Controlling Display of Toolbar Buttons

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 1, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Jody is in the process of developing custom toolbar buttons and assigning macros to the buttons. She wants to have the buttons be enabled whenever at least one worksheet is visible, but is grasping for the proper code to handle such a situation.

There are many ways that this can be approached, as one might assume with an environment as diverse as Excel. One possible solution is to create a routine that simply checks if there are any visible windows on the screen. If there are, then the toolbar buttons can be enabled; if there aren't, then they can be disabled. The following macro will do just that:

Sub CheckButtons()
    Dim bOneOpen As Boolean
    Dim I As Integer
    Dim J As Integer
    
    bOneOpen = False
    For I = 1 To Workbooks.Count
        For J = 1 To Workbooks(I).Windows.Count
            If Workbooks(I).Windows(J).Visible Then bOneOpen = True
        Next J
        If bOneOpen Then Exit For
    Next I
    If bln Then
        'enable buttons
    Else
        'disable buttons
    End If
End Sub

Notice the two comments near the bottom of the macro. All you need to do is replace those comments with the appropriate code to enable or disable your toolbar buttons. (The code will vary, depending on the number and configuration of your buttons.)

This macro can be called either manually, or it can be called from any of the events that are triggered by window changes, such as those that fire when windows are opened, resized, minimized, maximized, or restored.

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 (2618) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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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