SELECT Syntax 1

Macro Sheets Only

Equivalent to selecting cells or changing the active cell. There are three syntax forms of SELECT. Use syntax 1 to select a cell on a worksheet or macro sheet; use one of the other syntax forms to select worksheet or macro sheet objects or chart items.

Syntax

SELECT(selection, active_cell)

Selection is the cell or range of cells you want to select. Selection can be a reference to the active worksheet, such as !$A$1:$A$3 or !Sales, or an R1C1-style reference to a cell or range relative to the active cell in the current selection, such as "R[-1]C[-1]:R[1]C[1]". The reference must be in text form. If selection is omitted, the current selection is used.

Active_cell is the cell in selection you want to make the active cell. Active_cell can be a reference to a single cell on the active worksheet, such as !$A$1, or an R1C1-style reference relative to the active cell, such as "R[-1]C[-1]". The reference must be in text form. If active_cell is omitted, SELECT makes the cell in the upper-left corner of selection the active cell.

Remarks

• Active_cell must be within selection. If it is not, an error message is displayed and SELECT returns the #VALUE! error value.
• If you are recording a macro using relative references, Microsoft Excel records the action using R1C1-style relative references in the form of text.
• If you are recording using absolute references, Microsoft Excel records the action using R1C1-style absolute references in the form of text.
• You cannot give an external reference to a specific sheet as the selection argument. The sheet on which you want to make a selection must be active when you use SELECT. Use FORMULA.GOTO to make a selection on another sheet in the same workbook or in an external workbook.

Tip You can enter data in a cell without selecting the cell by using the reference arguments to the CUT, COPY, or FORMULA functions.

Examples

The following macro formula selects cells C3:E5 on the active worksheet and makes C5 the active cell:

SELECT(!$C$3:$E$5, !$C$5)

If the active cell is C3, the following macro formula selects cells E5:G7 and makes cell F6 the active cell in the selection:

SELECT("R[2]C[2]:R[4]C[4]", "R[1]C[1]")

You can also make multiple nonadjacent selections with SELECT. The following macro formula selects a number of nonadjacent ranges:

SELECT("R1C1, R3C2:R4C3, R8C4:R10C5") 

The following sequence of macro formulas moves the active cell right, left, down, and up within the selection, just as TAB, SHIFT+TAB, ENTER, and SHIFT+ENTER do:

SELECT(, "RC[1]")
SELECT(, "RC[-1]")
SELECT(, "R[1]C")
SELECT(, "R[-1]C")

Use SELECT with the OFFSET function to select a new range a specified distance away from the current range. For example, the following macro formula selects a range that is the same size as the current range, one column over:

SELECT(OFFSET(SELECTION(), 0, 1)) 

Related Functions

ACTIVE.CELL Returns the reference of the active cell

SELECT.SPECIAL Selects a group of cells belonging to a category

SELECTION Returns the reference of the selection

Syntax2 Selects objects on worksheets

Syntax3 Selects chart objects

List of Command-Equivalent Functions