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: Grabbing a User's Name from Excel.
Mark has a worksheet where he wants to record the name of a user, but rather than asking the user to fill in a form, he wants to automatically grab their username from Excel.
The username that a person sets in Excel when first installing the software or when changing the general options for the program cannot be accessed via formula. Instead, you need to use a macro to access the information and then make it available to your worksheet. This is possible through the use of a user-defined function. Consider the following simple example:
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: 
Function GetUserName()
GetUserName = Application.UserName
End Function
Note that the macro does nothing more than to access the UserName property of the Application object. You use this function in your worksheet in the following manner:
=GetUserName()
With this simple formula in a cell, the username is displayed in the cell.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3289) 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: Grabbing a User's Name from Excel.
Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!
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2017-10-19 07:46:22
mahdiar
hi.how i get users group name from excel vba?
2017-03-21 14:54:13
Kathleen
I receive the same error as Nomka - "It did not work for me showing error #Name?"
2016-09-30 10:19:54
Raj
it's helpful..thanks.
2016-04-12 18:08:18
Brenda
it works but when I give the workbook to a co-worker, their name - sometimes appears.?? Sometimes it still displays my name.
2015-11-03 09:25:22
awyatt
Nomka: You would get that error in the workbook if you didn't create the macro (GetUserName) in a regular module in that workbook.
-Allen
2015-11-03 05:31:44
Nomka
It did not work for me showing error #Name?
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