How to Create a Simple Macro in Excel

February 23rd, 2007

All jobs and fields require some repetitive steps. Even the most creative jobs can
usually require some monotonous tass. !ools lie E"cel can help us automate some of
those repetitive steps and that #ay maes our lives easier, so #e can $et the #or done
quicly and have more leisure time. %n essence that is #hat &acros do' they(re shortcuts
for repetitive tass done #ithin E"cel. %n this tutorial, % #ill sho# you ho# to create a
simple macro that #ill memori)e the steps involved in a simple repetitive tas. *e are
$oin$ to be usin$ fictitious information for the !rainin$ +epartment in a restaurant chain
company called ,appy !ummies. !his company has restaurants in five major cities, so a
$reat deal of trainin$ is done all year round. All restaurants are assi$ned a !rainin$
&ana$er - there are five !rainin$ &an$ers in total. *e(ll pretend you are the !rainin$
.pecialist #ho #ors out of the /orporate 0ffice located in &iami, F1 and are
responsible for analy)in$ and preparin$ reports on all the trainin$s completed. 0ne
repetitive tas that you al#ays perform is enterin$ the names of all the !rainin$ &ana$ers
to prepare the daily trainin$ reports.
1et(s 2et .tarted3
1. 2o to Start>Programs>Microsoft office>Microsoft Excel to open the application.
!hen, $o to Start>New to open a ne# spreadsheet. 2o to File4.ave as and save the ne#
file before $oin$ further so you don(t loose any #or.
Please Note: Macros require you to set a security level of low, medium or high. For the
purposes of this tutorial, which is just to show you the simple basic steps to creating a
macro, we are going to set the security level to medium since a security level of high will
restrict the use of the macro.
2. 2o to Tools>Macro>Securit, and a pop up #indo# named 5.ecurity6 #ill appear.
.elect the &edium option under the .ecurity 1evel tab and clic 07 to continue.
!. 2o to Tools>Macro>"ecor# New Macro.
$. A pop up #indo# named 58ecord &acro6 #ill appear. ,ere you #ill n
need to enter a name for the macro under 5&acro 9ame6 - %(m callin$ this macro 5ht6
:the initials of the company, ,appy !ummies;. <lease note that the first character of the
macro name should be a letter, then you can use any letter, number or underscore but #ith
no spaces. !hen, enter a symbol from the eyboard under 5shortcut ey6 to be used as a
shortcut to activate the macro - %(m enterin$ 5h6 since it is the initial of the company(s
name. !hen, you need to select the placement of the macro under 5.tore macro in=6 - %(m
savin$ this macro in the 5<ersonal &acro *orboo6 so that it is available #hen you
create ne# spreadsheets and #ant to use the macro. Finally, enter a brief description of
the macro under 5+escription6 and clic %& to continue.
'. %n this step, you #ill record the macro. >ou #ill see a tiny pop up #indo# that #ill
appear #ith a blue button - you can press this blue button at any time to stop recordin$
the steps for the macro. 9o#, enter the five names of the trainin$ mana$ers startin$ under
column A, ro# ? - !he names are= &ary .mith, !homas .picler, &or$an 1ope),
.amantha +avies and 9ie !emples. 0nce you are done enterin$ all five names, clic the
blue button to stop recordin$ the ne# macro. >ou are done recordin$ the macro, but
please remember that they eyboard shortcut for this macro is /ontrol 7ey @ h, and that
you saved the macro in your 5personal macro #orboo.6
(. %n this step #ill test that the 5ht6 macro #ors. 2o to )ile>New to open a ne#
spreadsheet. !hen, press the /ontrol ey and 5,6 ey at the same to activate the macro.
>ou #ill see that the names of the five !rainin$ &ana$ers have appeared under column
A. <lease note that you can also $o to Tools>Macro>Macros and select this macro from
the 5<ersonal &acro *orboo6 to run it.
Well Done! ou!ve learned some quic" simple steps that will help you create macros. #ut,
do "eep in mind that macros can be more comple$ and powerful% so the more you learn
about them and practice using them, the better you will get. & will you show more
comple$ functionalities of macros in other separate tutorials.
%f this tutorial has helped you, please consider donatin$.