Excel Workbook For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 21

Using Macros

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding how macros work

Recording macros in a worksheet

Using the relative references when recording macros

Adding macros to the Quick Access toolbar and the Ribbon

Do you perform certain actions in Excel repeatedly? Perhaps you enter the same half dozen labels each time you start a new worksheet. Perhaps you apply the same formatting and options each time you create a new table or chart. These repetitive actions might not take up much time when you do them just once, but if you do them many times during the course of a day, they can add up to a significant chunk of your valuable time. To help you gain back most of that time, macros enable you to automate almost any task that you can undertake in Excel. By using Excel’s macro recorder to record tasks that you perform routinely, you not only speed up your tasks considerably (because Excel can play back your keystrokes and mouse actions much faster than you perform them manually), but you're also assured that each step in the task is carried out the same way each time you perform the task. ...