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: Reversing Cell Contents.

Reversing Cell Contents

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 7, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Did you ever want to reverse the contents of what is contained in a cell? Using the Reverse macro, you can easily change "My text" to "txet yM." The macro is instructive in techniques to access and modify the contents of a cell.

Sub Reverse()
    If Not ActiveCell.HasFormula Then
        sRaw = ActiveCell.Text
        sNew = ""
        For J = 1 To Len(sRaw)
            sNew = Mid(sRaw, J, 1) + sNew
        Next J
        ActiveCell.Value = sNew
    End If
End Sub

This macro only affects a single selected cell, and it will not make any changes to a cell that already contains a formula.

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 (2322) 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: Reversing Cell Contents.

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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