Using For Each in Excel range

For Each cell in range menu

As the image above shows - taken from the Excel VBA menu-(download here...), there are many ways one can specify ranges to loop through. In this article several ways are discussed to do this.

For Each cell in a range

data for each example

One of the most common things you will do when programming VBA in Excel is looping though a collection of cells in a specified range, as in the example below which prints the Address and Value of 4 cells on the 'Data' worksheet to the immediate window: $B$2:a, $C$2:b, $B$3:1, $C$3:2.


Dim rng As Range 
Set rng = Application.Range("Data!B2:C3")
Dim cel As Range
For Each cel In rng.Cells
    With cel
        Debug.Print .Address & ":" & .Value
    End With
Next cel

Loop through the cells in a row

data for each example

The code below shows how to loop through the cells in the row with RowIndex:=2. Applied to the data in the sheet on the right this will return 1, 2. From this we see that rows are counted from the starting point of rng, so the row is 3 on the worksheet, 2 inside rng. Also, only cells inside the set range rng are taken.


Dim rng As Range
Set rng = Application.Range("Data!B2:C3")
Dim i As Integer
For i = 1 To rng.Rows.Count
    Debug.Print rng.Cells(RowIndex:=2, ColumnIndex:=i).Value
Next

Loop through the cells in a column

The code below shows how to loop through the cells in the column with ColumnIndex:=B. Applied to the data in the sheet on the right this will return a, 1, 2. From this we see that columns are counted from the starting point of rng, so the column is C on the worksheet, B inside rng. Also, only cells inside the set range rng are taken.


Dim rng As Range: Set rng = 
Dim i As Integer
For i = 1 To rng.Rows.Count
    Debug.Print rng.Cells(RowIndex:=i, ColumnIndex:="B").Value
Next

Loop through the columns in a range

The code below shows how to loop through the columns in the Range B2:C4. Applied to the data in the sheet on the right this will return 2, 3. From this we see that columns are counted from the starting point of the worksheet.


Dim rng As Range: Set rng = Application.Range("B2:C4")
Dim col As Range
For Each col In rng.Columns
    Debug.Print col.Column
Next col

Loop through the rows in a range

The code below shows how to loop through the rows in the Range B2:C4. Applied to the data in the sheet on the right this will return 2, 3, 4. From this we see that rows are counted from the starting point of the worksheet.


Dim rng As Range: Set rng = Application.Range("B2:C4")
Dim col As Range
For Each row In rng.Rows
    Debug.Print col.Row
Next row

Loop through the areas in a range

data for each 2 areas example

Often we assume a range to have a rectangular shape, but this need not be the case. The example sheet on the right shows a selection containing two areas: Selection.Address returns $B$2:$C$3,$F$2:$F$3. Such a situation may also occur as a result of the Intersect method, or other causes. To handle the two ranges separately can can pick then from the Areas collection:


Dim rng As Range: Set rng = Application.Selection
Dim rngArea As Range
For Each rngArea In rng.Areas
    Debug.Print rngArea.Address
Next rngArea