Columns Method

Applies To

Application Object, Range Object, Worksheet Object.

Description

Accessor. Returns a Range object that represents a single column (Syntax 1) or a collection of columns (Syntax 2).

Syntax 1

object.Columns(index)

Syntax 2

object.Columns

object

Optional for Application, required for Range and Worksheet. The object that contains the columns. If you specify the Application object (or omit the object qualifier), this method applies to the active sheet in the active workbook. If the active sheet is not a worksheet, this method fails.

index

Required for Syntax 1. The name or number of the column.

Remarks

When applied to a Range object that is a multiple selection, this method returns columns from the first area of the range only. For example, if the Range object is a multiple selection with two areas, A1:B2 and C3:D4, Selection.Columns.Count returns 2, not 4. To use this method on a range that may contain a multiple selection, test Areas.Count to determine if the range is a multiple selection, and if it is, then loop over each area in the range; see the third example.

See Also

Range Method, Rows Method.

Example

This example formats the font of column one (column A) on Sheet1 as bold.

Worksheets("Sheet1").Columns(1).Font.Bold = True

This example sets the value of every cell in column one in the range named myRange to zero (0).

Range("myRange").Columns(1).Value = 0

This example displays the number of columns in the selection on Sheet1. If more than one area is selected, the example loops through each area.

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate
areaCount = Selection.Areas.Count
If areaCount <= 1 Then
    MsgBox "The selection contains " & _
        Selection.Columns.Count & " columns."
Else
    For i = 1 To areaCount
        MsgBox "Area " & i & " of the selection contains " & _
            Selection.Areas(i).Columns.Count & " columns."
    Next i
End If