excel 4 function to determine the number of total printed pages in a worksheet. Then you can use the HPageBreaks and VPageBreaks collections to figure out where the cell falls in the matrix of pages that will be printed. The following is an example of a macro that utilizes these items:

Sub PageInfo()
    Dim iPages As Integer
    Dim iCol As Integer
    Dim iCols As Integer
    Dim lRows As Long
    Dim lRow As Long
    Dim x As Long
    Dim y As Long
    Dim iPage As Integer

    iPages = ExecuteExcel4Macro("Get.Document(50)")

    With ActiveSheet
        y = ActiveCell.Column
        iCols = .VPageBreaks.Count
        x = 0
        Do
            x = x + 1
        Loop Until x = iCols _
          Or y < .VPageBreaks(x).Location.Column
        iCol = x
        If y >= .VPageBreaks(x).Location.Column Then
            iCol = iCol + 1
        End If

        y = ActiveCell.Row
        lRows = .HPageBreaks.Count
        x = 0
        Do
            x = x + 1
        Loop Until x = lRows _
          Or y < .HPageBreaks(x).Location.Row
        lRow = x
        If y >= .HPageBreaks(x).Location.Row Then
            lRow = lRow + 1
        End If

        If .PageSetup.Order = xlDownThenOver Then
            iPage = (iCol - 1) * (lRows + 1) + lRow
        Else
            iPage = (lRow - 1) * (iCols + 1) + iCol
        End If
    End With
    MsgBox "Cell " & ActiveCell.Address & _
      " is on " & vbCrLf & "Page " & _
      iPage & " of " & iPages & " pages"
End Sub

One thing that you should keep in mind with this macro is that the HPageBreaks and VPageBreaks collections are only considered accurate if you are viewing the worksheet in Page Break Preview (View | Page Break Preview). Thus, you'll want to make sure that you are in that mode before selecting a cell and running the macro.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3135) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Page Numbers in VBA.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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