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: Switching Windows in a Macro.

Switching Windows in a Macro

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated December 2, 2017)

1

Andrew needs, in his macro, to display a dialog box that allows a user to switch windows. When someone clicks the Window menu (in Excel), the available workbooks are listed at the bottom of the menu. Those are what Andrew needs to show up in the dialog box. He wonders if there is a built-in dialog box to do this, or if he needs to create his own.

The short answer is that there is no built-in dialog box to accomplish this task. You can, however, easily create your own. Here is a simple example:

Sub SwitchWindows()
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim n As Integer
    Dim s As String
    Dim v As Variant

    n = Windows.Count
    s = "Choose Window from:"
    For i = 1 To n
        s = s & Chr(10) & i & ")  " & Windows(i).Caption
    Next
    s = s & Chr(10) & "Enter a number from 1 to " & n
    v = Application.InputBox(prompt:=s, Type:=2)
    i = Val(v)
    If i >= 1 And i <= n Then
        Windows(i).Activate
    End If
End Sub

All this does is create a list of the names for each window in your system. It presents them in an InputBox, and then switches to whatever window the user selected.

If you are seeking different ways to present the same information, you can refer to this tip.

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 (11910) 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: Switching Windows 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

Converting an Unsupported Date Format

Excel makes it easy to import information created in other programs. Converting the imported data into something you can ...

Discover More

Formatting for Hundredths of Seconds

When you display a time in a cell, Excel normally displays just the hours, minutes, and seconds. If you want to display ...

Discover More

Understanding MRU Files

Don't you love all the acronyms used in computer terminology? One such acronym--"pertinent to Word users--"is MRU. This ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2013 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Recording a Macro

One of the most common ways of creating macros is to use Excel's macro recorder. This tip shows how easy it is to use the ...

Discover More

Using Named Ranges in a Macro

Named ranges are a great capability provided by Excel. You can define all sorts of named ranges in a workbook, but how do ...

Discover More

Automatically Changing References to VBA Libraries

VBA libraries are used to provide some functions to your macros. These libraries are often tied to the version of Excel ...

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.

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

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}] 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 3 + 8?

2017-12-04 07:40:04

Henk

Hi Allen

I get a run time error of type mismatch in the following line:

i = Val(v)

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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2021 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.