Written by Puneet for Excel 2007, Excel 2010, Excel 2013, Excel 2016, Excel 2019, Excel for Mac
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Jul 25, 2019 The Best Macro Recording Software for Windows 10. While some Windows software includes software-specific macros, you can record macros for any application in Windows 10 using TinyTask. To use TinyTask, head over to the TinyTask page on Softpedia. To add the software to Windows 10, press the giant DOWNLOAD NOW button on that page. Jul 11, 2017 You can use Automator and other free software to record and play back your mouse moves for repetitive actions. Automator's great, but here we also offer an alternative, MurGaa Recorder. This Macro Recorder for Apple's Macintosh Operating Systems is Free to Download and is the best Macro Recorder for Mac which you can get for $8.00 only. You can Record all types of Mouse and Keyboard Actions with this Macintosh Macro Recorder. Whether you wish to Record Mouse Clicks, Mouse Movements, Mouse Scrolling, Mouse Dragging or Key. Ever get tired of repeating the same steps over and over again? TinyTask lets you record a series of steps. And play them back. But instead of it being a vid.
- Record a macro means to record the actions that you perform in Excel.
- You need to use the macro recorder to record a macro.
- The macro recorder generates the code at the back end while you are performing the activity.
- In Excel, you cannot pause while recording a macro.
- Macro recorder doesn’t create a perfect code, so make sure to clean up your code after recording.
This guide will help you to learn all the aspects of recording a macro. You will also learn to clean the code after recording it.
So let’s get started.
What is the macro recorder?
Excel Macro Recorder is a tool that can record actions (not all) that you perform in Excel and generates code for that. Perform a specific task once, and it generates a macro for it, and for next time instead of doing that task manually, you need to run that code.
Think about a video camera, it just works like it and generates code for the activity that you perform.
You need to understand that there can be some occasions where a macro recorder won’t be able to provide a code. However, still, it’s a great way to know the code if you don’t know.
[sc name=”ad-level-1″]You can find the macro recorder button on the developer tab.
Using VBA for Programming in Excel is one of the Advanced Excel Skills and to get started with VBA you need to master macro recording.
Planning before you record a macro
If you want to record a video, you need to do some planning before it, like creating a script, having proper lights, and stuff like that.
In the same way, for recording a macro, it’s essential to do some planning.
The thing is, you don’t want to get a code for the activity which you don’t want to execute while using the recorded macro again.
The best way for this is to note down the steps you need to perform and then stick to it while recording.
Here we are going to record a macro which can make apply following formatting to the selected cell:
- Font Color: Red
- Font Size: 12
- Font Style: Verdena
- Font Text: Bold
As I said, planning is essential, and before recording this macro, there’s one thing we need to take care of, and that is selecting the target cell before actually starting recording.
As I said, planning is essential, and before recording this macro, there’s one thing we need to take care of, and that is selecting the target cell before actually starting recording.
The reason for this is if we select a cell while recording the macro, it will record that selection as well.
So when you rerun this macro, it will select that particular cell to apply all the formatting on it.
But what we want is to apply the formatting on the cell, which is active (which is selected).
Download this macro-enabled file to follow along.
Steps to record a macro using the macro recorder
To RECORD a MACRO in Excel, you can use the following steps:
- First of all, select cell A4 (it’s the cell we are going to apply the formatting and recording of our macro).
- After that, go to the “Developer Tab”, and before you hit the “RECORD” button, Turn ON the relative reference (we are going to learn about it in a few minutes).
- Hit the record button.
- And the moment you click it you’ll get a dialog box to fill some of the details about the macro you are going to record (yes, we need to fill it).
- Name of the macro: “HighlightCell”.
- Shortcut Key: Press Shift + H to define the keyboard shortcut Control + Shift + H.
- Store Macro in: Select Personal Macro Workbook.
- Description: This macro applies a red color, font size 12, font style Verdana, and makes the font bold.
- Finally, click OK.
- At this point, Excel’s stars to record everything (you can see the icon on the status bar which says “A macro is currently recording, click to stop recording”).
- So now, apply all the four formattings which we have decided.
- Font Color: Red
- Font Size: 12
- Font Style: Verdena
- Font Text: Bold
- Once you do this, go back to the developer tab and click “Stop Recording” or you can also stop recording from the status bar where it says “click here to stop recording”.
Congratulations! You have made it and at this point, you have a recorded macro in your workbook but now the next thing is to understand it.
How macro recorder generates a code
The macro recorder generates a code for you at the back end when you are performing the activities.
To understand this, you need to see the code first. So for this, open the Visual Basic Editor, go to Developer tab ➜ Visual Basic editor.
And then open the module1 where you have your code stored.
In the code window, you can see the entire code which is generated by the macro recorder along with all the details which you have entered.
As you can see, the name of the macro, shortcut key, and the description is there before the code.
Now let’s understand the code (as I said earlier, the macro recorder doesn’t create a perfect code, so you need to clean it up every time, and we will learn this in the next part).
You have performed the four activities in the, and the macro recorder has generated the code into four parts.
- In the first part, the code says the font color of the selected cell should be red, and it has used a numeric value for it.
- The second part of the code, says the font size of the selected cells should be “12”.
- And in the third part, it says the font style of the should be “Verdana”.
- At last, in the fourth part, it says the font in the selected cell should be bold.
Cleaning up recorded macro
At this point, you have recorded your first macro and you know how that code gets generated.
But you need to clean up the code that you have in the module.
If you look closely, it’s way longer then the activities it can perform. There are a lot of properties included in this code that are not required.
Not just with this code, whenever you record a macro, you need to clean it up every time.
But before you start cleaning up this code you need to remember about the four activities which you have performed and for which you need to have code in your module:
- Font Color: Red
- Font Size: 12
- Font Style: Verdena
- Font Text: Bold
Let’s identify the lines of code that execute these four activities.
Blood magic sigil of the assassin. Now you identified the lines of code that do the actual activities you have performed, and also we have this code in four parts.
It’s time to clean the code and delete all the unwanted lines. Follow the below steps.
- In the FIRST part, you need the line code which applies the font color RED, so the “TintAndShade” property doesn’t require.
- Now in the SECOND part, what we need is the size of the font, not all other properties, so delete them.
- After that, in the THIRD part, we need to have the font name property, so delete all the other properties.
- In the FOURTH part, you only have one line of code, which is to make the font bold.
At this point, the code looks something like this, which is far less than the code generated by the macro recorder.
But there’s still more you can do.
If you look closely at the code, it has used the “With Selection.Font” four times but as you are referring to the same object for all the four properties so you can use it once.
So the final code will be:
When you run this code, it will perform the same activities which you have recorded.
What you have just done?
In the new code, you only have lines of code that perform the activities you need.
The point to understand here is that with each object, there are always some properties, and when the macro recorder records it add all those properties with that object even if you don’t use them.
That’s why you need to delete all those properties from the code.
And the other thing is, even if you are using only one object in your code macro recorder refers to it again and again when you perform different activities and that’s why have used “With Selection.Font” only once and add all the properties under it.
In any situation, to clean a code that is generated by the macro recorder, you need to identify the actual lines of code that perform the activities you need and delete the rest.
While cleaning a recorded macro code, the best way is to debug the code step by step.
Read this
- Open the VBA editor and Excel window side by side and then press to F8 to run the code step by step.
- As you have the Excel window opened on the side so you can see which line of code performs the activity.
- And once you identify the code which you require and can delete the code, which isn’t needed.
Naming a macro
Whenever you record a macro it’s required to give a name to that macro, but there are a few rules with which a name should comply:
- You can have macro’s name up to 80 characters long.
- You can’t use spaces, punctuation, or special characters.
- It must start with a letter.
Apart from these rules, there are few words which are prohibited by VBA to use as a name.
Tinytask Mac
On the other hand, it’s essential to use a meaningful name instead of having default names like Macro1 or Test1.
As you can’t use spaces in the name of a macro but you can use an underscore, or you can make the first letter of each word capital to increase readability.
Storing the recorded macro
Before recording a macro you need to specify where you want to save it and you have three options for this:
- New Workbook: You can select this option if you want to record your macro in a new workbook.
- This Workbook: By selecting this option, you can record the macro in the current workbook.
- Personal Macro Workbook: With this option, you can access macros from all the workbooks.
Relative reference
While recording the above macro, I told you to select the “Use Relative References” before you hit the “Start Recording” button.
In Excel, when you record a macro, Excel uses the “Absolute Reference” by default. However, you can change it before recording a macro.
The point is, using relative references is crucial if you want a macro to perform the recorded activity anywhere in the worksheet.
To make you understand the difference between both of the modes of reference, I want you to record the activity in two different ways.
![Mac Mac](https://www.macrorecorder.com/site/assets/files/4647/mr1_goto_action.png)
- First of all, select the cell A1 and start recording a macro (without turning ON “Use Relative Reference”) and select the cell E5.
- You’ll get the below code by the macro recorder:
- Now again, select cell A1, turn ON the “Use Relative Reference”, and record the same activity (select the cell E5).
- But at this time the code you got is different:
You have recorded both of these codes doing the same activity but using different reference mode. Right?
The first macro code is pretty simple to understand; it says to select the cell E5.
And if you run this macro, it performs the same thing, i.e. selecting the cell E5, no matter which cell you have selected at that point. Heroes of might and magic x legacy cheats.
On the other hand, the second macro code says something else, and if you select another cell before running this code, then it will select a different cell.
Why?
When you recorded this macro, the active cell was A1, and then you selected E5, which is four cells down and four cells right from the cell A1.
Now, as you have recorded this macro with relative reference, this will always select the cell, which is four cells down and four cells right from the active cell.
Let’s say if the active cell is D4, then it will select the H8 cell, which is four cells down and four cells right.
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You can change the reference at any time, even in the middle of the recording.
Pausing a macro
Unfortunately, Excel doesn’t allow you to pause a macro while recording it. It is possible in Microsoft word, but not in Excel.
If you are recording a macro where you need to do many activities, it’s better to record it in parts so that you have less chance of mistakes.
Limitations of the macro recorder
Yes, a few limitations come with the macro recorder. There are a lot of things that you can perform with a VBA code, but the macro recorder cannot record for all the activities.
- Can’t create a custom function: VBA allows you to create a custom function that you can use in the worksheet, but it is not possible while recording a macro.
- Can’t use in-built functions: VBA has its functions (VBA Functions), but you can’t use them with the Macro recorder.
- Can’t test conditions: While recording a macro, you cannot use the VBA IF Then Else Statement to check conditions.
- Can’t perform a loop: In VBA, you can use loop statements while writing code, but it is not possible with the macro recorder.
- Can’t perform an activity with the object: While recording a macro, you cannot perform an action without actually selecting an object. For example, if you want to make a text bold from a particular cell, then you need to select that cell first.
Is it worth using the macro recorder?
I can bet that you have this question in your mind, and that’s valid. Let me share a personal story with you to answer this question.
A few years back, I was working on a VBA code to insert a pivot table, and at that time I was not aware about all the objects that I need to use to write this code.
So what I did, I record a macro while creating a pivot table manually.
Then I reviewed that code to understand the entire process involved in inserting a pivot table.
Yes, that code was not perfect but gave me an idea to write.
My point is, there could be situations where you need to write the code, and the macro recorder can help you at that time.
The macro recorder also helped me to write codes for this inventory template.
Wrapping up
You need to focus on the following points for successfully recording a macro:
- Set the workbook in which you are going to record the macro and close all the other workbooks.
- Make sure to select the right object for recording the macro.
- Make sure to decide to use absolute or relative reference before recording the Macro.
- Plan the actions that you want to perform.
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More on VBA
VBA is one of the Advanced Excel Skills
Where is the Macro Recorder Button?It’s in the code group of the Developer tab.
How can I see the code generated by the macro recorder?You can see it from the visual basic editor.
Is the macro recorder generates a perfect code?Not really, you need to clean that code after recording it.
Record and Playback your Keyboard Actions (like Key Press, Key Down, Key Up and even Long Key Press) with Keyboard Recorder Software for Mac. This Keyboard Macro Software is fully fully functional and is now available for download on Mac OS X 10.6 and later versions. You do not need admin access to install this Keyboard Macro Software, however you would need to enable access for Assistive Devices in order to actually record Keystrokes.
Download this Macro Software or read on to know how this Mac Software can help you in playing Games, Displaying a Presentation or help you Browsing Web. Note that this Mac Software is not a KeyLogger, although the underlying principle behind KeyLogger and Keyboard Macro is almost the same. Unlike KeyLoggers, this Keyboard Recorder Application does not stores your Keystrokes onto Hard Disk and instead this Application is basically a Mac Automation Utility which works in a controlled way to assist you in repetitive tasks like automatically press keystrokes in an online Game, automate a presentation prepared in Powerpoint or any other software, automate Web Browsing on your Mac using any browser like Safari, Chrome, etc.
Macro Recorder for Mac in Downloads Folder as visible in Finder
Tiny Task Macro Recorder For Mac Windows 10
Watch a Video Tutorial displaying this Macro Recorder for Mac being used as Keyboard Recorder on Mac 10.9 actually record and playback Keystrokes to fully understand how you can record and playback recorded Keystrokes and other Actions. When you download this Macro Recorder, it gets downloaded to the Downloads Folder from where you can copy or move it to Desktop or any other Folder with the help of Finder on your Mac. This Video Tutorial starts with the main screen of the software, displays how to assign keyboard shortcuts and then uses the Start Recording and Play Recording Buttons to record and playback Keystrokes pressed on a TextEdit Application.
This Macro Application for Mac is capable of recording all types of Keyboard Actions and it can also record Mouse Actions. In case you want to record only Keystrokes, simply do not move mouse and do actions with Mouse Cursor and this Macro Software will record only Keyboard Actions. On the other hand, if you would like to know more about Mouse Actions Recording features of this Mac OS X Automation Application, do read the Mouse Recorder for Mac post written on this blog.
This Keyboard Recorder requires some settings to be done on System Preferences and apart from that other settings are self explanatory. This Macro Recorder Application can record Keystrokes along with the time delay. Recording a Macro with this Keyboard Recorder is as simple as doing the Keyboard Actions as you would normally do. All you need to do is start the recording in the Macro Software and do press the Keystrokes on your Mac and when you are done , just stop the recording in the software. Use the Download link provided in the post above or navigate to the software page to know how you can configure your System Preferences so as to allow this Macro Recorder to record Keystrokes.
There is another related Mac OS X Automation Application available for download which allows you to store Text to be typed. The Mac Auto Mouse Click Application allows you to create and edit scripts with various actions like Keyboard Typing, Mouse Clicking, etc. It can be handy when you are comfortable with the idea of Mac Automation and can plan your screen and the task to automate. It works on 10.6 and other Mac Versions and requires little bit of more planning as compared to this simple and easy keyboard Recorder for Mac.