Determining Your Version of Excel

The instructions for some of the tips you see featured in ExcelTips vary depending on the version of Excel you are using. If you are a relative newcomer to Excel, you may not know exactly how to determine which version you are using.

There are a couple of ways you can figure out which version you are using. The first is to watch Excel as you start the program. Depending on the speed of your system, you may notice the version in the splash screen that appears as Excel starts up. (I say that this depends on the speed of your system because I've seen some systems that are so fast, the splash screen is gone before anyone can fully see everything that is on it.)

Once you have started Excel, there is a better way to figure out your version: Choose About Microsoft Excel from the Help menu. Excel displays the About Microsoft Excel dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The About Microsoft Excel dialog box.

Note that near the top of the dialog box you can see the version number you are using. When you are through reviewing the information, click OK to close the dialog box.

You can also use a single-line macro that will show you your Excel version:

Sub MyVersion()
    MsgBox Application.Version
End Sub

The macro pops up a dialog box that shows a number, such as 8.0, 9.0, 10.0, etc. The versions for which this tip was created are Excel 97 (8.0), Excel 2000 (9.0), Excel 2002 (10.0), and Excel 2003 (11.0). (If you get a larger number, you are using a later version of Excel and should really follow the link in the following paragraph to the tip applicable to your version of Excel.)

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2959) 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: Determining Your Version of Excel.