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: Selecting Visible Cells in a Macro.

Selecting Visible Cells in a Macro

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 11, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Karthi notes that he often needs to use Go To Special to select just the visible cells in a selection. This makes him wonder if there is a way that such cells can be selected in a macro.

There are numerous ways that just the visible cells can be selected without a macro, but those won't be gone into here. The assumption is that you want to select the visible cells as part of a larger macro you may be creating. For instance, you might need to select the visible cells before doing some sort of formatting or before you process the cells in some other way.

To select just the visible cells from a range of selected cells, you can use the following line of code:

Selection.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Select

If you need to work on some other initial range of cells before selecting the visible subset of those cells, all you need to do is change the "Selection" portion of the line. For instance, you could select the visible cells in the used range of the worksheet by using this line:

ActiveSheet.UsedRange.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Select

Similarly, you could select all the visible cells on the entire worksheet by using this line:

Cells.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Select

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 (8523) 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: Selecting Visible Cells in a Macro.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Printing in White

Word allows you to print in every color of the rainbow, but not in white. (Bad comparison; white is not a color of the ...

Discover More

Reusing a Bookmark

Bookmarks in Word are just like bookmarks used in paper books, any given bookmark may be reused to mark a new location. ...

Discover More

Speeding Up Mail Merges

The Mail Merge tool in Word is a great way to create new, customized documents. If you are doing a lot of merging, you ...

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Copying Worksheets in a Macro

Copying worksheets (one or many) is easy to do manually. What is not well known is that it is even easy to make the ...

Discover More

Trouble Recording Paste Special Formula

Sometimes, when you upgrade to a new version of Excel, you could run into a problem recording macros that you had no ...

Discover More

Switching Windows in a Macro

When you have multiple workbooks open at the same time, Excel allows you to easily switch between those workbooks. How ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 7 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.